Do you have a solid sense of who you are: your strengths and limitations as a leader – and as a person? Known as self-regard, having a thorough understanding of yourself is one of the key components of emotional intelligence (EI) and is also one of the best leadership skills you can work on.

Unlike self-esteem, which is simply confidence in your own abilities, self-regard is the foundation of the esteem in which you hold yourself. It stems from the ability to look at yourself objectively, to accept the areas in which you excel while recognizing the areas in which you need to improve.

The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I 2.0) is an emotional intelligence assessment tool that is used to determine your emotional quotient (EQ); that is, how well balanced you are in emotional intelligence. It is, essentially, a self-report intended to evaluate emotional and social functioning. The instrument is used to figure out personal development, emotional intelligence, and emotional and social competencies, with self-regard as the building block for your level of EI.

This 133 question assessment instrument has been used worldwide for more than 20 years, along with a data base of more than 1 million people tested. EQ-I, now EQ-I 2.0, has been deemed a valid and reliable test through numerous statistical analyses performed by professionals and various universities. (StatisticsSolutions.com)

Self-Regard as a Leadership Skill

How you view yourself has a direct relationship with how you perceive the world and others, how you relate to yourself and others, and is interrelated with your ability to build strong relationships – including your ability to build successful teams.

Where your sense of self-regard is grounded, whether internally or externally, will have a powerful influence on how you respond to challenges. When you experience a lack of success, this sense will go a long way toward determining where the fault lies, with you or with others.

While accepting responsibility for a lack of success can be a positive, providing inspiration to develop the skills required for success, if you have a low sense of self-regard, you may begin to see yourself as a failure. This will limit your ability to accept new challenges in a positive way, as you begin a cycle of expecting to fail. This is known as a limiting belief and can hold you back from the success you seek.

Low self-regard may even cause you to be skeptical of your own successes or praise for a job well done from others. You will literally not believe the truth of your own success.

On the other hand, being grounded in your inner confidence, a realistic sense of who you are and your own capabilities, will enable you to handle challenges and be successful. This will enhance your ability to cope and tolerate; to befriend others and build relationships; to understand and deal with emotions when something is not working well – and to be happy when they are.

Developing Your Best Leadership Skills

Building a sense of well-balanced self-regard will require you to work internally on:

• Emotional Self-Control – The ability to control emotions that are inappropriate.
• Transparency – Being honest and trustworthy, and having integrity.
• Adaptability – The ability to be flexible in changing situations.
• Achievement – The drive to meet inner standards of excellence.
• Initiative – Being ready to act and seize opportunities.
• Optimism – The ability to see the positive in events.

Working on these areas will enable you to stop any negative self-talk that may be going on in your head. Doing so will also empower you, allowing you to begin to appreciate the opportunity you have to grow emotionally, build your confidence and self-respect, and move in more positive directions in all areas of your life: personally and professionally.

Have you found yourself struggling with your sense of self-regard, self-respect, and confidence? Would you like to find the help you need to improve your leadership skills? If so, let’s chat. Click here to schedule your FREE Discovery Call.