How to overcome inferiority complex at work:

Psychological aspects in Management revisited

Dr. K. Kuhathasan - CEO: Cenlead

A large number of readers have raised several issues on the articles on “Psychological aspects in management” The following response may help them to understand the issues fully.

“What is the most important asset of a professional”

Apart from the knowledge skills and professional attitude, the most important asset of a professional is his self image. You always create a mental picture, a blueprint of yourself.

This blueprint determines how you act with other people. Before you can find yourself acceptable to others, you must find yourself acceptable to yourself. You must believe in yourself. You must be confident about yourself. You must be self-confident.

When your self-image is positive, constructive, dynamic and confident, you will perform very well. You will be at your best. But when this self-image is poor. Your performance will be poor. You will be looked down.

Hurt feelings and resentment will follow. You will then find it difficult to get along with others - and with yourself. Your performance will be very poor. Professionals should develop a positive self-image to move ahead.

Can we really change?

Yes. You can if you can change your self - image. Your self-image is your change agent.

Managers must have the desire to change. All managers should remember that one thing common to all of them is the desire to excel, enhance and move ahead. This is a goal common to all.

We must remember that this self-image doesn’t rule us; we rule it. It is created by us. When it is created, we are guided and directed by it.

Every day is a day for improving your self-image. This is your first daily goal of fulfilment when you get up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror. You must ask yourself “How can I shine well today”. “How can I perform well today”.

“How can I impress others?” Visualize yourself achieving your goals. You can change yourself for better. You can reshape your character, conduct, behaviour and attitudes and redevelop your personality.

Worry

What do you mean by “Worry should be a challenge?”

We all worry. But worry should be a challenge to stand up to our full stature of dignity. Stress is part of work life and we must learn to cope with it, not let it destroy us. We may not be able to solve anything by worrying.

Worrying will create more problems. You may develop stress too.

There is other extra unnecessary stress that creates extra unnecessary tensions, resentment and hatred. These feelings hurt most, the one who feels them.

Our happiness mechanism is within us ready to work for us, if we learn to communicate with ourselves first. We become a friend to ourselves first, before we become a friend to other people.

Unhappiness prevents this glorious adventure in human fulfilment. It is up to us to make it a practice for five minutes every day to have pleasant ideas and memories, those fine feelings of usefulness and kindness that make us part of the successful journey.

Remember your achievements. Have a list of your achievements. Always remember your achievements. Forget about your failures.

Develop personal and professional vision, mission and goals for you. Try to accomplish them. Keep yourself fully occupied.

Confidence

What is the best way to regain my confidence and overcome inferior feelings?

Confidence is an aspect of the success mechanism within you. Inferiority feelings are also aspects of the failure mechanism within you. No one can be successful at all times.

People who fail in an undertaking often refuse to forgive themselves and keep harping on the mistake they made, believing that they should be perfect. There is no perfect human being. A mistake should be a stimulus for us to rise above.

Forget about inferiority feeling which is the result of poor performance of yesterday. Live in the present and try to accomplish your assignments well. You are neither inferior nor superior. You are capable of making a mistake or breaking this mistake. When you try to reach your goal think of the confidence of some past success and use this confidence in your present assignments.

If you think of yesterday’s failure in the present, you will fail to reach your goal because you can’t think positively with negative feelings. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Think of your successes, not your failures. You will develop self-confidence and you will be a winner. You will be always a winner.

Emotions

In your opinion, which emotion hurts us most?

All negative feelings hurt in various degrees, depending upon the individual. The fear of making a mistake which prevents you from taking changes in work hurts you.

The feeling of insecurity that you are nobody because you failed in some undertaking hurts you. Aggressiveness of the wrong kind - when you hurt others - hurts you a great deal.

Uncertainty, hurts you because you cannot relax and cannot respond to times of stress. Hatred is even worse. Hatred means that you hate yourself first and then you hate other people.

However, indifference is the one emotion that hurts a person most. Indifference in your work and indifference to all aspects of work will hurt you very badly.

Inferiority

Many of us have deeply rooted feelings of inferiority. It is easy to say, get rid of it, but how do you go about it?

Feelings of inferiority are common. We all have these feelings - even the most successful people in the world. People who are successful realize that feelings of inferiority should act as stimuli. That’s what success is all about - the capacity to rise above failure, stress, doubt, inferiority.

First of all, stop making comparisons between yourself and others. You are blessed with a distinctive personality. You have a unique personality. You are unique in your own way. You may be inferior to others in one way, but you must realize that you may be superior to others in another way.

Remember that you are neither inferior nor superior. You are capable of blunders, but also capable of rising above them. Success means turning a crisis into an opportunity. You have the capacity to turn crises into opportunities.

Mental fatigue

How can I overcome mental fatigue?

Poor time management may bring about mental fatigue. Mental fatigue can come from overwork or from no work at all. If you don’t have a goal you may suffer from mental fatigue. Continuous anxiety without purpose, without trying to achieve a goal, can bring about mental fatigue and exhaustion. Aggressiveness unchecked, where one continuously steps on other people can produce mental exhaustion.

So does continual loneliness, where you walk away from reality and separate yourself from yourself. So does resentment, an emotion that hurts most the one who feels it.

There is no greater fatigue in the world than that which comes from doing nothing. Please remember that “Mental fatigue is an imaginary feeling”.

Always keep your mind filled with goals. An empty mind will bring about mental fatigue. Enjoy your achievements. Be proud of yourself. Cherish your uniqueness. Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities!

Self-esteem

What do you mean by self-esteem?

Your self-esteem is the reflection of your self-concept - what you think of yourself. It’s about your self-respect and self-worth. When you think and feel good about who you are, and consider yourself worthy of success, your self- esteem is high. You feel like a winner - confident, enthusiastic, vibrant, a go-getter, with respect for self and others.

People with high self - esteem are always winners. They accept themselves and love their very being. Their confidence put them ahead of the others.

On the other hand, those with low self-esteem are handicapped in their attitude; they are apprehensive and tend to be losers even before the race begins.

High self-esteem generates momentum, and propels your drive to success. It empowers and energises you to move with confidence to meet the challenges and realise your goals.

People with high self-esteem are optimistic. They have a positive frame of mind and are always winners in every aspect of their work.