People-Pleasing is Holding You Back in Your Career

Laura Quick

If you’re a woman in the workplace, chances are you’ve felt the pull of people-pleasing. Early in your career, it can feel like a survival instinct—wanting to get things right, be liked, and prove yourself. We walk in with goals for where we want to be in the future, whether within our current organization or across our career as a whole. But what happens when people-pleasing stops being a stepping stone and starts becoming a roadblock?


The reality is this: People-pleasing can keep you stuck.



It can create a perception that you’re someone who will go with the flow of whoever is in the room rather than someone who has a clear perspective. Over time, this can lead to a lack of respect from colleagues and leadership. Instead of being seen as a strategic thinker, you may be overlooked for leadership roles because decision-makers don’t see you as someone who brings innovation, challenges ideas, or solves problems.


Why Authenticity Is a Career Advantage


Leaning into authenticity at work doesn’t mean being difficult or contrarian—it means:

  • Understanding your own perspective and being prepared to articulate it clearly.
  • Recognizing that you won’t always agree with everyone—and that’s not only okay, it’s healthy.
  • Knowing that agreeability in a thriving organization only works when it’s authentic.


If you’re agreeing just to avoid conflict, you’re not actually contributing to the growth of your department or organization. Worse, you may be impeding progress without realizing it. People-pleasing can unintentionally send the message that you’re not a problem solver, that you’re unwilling to challenge inefficiencies, or that you don’t have the vision to push an organization forward. And when leaders don’t see you as someone who questions, innovates, or refines processes, they may not see you as someone who is ready for the next level in your career.


Your Permission Slip to Lead with Authenticity


If you’ve been playing small and waiting for permission to speak up, consider this your sign: Lean into authenticity.

  • Use your voice.
  • Articulate solutions to problems you see.
  • Learn the skill of discerning when and how to disagree for the overall health of your company, your team, and your own career growth.


The most successful women I know aren’t the ones who agree with everyone—they’re the ones who know when to challenge, when to offer a fresh perspective, and when to confidently advocate for what they believe will move the organization forward.


So here’s your permission slip: You don’t have to be the most agreeable person in the room to be the most respected. You just have to be willing to show up as the leader you already are.

The Value of Clear Communication

By Haley Chambers • September 5, 2024
At Good Grit, one of our core values is being proactive communicators. But what does that really mean, and how do we live it out?

Clear Expectations = Healthy Company Culture

By Laura Quick • August 16, 2024
Audit workshops are one of my favorite team exercises, and I've been facilitating them for over a decade. At Good Grit, we approach each client as an expert in their field, positioning ourselves as learners at the start of our partnership. My role initially is to listen and ask questions, fostering an interactive environment with whiteboards and dry erase markers for all participants. The goal of these sessions is to uncover productivity and revenue roadblocks and identify where confusion may exist within the organization. This confusion often translates externally, affecting client relations and clarity.

2 Weekly Questions to Build Company Culture

By Laura Quick • May 2, 2024
Just as the pandemic had us taking to our individual home offices—which for many of us meant kitchen tables or coffee tables—our office implemented two meetings per week. Attendance was ALWAYS required unless they were dead or on vacation. Dramatic? Maybe. But keeping a team together when we were all navigating the unknown of a pandemic—and on some level worrying about making it as a company—well, it felt like the right requirement. More than two years later, we are still having two meetings per week—both still with required attendance (unless of course you are dead or on vacation). The kick off meeting always happens on Monday morning. The purpose of this meeting is strategy—we are diving into what we finished lined last week, and what is on deck for this week. It ranges from 60-90 minutes, but normally runs just around one hour. Our internal traffic manager runs this meeting, and we prioritize based on biggest projects due that week. On Fridays though, things look different. We have a morning meeting that is just about checking in. Typically we watch a TED Talk during the week, and we discuss what we learned from it or how it challenged us—but then each teammate checks in. The epiphany I had during the pandemic was what my team REALLY needed from me: consistency. As an entrepreneur who has had to grow and earn the title CEO, consistency is not natural. I have made it a habit over the last several years to hire incredible humans that are all leaders. I know how rare it is to have a team full of people who are self-motivated, solution-oriented, make-it-happen humans. I know it’s rare because I’ve worked on many teams where that wasn’t the case. Truly, I think this exact team has grown into those characteristics because they feel so supported. Interdependent, and yet autonomous. Launching two meetings each week is something I think we will do forever. And listen—I’m the CEO that HATES meetings about meetings, or meetings that totally could have been a text—but these meetings are purposeful and create incredible momentum and impact. Today I wanted to focus on our Friday meeting, which is all about CULTURE. And if you are a leader, you already know this—culture is in the top three currencies your employees or future employees are using to measure whether they want to work with you or continue working for you. As leaders who are leading other leaders who are leading teams of people vital to our organization, we need to be fluent in what creates a culture worth staying in for the long haul. Here are the two most powerful culture building questions leaders can ask their teams: 1. What did you/your team accomplish that is worth celebrating? Encouraging our teams to see even the smallest victories is so important. If we don’t count the small wins, we could end up missing the really big ones too. By asking this question consistently, your employees will know it’s coming—and they will want to have something to share WORTH celebrating. I love this question because it forces all of us to focus on what went well, what problems we actually solved, and how even a small thing moved the needle. When we focus on these positive wins, we are reenforcing a culture of not just seeing it in yourself or your team, but in one another. As a CEO, it is incredible insight hearing how my leadership team spent their week by how they articulate their wins. 2. Who on our team is your hero this week, and why? Who is the Most Valuable Player to you and why? I cannot tell you how this has enriched our company culture. They know this question is coming every week, and it never gets old. Because it is NORMAL in our company to brag on a teammate for kicking butt, pitching in, hitting tight deadlines, and a myriad of other things. When your team becomes accustomed to finding the gold in the people they work with and calling it out, MAGIC HAPPENS. I can’t give you a real statistic on what percentage of change you will have if you consistently, weekly, ask these two powerful questions, but I promise it’s significant. The hardest part will be making space for a meeting dedicated just to connection. The second hardest part will be YOU, the leader, showing up, leading the charge, and participating. Challenge yourself to try it for a month, and then email me and let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you!

The Value of Clear Communication

By Haley Chambers • September 5, 2024
At Good Grit, one of our core values is being proactive communicators. But what does that really mean, and how do we live it out?

Clear Expectations = Healthy Company Culture

By Laura Quick • August 16, 2024
Audit workshops are one of my favorite team exercises, and I've been facilitating them for over a decade. At Good Grit, we approach each client as an expert in their field, positioning ourselves as learners at the start of our partnership. My role initially is to listen and ask questions, fostering an interactive environment with whiteboards and dry erase markers for all participants. The goal of these sessions is to uncover productivity and revenue roadblocks and identify where confusion may exist within the organization. This confusion often translates externally, affecting client relations and clarity.

2 Weekly Questions to Build Company Culture

By Laura Quick • May 2, 2024
Just as the pandemic had us taking to our individual home offices—which for many of us meant kitchen tables or coffee tables—our office implemented two meetings per week. Attendance was ALWAYS required unless they were dead or on vacation. Dramatic? Maybe. But keeping a team together when we were all navigating the unknown of a pandemic—and on some level worrying about making it as a company—well, it felt like the right requirement. More than two years later, we are still having two meetings per week—both still with required attendance (unless of course you are dead or on vacation). The kick off meeting always happens on Monday morning. The purpose of this meeting is strategy—we are diving into what we finished lined last week, and what is on deck for this week. It ranges from 60-90 minutes, but normally runs just around one hour. Our internal traffic manager runs this meeting, and we prioritize based on biggest projects due that week. On Fridays though, things look different. We have a morning meeting that is just about checking in. Typically we watch a TED Talk during the week, and we discuss what we learned from it or how it challenged us—but then each teammate checks in. The epiphany I had during the pandemic was what my team REALLY needed from me: consistency. As an entrepreneur who has had to grow and earn the title CEO, consistency is not natural. I have made it a habit over the last several years to hire incredible humans that are all leaders. I know how rare it is to have a team full of people who are self-motivated, solution-oriented, make-it-happen humans. I know it’s rare because I’ve worked on many teams where that wasn’t the case. Truly, I think this exact team has grown into those characteristics because they feel so supported. Interdependent, and yet autonomous. Launching two meetings each week is something I think we will do forever. And listen—I’m the CEO that HATES meetings about meetings, or meetings that totally could have been a text—but these meetings are purposeful and create incredible momentum and impact. Today I wanted to focus on our Friday meeting, which is all about CULTURE. And if you are a leader, you already know this—culture is in the top three currencies your employees or future employees are using to measure whether they want to work with you or continue working for you. As leaders who are leading other leaders who are leading teams of people vital to our organization, we need to be fluent in what creates a culture worth staying in for the long haul. Here are the two most powerful culture building questions leaders can ask their teams: 1. What did you/your team accomplish that is worth celebrating? Encouraging our teams to see even the smallest victories is so important. If we don’t count the small wins, we could end up missing the really big ones too. By asking this question consistently, your employees will know it’s coming—and they will want to have something to share WORTH celebrating. I love this question because it forces all of us to focus on what went well, what problems we actually solved, and how even a small thing moved the needle. When we focus on these positive wins, we are reenforcing a culture of not just seeing it in yourself or your team, but in one another. As a CEO, it is incredible insight hearing how my leadership team spent their week by how they articulate their wins. 2. Who on our team is your hero this week, and why? Who is the Most Valuable Player to you and why? I cannot tell you how this has enriched our company culture. They know this question is coming every week, and it never gets old. Because it is NORMAL in our company to brag on a teammate for kicking butt, pitching in, hitting tight deadlines, and a myriad of other things. When your team becomes accustomed to finding the gold in the people they work with and calling it out, MAGIC HAPPENS. I can’t give you a real statistic on what percentage of change you will have if you consistently, weekly, ask these two powerful questions, but I promise it’s significant. The hardest part will be making space for a meeting dedicated just to connection. The second hardest part will be YOU, the leader, showing up, leading the charge, and participating. Challenge yourself to try it for a month, and then email me and let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you!