Leadership is often thought of as the skill of being able to manage other people and resources optimally. Though it is not entirely wrong, but there is another crucial aspect of good leadership which is often not discussed. A good leader is the one who also carries himself properly, lives up to his own standards and has a strong moral compass. On the way of becoming a good leader, experiencing success and failures, ups and downs, praise and criticism are inevitable. How one deals with it is a reflection of the person's self-esteem.
Setting standards for oneself, abiding by the ethics and principles we believe in is every bit as important as any other aspect of good leadership. If we live up to them, we gain immense satisfaction. If not, we lose confidence in ourselves. But the important thing is always striving to do our best. That is, the best way to improve our self-esteem.
There is a direct relationship between good leadership and self-esteem. How can the people around a person be confident about their leader, when the leader himself is not optimistic about his ideas?
The self-esteem of a person is his attitude towards himself. It may vary from time to time. Failure generally leads to low self-esteem. Successful people learn from the failure, rather than letting it affect their confidence. Low self-esteem is dangerous. It always makes you seek approval and acceptance, even when not needed. They have that negative voice inside them, that keeps nagging them,' you are not enough'. Living life with a low esteem feels like driving a car with hand brakes on. You might have the ability and the talent, but your under-confidence holds you back every time.
Extremely high self-esteem is as harmful as low self-esteem. It leads to ego. There is a very fine line between high self-esteem and narcissism. A person's confidence should not intimidate those around him. If unwatched, then within no time, confidence turns into overconfidence, pride turns into vanity and this flame of self-confidence, which is meant to keep the mind warm, sets it ablaze.
One of the causes of unbalanced self-esteem is expecting too much from oneself. Aiming high is not wrong and expecting a standard from ourselves is absolutely necessary, but it starts to harm when we let it get to our head and get consumed by it. In this burning desire, one begins to resort to unethical means. Thus, aiming high while staying conscientious is the best way to boost our esteem. I believe that no matter who you are, ultimate happiness lies in being at peace with ourselves at all the times and not having to be at truce with self. To achieve this state is to maintain a strong esteem, and staying conscientious is the answer. Author: Xhitij M Choudhary, Undergraduate Student at IIT Gandhinagar ( Image Courtesy : https://www.childcarebusinesssuccess.com/members/login.cfm?hpage=166.cfm )