Alison Green shares a simple trick to deflect awkward public praise, spotlight your team, and reset office dynamics.

 

 

 

 

Read the article and match each person A–C with the problem 1–6.

 

https://www.inc.com/alison-green/how-can-i-get-my-team-to-stop-kissing-up/91370964

 

A. The company leader
B. The mentor
C. The employee attending the meeting

 

1. People keep asking them for help even though they are no longer responsible for them.

2. They feel uncomfortable receiving excessive praise in front of other people.

3. They would have liked to know in advance that a meeting might be emotionally difficult.

4. They are worried that setting boundaries could damage a professional relationship.

5. They feel that other employees don’t recognize how much work their team is doing.

6. They believe their employer should give employees more information before certain meetings.

 

Key: 1B; 2A; 3C; 4B; 5A; 6C

 

 

Glossary

 

• sycophancy – excessive praise or admiration of someone, especially a powerful person, in order to gain their approval or advantages
• to deflect – to redirect something
• to kiss up to sb – to behave very politely or flatter someone, especially someone more powerful, in order to get their approval or favour
• to ramp up – to increase something, especially the amount, level, or intensity of an activity
• superfluously – in a way that is unnecessary or more than is needed
• relentless – continuing without stopping or becoming less intense; persistent and difficult to deal with
• (be) slammed with work – to have an extremely large amount of work to do; to be very busy
• to nudge – to gently encourage someone to do something, often indirectly rather than telling them directly
• to suck sth up – to accept an unpleasant situation without complaining, especially because there is nothing you can do about it

 

 

Practice makes perfect

 

Fill in the gaps in the article extract with such prepositions, adverbs or particles as:

 

to          down      up       with      out        against       by

 

Speaking 1. ……. with bold ideas should earn the respect of supervisors and managers. However, in many teams, bold ideas create enemies, according to new research from Texas A&M University.

“Yes-men” go 2. ……. many names: the “brown-noser,” the “bootlicker” or the “suck-up.” These types of team members will agree 3. ……… anything a supervisor says to keep the peace and maintain the status quo. The bootlicker’s foil is the innovator, someone who challenges the status quo and presents bold ideas to adapt 4. …….. changing work environments. While it may seem like common sense for leaders to empower the innovators, Stephen Courtright, professor of management at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, said managers tend to do the opposite.

“Even though managers should encourage employees to speak up with new ideas, what they do — more often than not — is shut 5. ……… these ideas. They end 6. ……… micromanaging these innovators or isolating them.” he said. “The point of our study was to figure 7. ……. why managers go 8. ……. their own self-interests and stifle innovative thinkers within their group.” (…)

Courtright and his team found that managers often see new employees who offer up innovative ideas as threats because they see them as challenging their authority. (…)

Markets are constantly changing, but teams dominated by bootlickers often stagnate. Courtright said the natural consequence of shutting 9. ……… innovation is a team that can’t survive a changing work environment.

“At some point, you could very well lose your jobs because you’re no longer adapting. That’s where empowering the boat rockers has its advantages. It helps prepare teams for the challenges and changes ahead,” he said. “If you’re content 10. …….. the status quo, you’ll always stay where you’re at and, frankly, that won’t cut it in the future.” (…)

In order to read the whole article/check your answers, go to: https://mays.tamu.edu/news/2025/11/25/why-bosses-favor-yes-men-over-innovators

 

Key: 1. up; 2. by; 3. with; 4. to; 5. down; 6. up; 7. out; 8. against; 9. down; 10. with

 

Discuss

 

• Have you ever seen someone kiss up to a boss or senior colleague? What did they do?
• Do you think employees who constantly agree with their boss are more likely to succeed than employees who challenge their ideas?
• What are the dangers of having too many “yes-men” in an organization?
• Would you rather work for a boss who appreciates people who agree with them or one who encourages people to speak their mind?
• Should managers take credit for their teams’ achievements, or should they always give credit where credit is due?
• Do you think a good leader should actively encourage employees to recognize one another?
• Why do people sometimes avoid saying what they really think at work?
• Have you ever had to set a boundary with a colleague or friend who was asking you for too much help?
• Where should we draw the line between being helpful and allowing someone to become too dependent on us?
• Should companies give employees a content warning before discussing potentially distressing subjects?

       

 

 

Watch and Revise!

 

How to Handle Office Kiss-Ups and Yes-Men

 

 

https://www.cloud.worldwideschool.pl/index.php/s/tgt8aqkisGJwfmz

 

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