Even if you find someones drive for approval irritating, be careful how you speak to them. A negative approach would be "you have no mind of your own. You do things only so others will like you. you are a robot and puppet. you have no sense of self... everyone hates when you act like that"/. This manner of speaking to such a person is destructive and will have negative consequences.

Lesson 2
It is wise to keep a distance from groups that are discussing the merits of others. It is almost inevitable that some faults will be mentioned. This applies even if the subject of the conversation is a great Torah scholar. Peoples different opinions can cause lashon hora to be spoken.