Self-esteem can be defined as inner strength. It is your measure of yourself. It is about belonging, being comfortable in different situations, and valuing yourself.
In general, Indians have rather fragile self-esteem and tend to get hurt very easily. Examples may sound like: “You did not invite me to your party;” “You said hello to somebody else in the morning, but not to me;” “I feel insulted and let down – you are not respecting me.” In Indian mythology too, there are numerous portrayals of the swamaan, or inner pride, being hurt.

During meetings in India, in private companies, and even more in the government, strong hierarchical behavior exists, which is directly related to self-esteem. Subordinates hesitate at risking ‘improper’ social actions with their superiors, attempting to protect their own self-esteem. When tea is served, for example, no one in the room begins drinking until the head of the meeting commences. Whether this behavior is out of respect for the senior individual or for the sake of following the hierarchical system, it is wrongly aimed at maintaining the self-esteem of everyone in the meeting remains intact.

All modern business requires team effort; and all teamwork requires team members to respect each other, as discussed in an earlier article (“The Magic of Teamwork,” siliconindia, January 1998, page 74). In other words, teamwork demands that knowledge is respected regardless of age, title and hierarchy. It also requires the individual members to maintain strong and stable self-esteem, which is not easily shaken with disagreeable or unpleasant work assignments.

In India and in Latin America, high-asset family-run businesses, such as manufacturing or mining, face serious management problems when they try to get into a high-technology business like IT or Telecom. One of these problems is management style – the inevitable adjustment from few people making all the decisions while everyone else merely works to more people working with knowledge and not requiring orders from hierarchies. Another problem in the traditional work culture involves high confidentiality and very little openness and access to management. In a high-tech business environment, everything is out in the open. This creates self-esteem conflicts within traditional management personnel, causing them to feel threatened when the high-tech worker asks probing questions concerning finance, marketing or corporate strategy.

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