The Concepts and Roles of Self-Confidence and Assertiveness Is Analysed In Relation To Leadership

Self Confidence and Assertiveness
Assertiveness is never achieved when ones confidence and self-esteem is low. To become more assertive, there are a lot of separate skills that you will need to develop, and it can be argued that self-confidence is the most important of these.
If you are the type of person who has low self-esteem, or you’re constantly worried about what others think of you, then you are an individual who is lacking when it comes to self-confidence. You cannot become assertive without first developing faith in yourself and your abilities.
In addition to becoming more assertive in the workplace, you will also want to be assertive when dealing with anyone in a social standing. The key thing to remember with being assertive is that you must always be moderate. You cannot allow yourself to be a push over, but you also do not want to be overly aggressive.
The biggest mistake that people make is that they fall under either one of two categories, they are either far too passive or they are far too aggressive. Those who are a balance between the two are quite rare.

Despite this, these are the individuals who are mostly likely to get the promotions. These are the individuals who are most likely to get dates, and they are the individuals who are the most likely to get raises and high paying jobs. As long as you are too aggressive, or too passive, you will always find opportunities passing you by. This is a terrible thing, because it means that you’re not living life to the fullest. What is the point of living if you’re going to live a life where you cannot reach your potential?
Traits of an Assertive leader
Assertiveness does not come easily to most of us. That’s because we are trained as children to be compliant and socially acceptable. Assertiveness puts a child in direct conflict with its parents and because the parents tend to be more powerful, the child usually loses that struggle. Being assertive will earn you respect, but only few know how and when to become assertive. High level executives and managers are generally very assertive. However, if they use their positions of power and authority in order to belittle, intimidate, and control those beneath them, it will cause a lot of trouble and loss of respect over the long term. Employees will begin to resent such executives and managers. Their productivity will eventually begin to fall, and if the dictatorial behavior of the executives and managers continues, it will not be long before the organization begins experiencing a high employee turnover.
To avoid this problem, it is important to understand the difference between being assertive and being aggressive. While some managers avoid dictatorial behavior in favor of being passive, this too is just as bad. The problem with passive managers is that employees often do not know what is expected of them, and they will often take the manager for granted. Employees may violate company policy while working in their department, and they will do this largely because they feel the passive manager will let them get away with it. A manager or executive who is assertive is an individual who maintains a balance between these two extremes of being passive or aggressive. If you are passive or dictatorial, your behavior will have a negative impact on your career sooner or later. A manager who is assertive is an individual who can lead their employees, and they can do it without having to use a firm hand, or raise their voice. Some managers do not understand the difference between assertiveness and aggression, so they choose to be passive. But there is a critical difference between the two.

An aggressive manager tends to be an individual who is quick to anger. Bullies are a classic example of a dominant personality that seeks to assert itself through force rather than confidence or assertive consensus. They will usually bang their fists on the desk when an employee does something wrong, and they have no problem raising their voice or yelling at their subordinates. The aggressive manager will generally treat his employees like children. The problem with this form of behavior is that employees are not children, they are adults, and when you treat adults like children, they tend to harbor a great deal of resentment.
The aggressive manager is also quick to criticize the work of his employees. If he sees something wrong with the work of his subordinate, he will be quick to point out all the negative aspects of it, as opposed to the positive aspects.
In contrast, a passive manager is someone who is easy to walk over. Because he does not take things seriously, the employees will not take things seriously, and they will often do what they want despite the company’s rules and regulations. The primary reason for this is because the passive manager does not bother to enforce the rules. A passive manager will typically avoid doing anything with his employees that might cause conflict, as they do not want to disrupt the workings of their department. The ironic thing about this view is that those who try to avoid conflict the most are the individuals who are most likely to run into it.
The assertive leader, when it is time for disciplinary action against an employee, the assertive manager has no problem with it. While they are not rude to the employee when reprimanding them, they are not nice either. They make it clear to the employee why they are in trouble. While the assertive manager is not aggressive, they make everyone understand that their rules must be followed.
How to develop greater assertiveness and self-confidence

• Have a code of values that you believe in and live by
• Know your facts before you enter into any new venture and use them effectively
• Anticipate other people’s objections and behaviour and prepare suitable responses
• Defend yourself with open questions that allow you to retake the initiative
• Practice responding to aggression so you are ready for it when it comes your way
• Use positive affirmations about your own strength
• Surround yourself with inspirational people and materials
• Have faith in yourself and the fact that you will ultimately triumph