When Someone Needs A Yes

Some people don’t come to you for your perspective. They come hoping for your agreement.

At first it feels like a conversation. An exchange of ideas. A moment of collaboration.

But if you listen closely, you begin to notice the pattern.

You speak. They listen, but only halfway. Then they circle back, searching for the answer they wanted from the beginning.

Your hesitation becomes something they try to overcome. Your experience becomes something they try to outtalk. Your no becomes something they try to reshape.

Not always loudly. Sometimes it happens with charm. With persistence. With a steady stream of reasons meant to wear down your certainty.

And if you are not careful, you can find yourself explaining your instincts to someone who never intended to respect them.

The truth is simple.

Some people ask for your perspective, but what they really want is your permission.

Permission to move forward.
Permission to feel justified.
Permission to call it your blessing.

And if they don’t find it with you, they keep searching until someone else provides it.

Because for some people, the question was never really a question. They had already decided.

Takeaway
Sometimes the most honest answer you can give is the one they were hoping you wouldn’t.