CHAPTER 9 Self-Esteem: The Art of Respecting Ourselves

Almost 20 years ago, I attended a personal development workshop where the concept of self-esteem was introduced. Even though I’d heard of it before, I had never had the subject thoroughly explained or linked to behavior and performance. The introduction of this subject illuminated for me what I believe to be one of people’s greatest blind spots. Healthy self-esteem is not only a reliable predictor of a person’s overall mental health and wellness but also of how that person treats others. It is almost impossible to treat other people with respect on a consistent basis unless we respect ourselves first.

Before we define self-esteem, let’s make sure we know what it isn’t. Over the years, there ...

Get The Respect Effect: Using the Science of Neuroleadership to Inspire a More Loyal and Productive Workplace now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.