Reasons to stop being a useless ‘yes person’

When you agree less and challenge more ideas, it pushes everyone to come up with new solutions and better approaches. People like to have the nod of agreement but when it happens all of the time it can become frustrating and you can start to appear brain dead. So, what are the benefits if you disagree?

You'll become more respected - When you always agree with ideas, it can actually make you seem less knowledgable. People will start to think you are incapable of thinking for yourself and don't have the ability to come up with good solutions. When you start to challenge ideas then people will realise that you offer valuable thoughts and opinions, which will, therefore, be more respected.

Your thinking will improve - When people discuss different views to your own, it enables you to think more critically and explore your own viewpoints more. It helps give a much better understanding of the topic and gives a more holistic view, which makes you more informed and knowledgable, even if the outcome is to stick with the original idea.

You'll help make successful decisions - When you offer a different viewpoint, it helps everyone talk through different possible situations or scenarios and weigh up the pros and cons from each of them. You'll help others to asses which solution offers the most pros, rather than simply agreeing with the original idea.

You'll be able to have more intelligent conversations- When you get a true understanding of differing views to your own it can help you become more open minded. When you are more open minded it enables you to have more intelligent conversations and offer more insights and opinions.

Your opinion will be valued more - If you always agree then the value of your input will slowly decrease because people will come to realise that even if they said a bad idea then you would probably agree anyway. However, once you start disagreeing and offering alternative solutions then people will truly believe what you are saying and start to value your input.

If you or your staff feel you don't have the confidence to disagree, read why in our article '4 reasons your staff lack the confidence they need to succeed.'