SELF ESTEEM AS A LEADERSHIP TRAIT
Self Esteem Defined
. . . an evaluation which individuals make and customarily maintain
with regard to themselves: it expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval and
indicates the extent to which individuals believes themselves capable, significant,
successful, and worthy.
Self-esteem is a subjective evaluation of how a people feel about
themselves - a composite measure of ones’ perception of competence, feelings of
security, confidence, and recognition of ones strengths and weaknesses.
A person’s self evaluation is determined by the degree to which
successes approach expectations in those areas that are personally important. Too few
successes or too high expectations may result in poor self evaluation and low self esteem.
Is Self Esteem a Leadership Trait?
 | Positively associated with expressed leadership |
| Effective leaders score significantly higher on measures of self-confidence. |
| A predictor of effectiveness of leaders in college groups. |
| Persons with low self-esteem tend to passively conform to the influence of others. |
In Groups
| Persons with low self-esteem profiles, operating in groups, tend to be swayed more
easily by emotional arguments than those with higher self-esteem. |
| Members with low self-esteem attempt to make a decision by consensus, their interactions
often degenerate into a "group think". |
| Groups whose members possess high self-esteem, tend to be more productive because
members "pool" information, but they are less inclined to be co-opted while
making a decision. |
| Persons with high self-esteem manifest higher quality work than persons with low self
esteem, regardless of pay changes. |
| Persons with high personal-esteem rankings tend to be the most influential group
members. |
Expectations and Self Esteem
| The expectations of others can enhance a person’s self-esteem
and it can improve performance.
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| People tend to react largely in response to other’s
expectations. When students were issued separate biographies of the same substitute
teacher (identical, except half were worded to sound "warm" and half worded to
sound "cold") significant differences resulted in their evaluations and in their
interaction with the substitute.
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| Teachers’ expectations can influence the achievement of
students. Two groups of Head Start students. a) teachers led to believe the class was a
group of low achievers, b) teachers led to believe the class was a group of high
achievers. Although students were chosen at random, pupils in the second group learned
faster and accomplished more than those in the first group.
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| Advertisers attempt to create brand loyalties by describing
attributes of their product that may lead consumers to believe they are enjoying a
"unique" characteristic. Yet blindfold tests have shown that seldom can
brand-oriented cigarette smokers, cola drinkers, or beer drinkers, accurately identify
their professed preference.
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Expectations and Self Esteem
| Individuals with a high level of self-esteem think of themselves as
competent and able. They are motivated to perform and are satisfied with those tasks or
jobs they perceive to be consistent with the image they have of themselves. Those with low
self-esteem, regard themselves as less competent and not particularly successful.
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| One study found that those with low self-esteem respond in the
direction of the expectations -- performing well if the expectations are positive and
poorly if the expectations are negative. Those with a high self-esteem improved regardless
of the expectations. Those with high self-esteem view low expectations as an incentive to
"prove" themselves.
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Self-Esteem and Expectations Related to Motivation
| Motivation is often singled out as a single trait to describe the
difference between high achievers and low achievers. Mediocre performance is almost always
attributed to a "lack of motivation"
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| Motivation is not a trait! Motivation does not exist in abstract, its
relative force can only be measured next to an assignment.
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| If someone is not motivated to do a task it may be that he does not
anticipate an increase in self-esteem from the performance of the task. An increase in
self-esteem is a necessary element of any motivational strategy.
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