October 01, 2009

Managing Self-Worth: Can You, Should You?


"We all are something, but none of us are everything."

Blaise Pascal
17th century French Mathematician/Physicist



Self-worth is critical; without enough of it the individual's ability to contribute to what will ultimately be the accomplishments of the group, is limited.


But too much of it, which sometimes leads to the belief that one's contribution is more important than that coming from others, can be worse.

Do you attempt to manage self-worth among your direct reports?

Do you for yourself?



4 comments :

  1. You can't manage someone else's self-worth. You can, however, encourage it, increase it, diminish it, even destroy it given enough time.

    And by the way, I don't think that too much self-worth always leads to a belief that one is worth more than others.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Manage" is a bit strong, but hopefully you know what I mean.

    Do you attempt to manage, control, direct, balance, etc., strong versus weak personalities?

    And just for the record, I didn't say too much self-worth will always lead to problems, just sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is all nice language used to describe arrogant, conceited people. Too much self-worth? How about too self-centered?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill has previously cautioned against the use of what he calls "absolutes" ("everyone", "no one", "never", "always", etc.) and I think he's right.

    If I understand you Lydia, you are saying that people with a strong sense of self-worth are arrogant and/or conceited? Everyone, always?

    Like everything else, we need to look at each individual AS an individual. Generalizations and stereotypes are of no value (sorry for the absolute Bill.)

    ReplyDelete