Employee and Leader Self-Talk

Before a big meeting with the boss, an employee might tell himself or herself, “Yes, I do deserve that promotion. . . . I’ve worked really hard, and I can handle the challenge!” in order to get psyched up. Before another meeting, a leader might visualize how he or she will command the room in order to increase self-confidence. The inner dialogue happening in both of these situations is self-talk. Scholars have defined self-talk as dialogue through which an individual interprets feelings and perceptions, regulates and changes evaluations and convictions, and gives himself or herself instructions and reinforcement. Self-talk is a multidisciplinary topic. For instance, sports psychologists have long been studying the relationship between self-talk and athletic performance; clinical psychologists have seen how constructive self-talk ...