Has anyone ever called you a ‘people-pleaser’ or have heard of that term somewhere before? I’m sure you have, as it is quite a common phrase used in the workplace. Well, what’s wrong with pleasing everyone, am I right? Isn’t it a well-praised characteristic one should possess, helping your teammates and pleasing your co-workers by solving their challenges and all.
It’s when considering everyone else’s wants and needs before your own every single time, that’s where the first signs of trouble begin. It might be a nice gesture at first, fun even, offering to assist those who come to you for help and guidance. You might see it as an additional opportunity to improve relationships, or offering a much needed helping hand when those around you need it most.
But what happens when it becomes overloading, overwhelming, and it’s starting to put unnecessary pressure on yourself. You find yourself accepting and doing a task just because you fear you might be hurting the feelings of others if you reject them. That is where you need to put your right foot forward and say the most difficult thing a leader or working professional could say, “NO”!
So how then do we stop people-pleasing and approach it in a more tactical yet gentle way of rejecting the never-ending request of those around us? Let’s find out more.
The Toxic Habit of People-Pleasing
Being over-apologetic and having the fear of people not liking you can yield tremendous negative impacts on your confidence as a professional. And the sooner you realize it, the better you can apprehend and take action. Prioritizing self-care is key in these situations, and it might sound off as selfish to you at first, but once you see how crucial it is for your physical and mental well-being, you’ll start to realize that being a ‘Yes’-man isn’t a good thing after all.
How To Overcome People-Pleasing: 3 Life-Changing Tips
In this article, find out three phenomenal tips on how you can overcome people-pleasing. I find the “curiosity before commitment” part quite effective for me as it creates a wall of critical questions I should ask myself first before taking on a task. This allows me to think of myself first before embarking on helping others.
Confessions of a People-Pleaser CEO
If you think C-suite executives are spared from this people-pleasing phenomenon, well, you need to give this article a read. An interesting perspective coming from a CEO of a company, realizing he needs to stop being the ‘nice guy’ as it’s doing more harm than good with the relationships he has with clients and staff alike. Have a read and tell me what you think.
Bonus!
Why People-Pleasing Is Hurting You | Salma Hindy | TEDxUofT
For the bonus video this week, I would like to share a great talk by Salma Hindy that touches on a topic that is very real, though rarely shared. It is something many of us or those we are close to goes through daily. Approached in a light-hearted and easy to listen manner accompanied with laughter, take time, and give this video a watch. It will surely bring benefits to our outlook in life as well as helping us overcome people-pleasing.
With that, I would like to wish everyone a great weekend ahead. Take care!
About Timeo-Performance
We were founded with a vision to improve the world of work for everyone
We are in the Skills Business!
Through recruitment, training and consulting, Timeo-Performance provides solutions for increased performance of companies, teams, and individuals. As our clients are in the center of global business and often serve the APAC region, our solutions need to be sustainable in a multicultural and remote context.
Our joint venture with Akteos, the European leader in intercultural training, and partnership with digital learning solutions provider CrossKnowledge have therefore been organic and logical additions to our service. Timeo-Performance has been helping companies in APAC increase business performance since 2008 with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
We love what we do, feel the Timeo-Performance experience!
As busy professionals, our schedules are often filled to the brim with meetings and tasks to complete. We can get so caught up with work that we might even forget our all-important lunch and power through dinner as well. Alas, we can only do so much given the 24 hours we have in a day. While time management is vital, being productive is another matter in its entirety.Enter time batching.
