Unit II: Building Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence and Interpersonal Communication Chapters 3 and 4

Self-Esteem Understanding the self is important. A particularly important role is played by self-esteem, the overall evaluation people make about themselves whether positive or negative. Our self-concept is what we think about ourselves whereas self-esteem is what we feel about ourselves. NEXT

How Self-Esteem Develops Self-esteem develops and evolves throughout our lives based on interactions with people, events, and things. People who were encouraged to feel good about themselves and their accomplishments by others are more likely to enjoy high self-esteem. Praise alone does not build self-esteem. Instead, it results from accomplishing worthwhile activities and then feeling proud of these accomplishments. To develop self-esteem people need to improve their skills for dealing with the world. NEXT

The Consequences of Self-Esteem Self-esteem is important for career success. High self-esteem leads to good mental health. One reason is that high self-esteem helps some situations from being too stressful, such as being insulted. Yet people with high self-esteem profit from negative feedback. Self-esteem is a critical source of competitive advantage in an information society because it is associated with such behaviors as being creative and innovative and taking the initiative to solve problems. Workers with high self-esteem are more likely to be able to cope with new challenges regularly because they are confident they can master their environment.   NEXT

The Consequences of Self-Esteem High self-esteem can have some negative consequences particularly because individuals with high self-esteem work hard to preserve their high status relative to others, such as undermining them. High self-esteem can lead to an unrealistic view of oneself, as well as to intolerance of people who differ from one’s self. Envy is another potential negative consequence of high self-esteem. The consequences of self-esteem are related to its source. People who evaluate their self worth on how others perceive them and not on their value as human beings often suffer negative physical and mental consequences.   NEXT

Enhancing Self-Esteem Attain legitimate accomplishments: Accomplishing worthwhile activities is a major contributor to self-esteem. To be real, self-esteem must be based on something true. Social science research suggests this sequence of events: Person establishes a goal person pursues the goal person achieves the goal person develops esteem-like feelings. Be aware of personal strengths: Developing an appreciation of strengths and accomplishments can improve self-esteem. A good starting point is for a person to list his or her strengths and accomplishments on a word processing document or paper.   NEXT

Enhancing Self-Esteem Rebut the inner critic: Rebut the voice inside you that sends negative messages about your capabilities. Rebutting critical statements made about you might also be considered another way of appreciating your strengths. Practice self-nurturing: Treat yourself as a worthwhile person. Nurture and care for yourself in ways that show how valuable, competent, deserving, and lovable you really are. One example is to administer self-rewards for a job well done.   NEXT

Enhancing Self-Esteem Minimizing setting and interactions that detract from your feelings of competence: Minimizing exposure to situations in which you do not feel at your best can lead to fewer feelings of incompetence. Yet it is good for self-esteem to conquer situations in which you feel challenged. Get help from others: Self-esteem is strongly shaped by how others perceive us so getting help from others is a major step a person can take to improve his or her self-esteem. A way of getting help from others is to talk and socialize frequently with people who can boost your self-esteem. People who can raise your self-esteem are usually those with high self-esteem themselves. The same people will give you more honest feedback. Weak people may flatter you, but not offer the honest feedback you need to build self-esteem. NEXT

The Importance of Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy Self-confidence is almost the equivalent of self-esteem. Self-efficacy is confidence in your ability to carry out a specific task, in contrast to generalized self-confidence. Self-efficacy relates to job performance, and self-confidence is associated with leadership. Feelings of self-confidence stem from five sources of information: actual experience the experience of others, or modeling social comparison social persuasion, or the process of convincing another person emotional arousal including managing emotions NEXT

Building Your Self-Confidence Develop a solid knowledge base: Solving problems from a base of facts helps project a confident image. Formal education is very important, and day-by-day absorption of career-related information is also important. Use positive self-talk: To appear self-confident, use positive self-talk, or saying positive things about your self. The first step is to objectively state the incident that is casting doubt about self-worth. Avoid negative self-talk: Minimize negative comments about yourself to bolster self-confidence. For example, do not say “I may be stupid but…” or “Nobody asked my opinion.” NEXT

Building Your Self-Confidence Use positive visual imagery: To use positive visual imagery, or picturing a positive outcome in your mind. imagine yourself performing well in an upcoming situation that represents a challenge. Set high expectations for yourself (the Galeta effect): Setting high expectations and succeeding is likely to boost self-confidence. The Galeta effect is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which high expectations lead to high performance. You expect to win, so you do. Develop the explanatory style of optimists: Explaining events in an optimistic way can help preserve self-confidence and self-esteem. When experiencing trouble, optimists tend to explain the problems to themselves as temporary. NEXT

Building Your Self-Confidence Strive for peak performance: A key strategy for projecting self-confidence is to display peak performance, or exceptional accomplishment on a given task. Peak performance requires total focus on the task at hand, leading to being mentally calm and physically at ease. Bounce back from setbacks and embarrassments: Overcoming setbacks builds self-confidence. An effective self-confidence builder is to convince yourself that you can conquer adversity such as setbacks and embarrassments. Get past the emotional turmoil. You must accept the reality of your problem, avoid panicking, and get help from your support network. Find a creative solution to your problem. An inescapable part of planning a comeback is to solve your problem, often searching for a creative solution. NEXT

Interpersonal Communication Communication is the sending, receiving, and understanding of messages. It is also the basic process by which managers, customer-contact workers, and professionals accomplish their work. Communication skills are a success factor for workers in a wide variety of jobs. NEXT

Steps in the Communication Process Sender (or source) sends message Message goes to receiver Channel (medium) is chosen Receiver gets message and reacts Feedback from the receiver Environment influences reception Noise can disrupt communication NEXT

Relationship Building and Interpersonal Communication Communication is a vehicle for building relationships. One dimension is dominate-subordinate. When we dominate we attempt to control communication. When we subordinate, we attempt to yield control, or think first of the needs of the other person. The cold-warm dimension also shapes communication. The combination of dominant and cold communication sends the signal that the sender of the message wants to control and to limit, or even withdraw from, a personal relationship. NEXT

Nonverbal Communication in Organizations Nonverbal communication refers to the transmission of message through means other than words. These messages accompany verbal communication and sometimes stand alone. Seven categories of nonverbal messages are: Environment Interpersonal Distance Posture Hand gestures Facial expressions and eye contact Voice quality Personal appearance Attention paid to other person Nonverbal communication can be improved by such methods as obtaining feedback on your body language and learning to relax while communicating with others. NEXT

Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication Understand the receiver: Understanding the receiver involves developing empathy, or placing yourself in the other person's shoes. Understanding the receiver also involves recognizing the receiver's motivational state, which includes any active needs and interests operating at the time. It is important to understand the person's frame of reference, the fact that people perceive words and concepts differently because their vantage points and perspectives differ. Minimize defensive communication: Defensive communication is the tendency to receive messages in such a way that our self-esteem is protected. Such communication is also responsible for people sending messages to make them look good. Overcoming these barriers is difficult because of denial, or the suppression of information we find to be uncomfortable. NEXT

Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication Repeat your message using multiple channels: Repetition enhances communication, particularly when more than one channel is used to get the message across. Check comprehension and feelings through verbal and nonverbal feedback: Feedback tells us if the message has been received as intended. Action, of course, is even more conclusive. Feedback is also important because it reinforces the sender. Check for feelings after you have received a message. When you send a message, it is helpful to express your feelings. Display a positive attitude: Being perceived as having a positive attitude helps melt communication barriers because most people prefer to communicate with a positive person. Being positive helps make you appear more credible and trustworthy. NEXT

Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication Use persuasive communication: An elegant tactic for overcoming communication barriers is to communicate so persuasively that obstacles disappear. Suggestions for persuasiveness include: Know exactly what you want. Never suggest an action without telling its end benefit. Get a yes response early on. Use power words (e.g., transparent organization). Minimize raising your pitch at the end of sentences. Talk to your audience, not the screen. Back up conclusions with data. Minimize “wimp” phrases. Avoid or minimize common language errors. Avoid overuse of jargon and clichés. NEXT

Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication Engage in active listening: Improving one’s receiving of messages is another part of developing better communication skills. The active listener listens intently with the goal of empathizing with the speaker. As a result of listening actively, the listener can feed back to the speaker what he or she thinks the speaker meant. Prepare for stressful conversations: Communication barriers will frequently surface when two or more people are engaged in conversation fraught with emotion, such as giving highly negative performance feedback, or even giving praise. One technique for reducing stress here is to prepare in advance for the conversation. Be aware of how you might react in the situation. Engage in metacommunications: Communicate about your communication to help overcome barriers to resolve a problem. NEXT

Recognize Gender Differences in Communication Style People who are aware of gender differences in communication style would face fewer communication barriers between themselves and members of the opposite sex. Major findings about gender differences in communication style include: Women prefer to use conversation for rapport building. Men prefer to use talk primarily as a means to preserve independence and status by displaying knowledge and skill. Men prefer to work out their problems by themselves, whereas women prefer to talk out solutions with another person. Women are more likely to compliment the work of a coworker, whereas men are more likely to be critical. NEXT

Recognize Gender Differences in Communication Style Men tend to be more directive in conversation, whereas women emphasize politeness. Women tend to be more conciliatory when facing differences, whereas men become more intimidating. Men are more interested than women in calling attention to their accomplishments or hogging recognition. Men tend to dominate discussions during meetings. NEXT

Reference Dubrin, A. J. (2009). Human relations: Interpersonal job-oriented skills (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.