Skip to main content

Handling the "Yes Sir" Syndrome

This “yes sir” syndrome has become common in the dynamic between employee and employer, and is a dangerous ailment to businesses.  Why? 

Because these employees will always give you the answer they think you want, rather than contributing new thoughts and ideas.   This “yes sir” employee does this for one of two reasons.

First, they don’t think they have the ability to give the correct answer. They either lack confidence or knowledge, or maybe they are just lazy.

Second, they feel giving their honest answer will be met with hostility or ridicule.  This could be a confidence issue, or it could be the employer acts harshly towards those who challenge their authority or knowledge.

Employee:  It’s time to step up and out of your shell.  Educate yourself, push yourself, and make yourself into a powerhouse employee. You don’t want to stay in an environment where you can’t contribute, so you need to learn to be more assertive and have the tools to impact your team.

Employer:  If your employees aren’t performing at their best, it’s ultimately your fault.  It’s time to start listening and it’s time to create a training and development program for your employees. Find out what’s stopping them from being better and help make it happen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect – “the continuing and spreading results of an event or action” Emotions like anger, blame, and self-centered rationalization all have something big in common. They destroy balance and quite often can lead to depressed feelings. They feed each other because they all stimulate feelings that lead the same place. Being angry all the time tends to encourage blaming everyone else around you. Rationalizing why nothing is your fault reinforces your anger at everyone. I can remember plenty of times I fell into this pattern years ago, before I got my anger under control. When employees didn't understand tasks I'd given them, or didn't complete them to my satisfaction, I'd give out hard criticism as feedback. I told myself at the time that if they couldn't take my criticism they were too weak to be on my team. That kind of thinking made it impossible for me to acknowledge whether my instructions had been unclear, or whether there was any validity to ...

Denial Leads to Depression

Denial and depression are no joke. These are both powerful emotions that we often underestimate in terms of the effects they have on our lives.   When left unchecked they have a profound effect on us and those around us. When we're in denial we are avoiding having to deal with something, whether it's a particular situation, person, or responsibility. We imagine what dealing with those things would look like, often blowing it out of proportion in our minds. We put words in other people's mouths and tell ourselves stories about why things are the way they are, and end up deciding not to deal with it at all. Over time, not dealing with those things can lead to anxiety or even guilt as situations get worse. That can lead either to anger or depression. Anger relates directly to denial since it can cause us to blame everyone else, to feel like a victim. Feeling like a victim, like life is just happening to you, robs you of a sense of power and control. That sense of ...

Making Decisions

Does having a daily relationship with God make decision making easier?   Listen as Tami Heim details how her relationship with God helps her make decisions in her life and her families life. Tami Heim has been the president and CEO of Christian Leadership Alliance since January 2012.   Her professional career includes executive leadership experience in the technology, marketing, publishing and retail industries. Learn more about the Christian Leadership Alliance at https://christianleadershipalliance.org/ Check out this episode!