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I need an idiom like "be careful what you wish for"?
I'm trying to say something like "are you sure you want to ask that" or something that conveys that they are only hurting themselves by doing what ever they are doing. But I want it to be more clever :)
Here's the situation-
A boss is a part of a "search committee" to try and hire someone new. On this committee there are many other people from the company who are extremely vital, and would be very hard to replace, and hurtful to the company if they left. (but they don't really NEED the company, they could find a new job fairly easily). The boss gets upset because of the different opinions on the search team. He suggests having the members who oppose him removed from the team. He doesn't really realize though that by doing this, they would leave the company and really hurt his cherished work place.
What's a clever saying that would help him realize this; that hes only hurting himself?
1 Answer
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Do you really need an idiom to say that? It sounds like you are trying to tell him something you are afraid of saying outright, and in most cases, it is better to either say it plain, or not say anything. It depends on what kind of person the boss is.
The whole point of having a team is to have different opinions. If your boss does not understand that, no idiom is going to help him. If he just wants yes-sayers, why not just go down to the mail room and bring up whoever is available, instruct them to say yes to whatever he says, and be done with it?
But yes, pointing out to someone that they are acting like idiots seldom have the desired effect. That holds especially true for people who not only act like idiots, but also in fact are idiots. I'm constantly amazed at how often they are in positions of leadership.
Leading a horse to water, in this case, would be to make him understand that by pushing these people away, he risks losing them, and also that that would be a bad thing. I would say something like: Are you sure you want Bob to leave? He is a very resourceful and valued employee.
That is a hint in and of itself. As it is vague, he will stop and think a minute. He may ask you to clarify, and say that he does not want Bob to leave the company, and then you can simply say that you meant leave the committee. The message is already delivered.