In a world where there is such a wide gap between the rich and the poor, where being rich automatically earns you both the crown and the key of society. It remains unimaginable what people can and will do to earn a sit at the table of power and influence.

Sycophancy is a very common tactic people have adopted to earn favours. It is simply an obsequious behaviour towards someone important in order to gain advantage. In a much simpler term, it is what we know as “kiss ass”.

However, this is very common in our world; it happens in organisations, educational system, politics and many other systems that involve varying levels of power and authority.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that a cordial relationship between an individual in a high level and one in a lower level is not unacceptable. Rather, there should be dignity in such relationships.

Humans have an erroneous belief about how successful people should be treated, while most people do not have an idea about how to behave around them. In situations such as this, you tend to see people’s dignity and self esteem littered around the place in the name of trying to seek favour or earn the love of the so called powerful or successful person. Whatever happened to being oneself and acting accordingly.

As a matter of fact, sycophancy is very common in the work system.

Some employees tend to use this tactic to favor themselves in order to climb the ladder of their organisations. They always stick around their boss, sharing unnecessary information about their colleagues, pretending to do extra work and giving gifts every now and then. This is one of the easiest ways people lose their dignity and it is quite unfortunate how common it is in our society.

Leaders are humans. While they are in a place of privilege and power, it doesn’t automatically make other human beings irrelevant.

However, while relating with people of higher status, it is very possible to respect them and still behave like a human being with a sense of pride and dignity. Worshiping a fellow human being will never earn one respect, rather it makes one a tool in the hand of a fellow human being.

If one is battling with self esteem and has no idea how to act around powerful people, the role of engagement is simple and constant; be yourself. No unnecessary preferential treatment and no unnecessary display of love.