Toolkit series · episode 02
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (10 items, score 10–40, reverse-scored items, published bands) used as a coaching record across waves — not as a diagnosis.
For: Executive and career coaches who need a defensible wellbeing baseline
Worked example: Graham Fielder. Wave 1 in the first fortnight after redundancy; waves 2 and 3 across the programme.
Fictional composite for illustration. No real client data.
Walkthrough
Graham completes the ten items in the portal. The engine sums the reverse-scored total, places a band, and keeps wave 1 attached when waves 2 and 3 arrive. The coach sees the result immediately. An optional narrative stays private until it is approved.
1 · Assign from the toolkit
The coach assigns Rosenberg from the toolkit, not from a PDF. Graham gets a notification. He can pause; responses save.
- Assignment is a professional act. Coachees cannot self-start scored questionnaires.
- The items stay in the product. This page does not republish the scale.
2 · Score and band
Total 10–40. Reverse items are applied by the engine, not by the coach in a spreadsheet. Incomplete administrations stay Unknown — they are not labelled from a partial sum.
- Most people land 20–30. There is no target score.
- A low first wave after redundancy is information, not a verdict.
3 · Keep the waves
Score history is a chart on the result. Wave 3 without wave 1 is a story. Wave 3 with wave 1 is a record.
- The second administration is the point of using a published scale.
- Band copy is developmental. It is not a clinical report.
4 · Narrative, held
On supported instruments the coach can generate a short interpretation, edit it, and approve it. Graham never sees the draft.
- If you would not send your own first pass, do not send the model’s.
- Recommended resources attach to the band, not to the vibe of the session.
Three insights
1
A score is a snapshot
Self-esteem moves with circumstance. Wave 1 names a starting point. Treating it as a type (‘he is low self-esteem’) is the mistake the instrument is there to prevent.
2
The engine has to be boringly correct
Reverse items, incomplete → Unknown, published bands. If the total is a coach’s spreadsheet, you do not have an instrument. You have a form.
3
The coachee sees what you will stand behind
Interpretation is a professional act. Draft, edit, approve — then share. The record can help you write. It does not get to speak first.
45-minute session
- 0′+10m
Contract the instrument
Why this scale, what it is not, that a low score is not a diagnosis.
- 10′+10m
Look at the band together
Read the score and the band copy. Ask what surprises him. Do not explain him to himself.
- 20′+15m
Link to the engagement
One goal or one Future Design domain that this score makes more urgent. Not five.
- 35′+10m
Book the re-administration
Put wave 2 on the calendar before you leave the room.
In the room
Questions from the interpretation guide. Ask them after the score, not instead of it.
- How does your self-esteem show up in the way you approach new challenges or opportunities at work?
- When you read through the questionnaire items, which ones surprised you most, and what might that surprise reveal?
- If your best friend described your strengths, what would they say that you might find hard to say about yourself?
- What would a half-point improvement in self-esteem look like in your daily life?
Assign Rosenberg from the CustomCoach toolkit
Professional includes the toolkit. 14-day trial, no card theatre.