Self-Esteem and Self-Esteam

What is self-esteam? As I’m defining it here, “self-esteam” is self-esteem for the organization (insert “team”). For individuals, the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language defines self-esteem as “pride in oneself; self-respect.” So it translates that self-esteam is defined as pride in the organization; organizational respect.

Why does this matter? Pride and respect for the organization within which we work, live, play matters for the same reason that having pride and respect for ourselves matters – when we have strong self-esteem (or self-esteam), we are empowered, we accept responsibility for our actions, we accept that change begins with us, we are self-efficacious, we are agile and prepared for changing conditions and new opportunities, and we are accountable.

How do we get this organizational self-esteam? We get it by building and nurturing the individual self-esteem of our employees; by investing in our human resources; by providing opportunities for staff development; by encouraging creativity and innovation; by creating an environment of where it is safe to have temporary setbacks; by encouraging our colleagues and celebrating our individual and combined successes. When individual employees have pride and respect for themselves, pride and respect for the organization is inevitable.

On our campus, we may think of self-esteam as our university’s strategic priority of Campus Climate:
Recognizing that our ability to excel is a function of our of ability to work together as a team, Cal State San Marcos promotes a climate of camaraderie, mutual respect, and trust for all members of the university through support, effective communication, and sustained professional development.

Our objectives for campus climate:
· Enable a sense of ownership and pride through active engagement and collegiality
· Deliver service-oriented and efficient administrative processes
· Demonstrate commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability
· Support professional development and celebrate achievement
· Ensure a welcoming and accessible campus to visitors
· Promote work and life balance
· Provide opportunities and mechanisms for informal gathering and interaction

In FAS we have used our Investment in Excellence (Imagine 21) education to develop our own organizational self-esteam. In Lou Tice’s Winner's Circle Network offering, “Economic Self-Esteem,” he concludes that “In the final analysis, we can't have a workforce that's any more confident than the individuals who compose it. Let's give each worker every chance we can to be the best he or she can be.”

Believe in yourself - I believe in you.