People Pleasers are quite possibly some of the most destructive individuals in any organization. They come across to many as the person everyone likes, especially to those in leadership. People Pleasers are those in an organization that don’t want to ruffle the feathers of anyone. At least that’s what they think they’re doing. They can’t say no. Here’s what happens… in most organizations you have squeaky wheels such as customers that always complain or it could be employees that always complain and seem to have excuses or issues as to why they don’t produce. The People Pleaser motto is “Can’t we all just get along?” However, while they think they are getting along with “everyone”, they are actually creating resentment from their best employees and advocates by enabling underperformance, allowing bad behavior and protecting the status quo. Organizations with People Pleasers in management and leadership do not grow.
Important Note: People Pleasers in management will stop profits and progress. People Pleasers in leadership will be outright destructive and chaotic.
Are you a People Pleaser??? If you’re doing any of these 5 things you might be just that…
- You throw your employees under the proverbial bus. Maybe it’s the customer that provides little to no profit and the majority of complaints and hassles. Instead of firing the customer or taking a stand, you throw blame to your employee and now empower the customer to continue bad behavior. Sadly, the employee that gets thrown under the bus is typically your best employee. Remember… it’s ok to say no.
- You play both ends against the middle. You know this manager… he’ll tell each employee what she wants to hear in order to avoid an uncomfortable situation or feeling. Sometimes he’ll play employees against each other and even at times throw his boss under the bus (see point #1). Rule of thumb – if you play in the middle of the road, you’re likely to get run over at some point. You won’t even see it coming and odds are, you’ll deserve it.
- You spend most of your time with the worst or weakest employee. Most managers fall into this category as they try to fix the struggling employee without first insuring they have the right employee in the right seat on the bus. Great managers spend the vast majority of their time with their best employees. These managers are more like Producer Pleasers and they always lead great teams.
- You spend the majority of your time with the most unprofitable customers. A customer can still be unprofitable even if they give you a good amount of business. They do this by sapping the energy and life out of your team. They get you and your team to spend an inordinate amount of time catering to their every whim and complaint. If you get rid of this customer and spend that same time with your advocates, you’ll find productivity on your team double within 60 days.
- You participate in gossip. In other words you allow employees to come to you complaining about something a coworker did. Listening and giving an ear to gossip is the same as gossiping. Sure, as the manager, employees should be able to come to you with any issue. However, when one employee brings a complaint against another, you should bring all employees involved together and then let the employee with the issue share it. Sharing and receiving openly is a cornerstone of communication non-negotiables.
There are certainly more things a People Pleaser does but these are the first five that came to my mind as I’m writing this. If you find yourself doing any of these things, you’re headed down the road of mediocrity. You’re going to kill innovation, stop advocacy and run off your best employees. But if you’re a true People Pleaser then none of that will really bother you as long as you can sweep problems and issues under the rug with the assumption they went away. If you’re a leader and you have managers that are People Pleasers then you know what to do.
