I was recently told by someone very close to me that I’m a people-pleaser.
At first, I took it as a compliment, and I suppose I’ve always taken it as a compliment. Yeah, I am a people-pleaser. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with making sure others are comfortable and taken care of?
However, this person wasn’t calling me a “people-pleaser” as a compliment. My first hint of that was the frown on their face, and also the fact that I was speaking to them about a promise I had made that I had subsequently failed to keep. That was the second big hint that their calling me a “people-pleaser” wasn’t meant to be flattering.
I did some reflecting once that conversation was over. Why would “people-pleaser,” something that would seemingly be positive, have such a negative connotation? Moreover, what exactly are the negative aspects of being a “people-pleaser”?
The Downside of Being a People-Pleaser
People-pleasers are often taken advantage of as a result of their “other-focused” mindset. If you’re constantly worried about the comfort, welfare, and success of others, then you begin to neglect your own. There’s also a sense of desperation in this, or a least what others assume to be desperation. When malevolent or otherwise not-so-nice people sense this desperation – this need to makes others feel happy – they’re sure to take advantage of it. They’ll be sure to run you into the ground with their requests or with their needs because they know that they’re in control of when you get to be happy.
People-pleasers get anxiety when they know others are unhappy with them. As stated, their perception of the happiness of others is linked intrinsically to the people-pleaser’s sense of joy. When others are not happy — or more particularly, when others are actively upset with them— the people-pleaser cannot think of anything else. They cannot enjoy any activities, they cannot seize the moment, because they are often caught up in the fact that there’s someone on the planet who is not too pleased with them at the given moment.
I don’t mean to paint people-pleasers as victims. They — we — certainly are in some respects, but people-pleasers are also responsible for their bad behavior. No matter how good their intentions may be, bad behavior is still bad behavior.
People-Pleasers Make Promises They Can’t Keep
To take a more economic-minded approach, they write checks they can’t cash. This is the situation I found myself in recently. I made a promise to someone very close to me, a promise that I would do something for them. I made the promise because I saw how good it made them feel. It didn’t matter that it was a bit unrealistic, or that it would take more effort than I was willing to put in. Just the act of making the promise in the first place made them happy, and that, in turn, made me feel content. My job at the moment was done. Of course, that promise was empty. The moment I made that promise, I also lied to them. I got their hopes up for a rather selfish reason: seeing them get their hopes up made me feel fulfilled.
People-Pleasers Usually Act Superficially
I think this is detailed, in part, by the false promise anecdote I shared. On a larger scale, though, people-pleasers are generally not pleasing others out of the goodness of their own heart. That’s why “people-pleaser” has its famously negative connotation. People-pleasers will do anything to obtain the validation of others; they’ll do anything to feel validated. That includes acting in an insincere and, as we’ve seen, sometimes malicious manner. Dramatic as it may sound, one could think of chronic people-pleasers as addicts of sorts. They crave validation and approval, and they’ll usually do whatever they need to do at the moment to get it. But they lack follow-through. Making false promises or telling a white lie may make someone else feel good at the moment, but that does not make the act noble, sincere, or good.
Can You Change the Negative Aspects of People-Pleasing?
Now that we’ve got an idea of the negative aspects of people-pleasers, what can we do to get rid of those aspects? Where can we start?
Learn the Power of “No”
This is, I believe, the most significant and fundamental step a people-pleaser can take to change their ways and avoid getting taken advantage of. The biggest challenge people-pleasers must overcome is to get comfortable saying “no.” It’s a struggle for me, personally. I may never feel comfortable saying, “no.” I may never get over the feeling that by saying “no,” I’m letting someone down or disappointing them. However, if I want to change my ways – stop making promises I can’t keep and acquiescing to requests I can’t fulfill – then I have to learn to live with that discomfort.
Learn to Deliver Bad News
This comes back to people-pleaser’s particular distaste for disappointing others. Everyone has a hard time delivering bad news, especially when it leads to disappointment or anger directed at the messenger. But most people can deliver bad news and get over the disappointment or anger it caused. People-pleasers have a significantly more difficult time doing this and may resort to false promises, hedging, or flat-out lies to avoid disappointing the other person. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that dishonesty will always cause more anger or disappointment than the original news the dishonesty was intended to cover up.
People-pleasers, take that as motivation to be more honest with yourself and with others. If a situation is bound to end in disappointment either way, it’s always better to opt for the immediate (but ultimately less severe) disappointment. Rip that band-aid off.
Make Time for Alone Time
As I’ve said, people-pleasers tend to be other-focused. They base their happiness on their ability to create happiness and comfort (however shallow) for others. I believe some of these tendencies come from deep-seated insecurities and a need for validation. One of the better things I think people-pleasers can do, and one of the things I’ve placed particular emphasis on as of late, is to prioritize alone time. I prioritize time on weekends or after work on weekdays to sit and learn to be comfortable with myself. I even planned some solo travel for later in the year. I plan to spend time learning how to make myself comfortable and meeting my needs. People-pleasers need to learn that taking some time to work on themselves isn’t selfish — it’s necessary.
Focus on Your Intentions
Are you a people-pleaser too? Don’t worry. It doesn’t make you a bad person, nor does it make you a selfish or dishonest person. But it can sometimes influence you to do inconsiderate, selfish or dishonest things in the name of validation. Likewise, being a people-pleaser can leave you open to unneeded anxiety, and it can also make you vulnerable to truly selfish or narcissistic people who only wish to take advantage of your tendencies.
Either way you cut it, being a people-pleaser isn’t an overtly positive thing. What is positive, however, is people-pleaser’s intentions. Keep the good intentions, and keep the good-heartedness that’s at your core. Just work on how you convey those intentions through your actions.
Calling someone a “people-pleaser” is definitely not a compliment. In India, such persons are called ‘spoons’ or Chamchas in Hindi, and the practice of doing ‘people-pleasing’ is called “Chamchagiri”. There is a THIN DIFFERENCE between having a pleasant demeanor, and being an outright “people-pleaser”. The latter goes all out to please a powerful person, such as his boss. Some office-goers master this art for ulterior gains. The sight of the boss gets them into a spontaneous servile attitude and extra exuberance, under which they loudly and repeatedly register their agreement with whatever the boss says. Any small humorous aside by the boss appears like a big joke to them, and they unabashedly laugh their heads off, in public, to register their alertness and appreciation for what the boss said. Most “people-pleasers” not only wish to please a boss, but they also wish to be seen to be doing so. However, such “people-pleaser” action gives away too soon, and the rest of the staff in their office or workplace often disapprove such antics, at least in private talks.
“People-pleasers” are often aware that other people around hate them for the hollow appreciation of each and everything related to the boss, and the servile attitude invariably adopted by them. To counter any reaction, therefore, a “people-pleaser” throws a virtual ring around the boss, making the boss generally inaccessible to anyone else. A sure sign of a “people-pleaser” is that as soon as the present boss is transferred and a new one takes over, then the “people-pleaser” quickly re-aligns all his kowtowing towards the new boss, and develops a virtual amnesia towards the earlier boss, since the earlier boss is no longer sitting in a position where he can be beneficial to this “people-pleaser”. Another litmus test of a “people-pleaser” is that when his boss is within months of his retirement, he stops stepping ‘on the gas of subservience’, since no more ‘goodies’ can possibly flow from that boss to this “people-pleaser” in the limited time left. Some bosses do see through this superficial behavior. But there are other bosses who relish the presence of a “people-pleaser” or two, as a feel-good factor.
Then what distinguishes a cultured person with a genuine pleasant demeanor, from a “people-pleaser”? The former doesn’t run to meet the boss, and bides his time, if he needs to see him. And the former listens aptly and intently to what the boss says, but does also show his disagreement, at the appropriate time, even though politely. And the attitude of the former is not boss-centric. Instead, he keeps working to the best of his ability, which stands him in good stead when there is a change in the hierarchy, or when his boss is transferred or retires.
I must state that by the term ‘boss’ used above, I mean anyone who is powerful, well-connected and eminently resourceful, considered worth the attention of a “people-pleaser”.