In this career‑coaching video, Natalie Fisher explains why many employees stay silent when they disagree with their boss and offers a practical, three‑step framework to raise concerns without jeopardizing their job. She stresses that disagreement is essential for growth, but it must be delivered thoughtfully and in the right organizational environment. The framework consists of: (1) addressing the boss’s actions rather than their character, using curious, non‑judgmental questions; (2) framing feedback as a benefit to the boss’s goals—whether they are results‑driven or relationship‑focused—and presenting pre‑worked solutions; and (3) seeking to understand the boss’s perspective by asking about external pressures or obstacles. Fisher emphasizes the role of curiosity as a “golden emotion” that turns frustration into insight, and she likens these conversations to planting seeds that may not yield immediate change but build long‑term influence. The video also references her broader “Get a Six‑Figure Job You Love” program and encourages viewers to assess whether their workplace supports open dialogue before investing effort.
Chapters
In this video, I'm going to talk about how to disagree with your boss, or you can apply this to disagreeing with your colleagues, or disagreeing without getting fired, without getting in big trouble, but standing your ground and commanding respect because you have an opinion. And something I see too often is people staying quiet, and because they don't know how to vocalize that and they're afraid of the backlash. So let's get started. I'm Natalie Fisher. If you don't know me, I help people get promoted. I help people get into 6-figure jobs. I basically just want to help people become more successful in the workplace and enjoy themselves more. So that's what I'm going to talk about today, is how to disagree with somebody without getting fired. Of course, I can't guarantee it, but we are going to talk about how to do it in a way where it's perfectly acceptable to disagree and why you should be disagreeing. Excuse me. So most people think that they need to have the perfect words that guarantee that their boss is gonna agree with them, right? You need to perfectly think out how to say it. And so oftentimes you won't blurt out in a meeting, you're wrong, I don't think that's a good idea. And that's probably smart, okay? So your first instinct to like not blurt out your first thoughts about something is a good instinct because a lot of the times our unfiltered thoughts aren't what's going to come across the best. However, the mistake people make is then they don't say anything at all, right? So they say, well, I can't possibly say that, I'm gonna get in trouble for that. I saw this other person getting trouble for that, so they fired that other person, so I can't say anything, right? And this— all these concerns and stuff for self-protection are smart, but I want to give you some shifts of how you could actually present a question, present something. I love those moments where it's like a mic drop moment where you, you know, you say something and it can't be argued with. It's silence. The room is silence and everyone's like, oh. Oh, okay. Well, you're right about that. We can't really argue that. Or you drop a question and you're— everyone's like, ooh, like, you know, those, those moments where there's just nothing else to be refuted. It's like, okay, that's a really good question. That's a really good insight. We really need to take a look at that. So even when your boss doesn't change their mind immediately, I'm gonna say raising concerns thoughtfully will eventually create the positive outcomes that you want if you are in the right environment. And that's something I teach in my, in my, um, Get a Six-Figure Job You Love program, uh, the Six Figure Curriculum on how to identify the right environments and be in the right environment. Because if you're in the wrong environment, and I've been there, um, no matter what you do, sometimes it won't work. So raising concerns thoughtfully is eventually going to get your concerns heard, is eventually going to make a difference. But the only caveat is you have to be in an environment that does support that. So it's like planting seeds. You're not, expecting to get the result, the immediate yes right away, but you're planting seeds for the long game and creating conditions for future improvements, for future ideas. Sometimes seeds need to be planted. So here's a 3-step framework for a productive disagreement. So one, you want to address actions, address things, question things, but not the person's character. So instead of thinking and even thinking and feeling like, ah, they're so controlling and feeling frustrated towards the person, Instead of that, getting curious and being like, hmm, I wonder why they're thinking that way, what they think that's going to lead to. So I always go to curiosity about their actions. I'm always like, huh, that's really interesting why they're doing that. And it's usually to protect themselves. They usually do think that what they're doing is the best, even if you see it from a different way, which I believe it is your voice, your job to make that known. And I'm going to help you do that in a way that won't get you fired or in trouble. So, one question you can ask is saying, let's establish which decisions need your approval. I think that would be beneficial for both of us. Instead of saying, you're never here for one-on-ones and I really need to talk to you and you're just never here and you're absent all the time. Instead of that, approaching it like this. You could say, for weeks when you can't meet, could we do brief check-ins digitally? And then have them agree to that and say, okay, that's going to make it easier for you and I'll still be able to get what I need. Number 2, framing it around success for them. So instead of saying for what you need, instead of making it about what you need, Let's put some thought into how you're framing what you need as a benefit for them. So for goal-focused bosses, for the results drivers, and this is another video, this video is part of a series. So there's another video on the 4 types of bosses and specific strategies on how to talk to each one. But this is for results drivers. You can say, I want our project to succeed. So let's discuss some factors that could help that. And then list like 3 ideas of what you think and then say, are we on the same page? For relationship-focused leaders, you can say, you care about the team's welfare, which is why I'd like to address getting some better support. And these are my suggestions. So, what I've always found is it's really good when I think about something, I think about the solution and I bring it first. And then, it shows that I've done some pre-work and it shows that I've done some thoughtfulness around the thing. And then, I can get their input from it instead of just going to them and being like, I can't solve this. I need help with this. I need support. And instead of saying that, you could say, this is the kind of support that I would need. What do you think about that? Are you able to work around that with me? Is there any flexibility on this? Speaking in those kinds of terms, especially if you're talking to one of the relationship-focused leaders who really cares about the team and really wants to, really wants to make sure that you're happy. And for any of the other ones, go to that video, the 4 different types of bosses, and I'll show you how to talk to them. The third idea is understanding their perspective. So, this goes back to the curiosity part. And curiosity has never steered me wrong. Getting curious is so much more valuable than getting frustrated. So, you can change your frustration into curiosity and just be like, huh, that's so fascinating. I wonder why they're doing that. So, you could say, if external pressures are creating the challenges, I'd really appreciate understanding those pressures so that I can help in whatever way I can. I can help you problem solve. Right? So, understanding their perspective, and that's a good opener, is to say, are there any external pressures creating challenges for you that would be beneficial for me to know about? Another idea would be, what obstacles are contributing to the situations that I've mentioned? So, if you're presenting a bunch of challenges, you could ask that question. You could say, okay, these are the challenges I'm having. Could you enlighten me on what contributions might be contributing to these situations? Right? What obstacles? And that's the video. So, I'd love to hear how you thought this might change the conversation between you and your boss. The name of the game here is to be able to be open. So, most people will go approach the situation with the frustration. Maybe if you let it fester for long enough, it might turn into a little bit of anger. You end up being disgruntled. You end up not being very productive. When if you can stop for a minute and you And you can get curious, and you can get into the habit of getting curious. You will get so much further. Okay? So curiosity has has been the curiosity is like a golden emotion for me, right? Whenever something's not working, whenever I'm not getting the results I want, whenever someone's not understanding me properly, I go into curiosity and I just start asking deep questions. And it will always like when it's a well-practiced emotion, it will always lead me back. to an answer that I can then go into a situation with, with more clarity, right? 'Cause when we're going in and we're focused on ourselves and we're frustrated and we wanna get what we want, we actually repel the person helping us. We actually set them off, we push them away. But when we invite curiosity without judgment, we allow people in and it makes them more likely to talk to us, to open up to us, to tell us more information. And with that more information, We can do more, right? We can help more. We can be more of service. We can use our brains to problem solve more effectively. And ultimately, that is what you want and that is what they want, right? So, let's not get those unhelpful emotions get in the way. And I need to do a whole other video on helpful and unhelpful emotions because emotions in the workplace, they drive everything that we do, right? So, with that said, the difference between getting promoted and getting pushed out often comes to how you handle these very moments. And I've seen lots of people, very smart, very qualified professional people, get pushed out because they don't ask these questions. They just make assumptions and then they push their agenda. And if you push it enough times without understanding the other person, the person who's in charge will eventually say, this person just doesn't understand. They're not a good fit. They're a problem. They're trying to push their stuff. They have to get out of here. Instead of saying, this person is someone we trust, we want their input on this, we want them to help, they, they want to help, they, they want to understand, right? Somebody who wants to understand is a lot more welcomed in a room, in a meeting, than someone who just wants to push what they want, right? And it's, it's normal. I'm not judging if you've done that before. I've done that before. It's just something I've learned I want to pass on to you. So the difference of being promoted and getting pushed out, it comes down to how you handle these delicate moments. So subscribe for more information on this. I've got one more video to go. This is part of a series. Give me a thumbs up if this shifted your perspective. Give me a thumbs down if you didn't like the video. I appreciate all the engagement. Leave a comment and let me know if there was anything that gave you a breakthrough and subscribe to the channel. I also have free resources for you in the link below. Whatever event I'm doing will be at the top of the link and I've got lots of other freebies for you. So pick whatever is best for your situation right now, and I will see you in the next video.
