Self-esteem – This term is one of the oldest concepts in psychology first appearing in 1890 and, as recently as 2003, was the topic of over 25,000 articles, chapters, and books. But, to some degree, it is also one of the least understood elements of the human character.

One of the first definitions of self-esteem was a ratio found by dividing one’s successes in the important areas of life by their failures. The problem with this approach is that it does not make sense to believe that unsuccessful people do not have self- esteem. In the 1960’s, the most frequently used definition came into usage, identify- ing it as a stable sense of personal worth or worthiness and that it could be measured. In the 1920’s, Maslow discussed two types of esteem needs with one being the respect of others and the other being the need for self-respect.

Here at Staff Development Services, our measurement of self-esteem is more or less a combination of all those ideas. But, by itself, it has little context in the hiring process without considering the work one does. The level of self-esteem of a potential hire is not as much of an issue as is the type of job a person does and how self- esteem relates to that work.

The person with low self-esteem is very aware of their personal shortcomings or faults and, in a sense, is always saying “I am no good” or is always thinking, “I am only worthwhile when doing things that please others.” Usually, but not always, this type of person feels a need to prove themselves to others which can make them an even better employee since they respond well to coaching or mentoring. However, if a person’s self-esteem is too low, they can feel so badly about themselves that they have difficulty accepting any praise or help from others.

Those with lower self-esteem can feel so unsure of themselves that they even take blame for things they did not do. They can also misinterpret others’ actions or words as criticism of them when that was not the intention. It can be difficult for a manager to keep an open line of communication with this type of individual and, if this employee also has low optimism, their distrust of others can make it even more difficult to manage them. Really low self-esteem can make the person feel that the best defense is a strong offense and, if they are a very assertive person, they may verbally attack anyone they feel is being critical of them as a way of protecting themselves.

Having good self-esteem is definitely beneficial to a person in all aspects of his or her life. But, as in all areas of a person’s character, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Many people in today’s world have such high self-esteem that they feel they have no personal shortcomings or that there is any reason for anyone to criticize them. (If you don’t believe me, just watch some of the contestants on American Idol who do not make it to Hollywood.) Those with high self-esteem are quick to deflect the blame for anything that goes wrong away from themselves in order to maintain their high sense of self-worth. And, therefore, they do not learn from their mistakes or change in order to improve themselves.

However, there are actually some jobs in which a very high self-regard is more acceptable. Higher self-esteem can protect someone in a high-risk job from obsessing about his or her failures. Generally salespeople, attorneys, soldiers, policemen, and others in risky vocations need the protection of feeling that they are doing their best and that failures on their part are not always attributable to them.

Very high self-esteem could enable a lawyer who loses a case to take on another or a doctor who loses a patient to continue practicing by protecting them from feelings of unworthiness. This is not a justification for overly high self-esteem but simply an observation that it can protect some people from feeling guilty about their failures and allows them to continue doing their jobs.

This may protect them from feeling bad about themselves but it also increases the difficulty of managing them. Therefore, although everyone should always be open to improving, this is especially true for anyone working in a support type of role. They need to be open to negative feedback and to be capable of taking responsibility for their workplace weaknesses in order to become a more effective employee.

Although the Simmons Personal Survey measures a person’s level of self-esteem, it can sometimes be detected during the interview process. Does the job applicant take responsibility for performance shortcomings or are problems always someone or something else’s fault? Or, is it easier for the candidate to talk about his failures than his successes? Before a candidate is hired, the level of coaching or supervision or how much risk is involved in a particular role needs to be considered and then compared to the person’s level of self-esteem.

Self-esteem tends to be a very important aspect of each of our lives and can mean the difference between success or failure in a given role.

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” Aldous Huxley

Stress – In a previous post, we explained how a person’s emotional energy could be equated to the size of vehicle’s engine. Like an engine provides the energy to move a vehicle, emotional energy is what drives humans’ behaviors and enables them to deal with the resistance they encounter in living their lives. That resistance is what we refer to as stress in our hiring and coaching reports. Stress can be thought of as a measurement of how well our ‘engine’ (level of emotional energy) allows us to continue functioning effectively against the resistance we meet every day of our lives.

So, what part does stress play in the workplace? Since we are using allegories, let’s compare jobs to the oil that is used to keep an engine running effectively. If the right motor oil is used, it reduces the friction and lets the engine easily keep the vehicle moving. But, if the wrong oil is used, the engine eventually becomes less effective at moving the vehicle down the road. If people are not suited to a particular job, it becomes more difficult to remain effective as they have to shift their emotional energy from meeting life’s challenges to holding themselves together in order to continue workingAnd, just like an engine can be damaged by the wrong oil, a person’s health can be damaged by prolonged stress created by trying to do a job for which they are not suited. One of the first stories I ever heard after being introduced to the survey was of a beloved employee who was retiring after 20 years service to one company. Speaking at his retirement dinner, his first comment was, “I never wanted to be a manager.” Yet, he had been a manager for over 15 years with this company but was never able to tell anyone of his dissatisfaction of performing this role. I might add his early retirement was caused by numerous medical conditions related to stress.

The amount of stress an individual is experiencing in their life is not very important on its own but the relationship between stress and their level of emotional energy is critical in determining the likelihood of someone being successful in a situation. Everyone has a certain level of stress they can comfortably handle but too little or too much can be detrimental.

People with low stress are generally very “laid back” and easy to get along with but they also can be very frustrating to employers. Their low stress can be an indication that they are not interested in becoming engaged in meeting life’s challenges. In other words, they prefer to just “cruise down the highway of life” without having to negotiate too many bumps. They may have a lot of potential but choose to not strive in order to achieve it and, regardless of how much coaching or mentoring an employer provides, it is doubtful that they will change. We may never fire this person but we are never completely satisfied with them either.

Then there is the person who is experiencing too much stress in their lives. The more emotional energy they have, the more stress they can handle but too much stress for too long is never a good thing. Everyone experiences a certain amount of stress in their personal life as well as their professional life. Someone with a stressful job needs to be able to go home each day and “‘recharge their battery” so that they can handle the workplace pressure. But, a person who has a stressful job and a stressful personal life does not have the opportunity to rest and recover their energy. This person is either going to have to have enough down time during the workday to rest and recover or they are going to eventually ‘crash and burn’.

Surveys of potential hires show that there are many people who are experiencing a higher than normal level of stress in their lives. Often, this stress is the result of their inability to deal with people effectively or their inability or unwillingness to change in order to better fit their job requirements.

Their stress continues to increase until they are ultimately driven to find a new job in order to reduce their stress. We saw an example of this not too long ago when a gentleman who had worked for over 20 years for a large insurance company was terminated due to downsizing. After three jobs in four years following his termination, he was hired by one of our clients but lasted less than one year.

So, what could be the reason that this person could function for 20 years in one company but not be capable of lasting even one year in others? The answer to that question is the level of pressure to perform in the different environments. He had worked well in a more bureaucratic environment where there was little emphasis on being productive. But, he could not handle an environment that required productivity and provided little down time.

If our report identifies a candidate as having high stress and being unable to handle pres- sure, would they survive for long in a job that was hectic and fast paced? What if they have high emotional energy and enjoyed working at a fast pace? If they were put into a slow paced setting, would they remain satisfied for long? When reading our reports, keep in mind what your work environment is like to help you determine if a potential hire is going to be a good match for your organization.

“The irony is this: Our bodies react to stress in exactly the same way whether or not we have a good reason for being stressed. The body doesn’t care if we’re right or wrong. Even in those times when we feel perfectly justified in getting angry—when we tell ourselves it’s the healthy response—we pay for it just the same.” Doc Childre and Howard Martin

Emotional Energy – it is the first thing you see when reading one of our hiring or coaching reports. But, what does it mean when we say someone has high emotional energy or that they have only a low level of energy? And, what does it have to do with an employee’s performance in the workplace? Perhaps the easiest way to think of emotional energy is to equate it to the size of a car or truck engine.

A big semi-truck with a pick-up size engine may do all right as long as the road is straight and flat but as soon as the roadway becomes hilly and difficult, that truck would start to have problems moving along and would have to slow down–right? There just would not be enough power to keep the truck running at a desired speed.

Well, people with low emotional energy perform the same way. As long as the job is simple and not very difficult or stressful, they can do well. But, as soon as the pressure, amount of work, or degree of difficulty changes, that person begins to have trouble maintaining their optimal performance. Ultimately, the stress could cause them to burnout and they just “shut down.”

Emotional energy is that part of physical energy used by a person to cope with stress, frustration, conflict or pressure. Everyone has a point at which they cannot function (or cope) effectively any longer but this point varies from person to person based on how much emotional energy they possess. The lower their emotional energy, the sooner they begin to have difficulty when required to work under pressure or in a stressful environment. That is why it is so important to know in what kind of environment a person is going to be required to work. Each job has a requirement for emotional energy and, the better the match between the job and the person, the more successful the person can be.

A few years ago I was working in Detroit during the winter and was given a Mustang convertible with a 5.0 engine to drive. (I think someone at that rental company had a warped sense of humor!) It snowed and was icy all that week so each time I drove that car I had to be very careful or the wheels would break loose due to the amount of power it had. This caused me to work very hard to control the car. This is very similar to a person with high emotional energy and poorly integrated emotional tendencies. They have to work hard at controlling themselves since they are being driven by their high energy. We sometimes refer to those people as performing ‘like a bull in a china shop’, which simply means they lack the ability to control these strong drives and, thus, they just act without giving much thought to what the are doing.

High emotional energy tends to make people very bright and they usually look very good during the short interview period–just like the Mustang looked good sitting on the lot. But, you have to understand how that person is to be utilized just as you need to assess the environment in which you are driving. As the emotional energy rises, it becomes more important that a person’s emotional tendencies support that energy. Otherwise, they will be like that Mustang on the ice—not very effective!

But, if a person has high energy and emotional tendencies that support that energy, they can perform well. Then, it is simply a matter of matching them to the right job in order for them to excel. But, this is not as simple as it may sound. The various elements of a job, such as the type of work, the activities involved in doing the work, the people around the job, etc., can positively or negatively impact a person’s ability to be successful.

In order to figure out how much energy a person needs to have to succeed in a certain role, let’s deconstruct a common job, such as receptionist, by asking these simple questions.

How many phone lines will they be answering?

How many walk-ins will they greet each day?

It would not take much energy to handle 4 phone lines and 10 walk-ins but what about 30 phone lines and 50 or 75 walk-ins?

Then, what if each phone line must be answered within two rings or each person must be greeted within 10 seconds of entering the office. What if this receptionist is expected to keep two conference rooms neat and orderly? And, if not busy, they are responsible for filing, sorting the mail, and billing. Does the receptionist in a small town, laid back, one attorney law firm need to possess the same level of energy as the receptionist in a large, fast paced and high pressure firm?

When we write reports on potential hires, we try to find out these kinds of things so we can identify what we believe to be the right amount of emotional energy for a given role. We need to identify the proper size ‘engine’, or level of emotional energy, a person must have and then match that to the difficulty of the ‘road’ they will travel each day in the workplace.

“Vision without action is daydreaming and action without vision is a nightmare.” Anon