Some people confuse respect and humility shown to them with incompetence.
How can you tell if you are on the receiving end of this confused treatment? Several:
- They never ask you for your opinion.
- They don’t answer you in a reasonable amount of time or at all, even if it’s their job or you built a relationship with them initially.
- They interrupt you constantly as they cannot show patience to listen to what you have to say.
- They constantly push their agenda on you.
If any of these critically affects your work or personal life, then for you, there is the thing called “Too much respect and humility.” Gradually change your behavior for the circumstances and be more vocal.
But, be careful, as it might hurt your perfectly balanced relationship if you read the signals wrong.
What can you do to improve the current situation?
- Don’t let them interrupt you, and kindly tell them you want to finish your words.
- Don’t simply allow them to push their agenda. Again, your humility could be an enabler here for them to act the way they please. Ask them why their plan makes sense, and tell them how you can prioritize the ask if it makes sense.
- If your opinion is never asked, don’t take responsibility or accountability for the mistakes.
And no matter what you do, be honest with yourself and them. You can still be humble for alternative opinions and respect even those who don’t treat you the same.
It would be their loss as their credibility is one that will progressively drop. Don’t assume people like them or enjoy working with them just because they say yes. It only takes one right moment to abandon these confused people as it always was.