Ego Is the Enemy: The Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent

John Boyd was an American military veteran renowned for his skill as a fighter pilot and his instruction at the Fighter Weapons School at the Nellis Air Force Base. Holiday regards Boyd as an example of someone who can reject flattery and easy choices to maintain their values as they execute their work. According to holiday, Boyd showed integrity in his work by advancing military strategy and technology without expecting fame, wealth, or promotions. Holiday praises Boyd’s strong morals and sacrifices, writing, “He died with a drawerful of thousands of dollars in uncashed expense checks from private contractors, which he equated with bribes” (34). Boyd tried to pass on these lessons to young people in the military, asking them, “To be or to do? Which way will you go?” (31). Holiday explains that Boyd’s question was meant to warn his students against “pretending” rather than real “earning” and being “corrupted” by their desire for authority (31).

Jackie Robinson was an American baseball player for the Dodgers and is renowned for being the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Holiday holds up Robinson as an example of how self-restraint can contribute to success. He portrays Robinson as a naturally temperamental person who, as a young man, reacted passionately and sometimes violently to the racist discrimination he so frequently faced. However, when his coach hired him onto the Dodgers team on the condition that he would ignore any abuse on the field, Robinson learned to restrain himself and channeled his energy into excelling as a player. Holiday emphasizes how Robinson’s restraint, while an unfair burden for him to bear, helped him build a long-lasting career and secured his legacy as a respected player and person.

Hammett is a guitarist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Holiday recounts how, in the early 1980s, Hammett was hired by the band at a very young age, and he responded to this good fortune by dedicating himself to excelling at guitar by taking lessons with a private tutor. In spite of already being a professional guitarist, Hammett practiced daily and trusted his tutor’s instructions, which “improved [him] as a player and as an artist” (38). Holiday uses Hammett’s example to illustrate how by fostering humility and accepting the role of student, people can overcome their egotistical impulses to rest on their laurels. His analysis of Hammett’s learning habits and career develops his theme about Continual Learning as a Remedy to Ego.

Katharine Graham inherited The Washington Post from her father and, in spite of her lack of formal training and work experience, successfully steered the company through numerous challenges. By facing down political adversaries, nervous investors, and striking printers, Graham was able to continue publishing excellent journalism, ultimately turning the Post into a very successful company. Holiday’s narration of Graham’s life emphasizes how she persevered through an astounding number of setbacks, writing, “She could have taken the easy way a hundred times, but did not” (164).

Howard Hughes was an American businessman and aviator who inherited his family’s company as a young man but mismanaged it and became, according to Holiday, “one of the worst businessmen of the twentieth century” (96). Holiday uses Hughes’ life as a cautionary tale about how arrogance and entitlement can derail people’s careers by warping their perspective on life, work, and their own importance. Hughes’s desire to conquer a variety of industries, from Hollywood to aviation, led him to oscillate wildly in his interests and investments, which ended in failure when he unraveled emotionally and financially. By including this example, Holiday shows that even people who start out ahead can be undone by their own egoic tendencies.

Malcolm X was an American civil rights activist who advocated for the rights of Black Americans until his assassination in 1965. The author praises Malcolm X’s decision to transform his life while imprisoned for burglary as a young man. By using his time in prison to read and study, Malcolm X reformed his own life philosophy and emerged from prison with a new purpose. According to Holiday, Malcolm X was able to overcome his ego by humbly becoming a student and expanding his knowledge and intellect. Holiday’s discussion of Malcolm X’s dramatic shift in perspective helps develop his theme about Learning as a Remedy to Ego and maintaining a beginner mindset.