Allie Jones

For a lot of people pleasers, I think it's rooted in a genuine desire to connect — to be a good friend, a considerate, nurturing, and loving person. But as Meg Josephson points out in her book Are You Mad at Me?, many people who struggle with people-pleasing are operating from the fawn response. They carry the belief that in order to feel safe and loved, they need to make everyone around them happy.

Too many projects in motion, things left undone and opportunities I hadn't had the bandwidth to pursue. Team members waiting on me to move something forward. And looking at it all laid out like that, my first feeling wasn't panic.

Last week, I mentioned the three concentric circles of my business: leading yourself, your team, and the work well. If leading yourself well is the foundation, then leading your team well is where that inner work becomes visible to the world around you.