Why People Pleasing Will Only Hold Your Team Back

Dustin Tray

As a former people pleaser, I spent many years making (or should I say trying to make) my bosses and teams happy. But after a while, I realized that nothing good comes from repeatedly sacrificing myself for what someone else wants or needs. If anything, it’s the very thing that keeps me and everyone else from moving forward.

So, naturally, I made a change and hung up my people-pleasing hat once and for all. And here are three reasons you should consider doing the same.

3 reasons you should stop being a people pleaser

• It sets everyone up to fail — no matter how much you try, people-pleasing is an illusion. Think about it, say someone asks for your feedback at work. And because you’re afraid of what your boss or co-worker might think of your feedback, you end up giving them the answer you think they want to hear. When in reality, what you’re doing is hurting yourself by holding in your truth, not to mention the person on the receiving end that could have genuinely benefited from your honest and well-intended feedback.
• It undermines your self-worth — when you’re constantly prioritizing someone else’s needs over your own, it can take a toll on your mental health and self-worth. And if there’s anything I can tell you about your self-worth, it’s not measured by how others view or value you…