Roy Faumeister and John Tierney recently wrote an excellent book, Willpower. In it they argue against the recent trend to build up a child's self-esteem, saying that studies have shown that children with high self-regard do not translate into leaders in our communities. Their argument is that although doing well does, in fact, raise one's self esteem, raising one's self-esteem does not automatically translate into higher achievement.
There's so much more in the book. Obviously the topic is willpower, but they cover a huge range of topics. Very engaging.
