Are you a people pleaser?

I admit it, I want to be liked. Big shock since I literally wrote the book on likability. Generally, I try to be accommodating and make everyone happy, at least to the best of my ability.

I used to get hyper focused on the one person in my class that didn’t seem engaged rather than giving my energy to the majority of the people who showed they wanted to be there. Admittedly, you can’t please everyone. It was a lesson it took me a long time to accept, and I am probably writing this because I needed the reminder.

We launched The Connected Leader Course back in 2024 to fabulous feedback.

And at the same time, there were challenges. Trying to figure out a time when the majority of people in the public program could attend the live session was painful! Actually, trying to figure out a time when it worked for a quorum of people to start the program together was also not my favorite part of the program.

The reason I started this was to be able to say yes to people who wanted coaching from me and make my work more accessible. After two rounds, I realized that perhaps the idea of a semi synchronous format was not serving that purpose.

Here is something else I realized… often when you attempt to please everyone, you rarely please yourself. If you find that you tend toward being a people pleaser, go back to basics.

Here are three ideas for you:

1. Buy Time. Delay your response by saying, “Let me think about it” or “I’ll get back to you.” This gives you time to assess if the request aligns with your capacity and values.
2. Practice Self-Acceptance. Remember, you don’t need everyone’s approval to be worthy or likable.
3. Accept That Some Discomfort Is Inevitable. Recognize that not everyone will be happy with your choices, and that’s okay.

So, what did I do? I created an option the eases the challenges for me and creates flexibility for all of you.

The Connected Leader Course now has a self-paced, join anytime version that does not have the live sessions. Anyone can enroll anytime and go at your own speed. Those who complete the course will have the same opportunity to join the Connected Leader Club, so best of both worlds.

Don’t worry, for those who prefer the live component, the semi-synchronous cohort based course is still available to be brought in-house. Just collect a group of colleagues and we will run one just for your organization.

Ready to take your leadership up a level and start connecting? Join the self-paced course and use the code EB300 for $300 off.

Can’t wait to connect and coach with you then.