Sometimes you cannot get what you want by being careful and polite. Restraint and caution (or ‘pussyfooting’) achieve nothing. This is similar to the French 14th century proverb: chat engaunté ne surrizera ja bien, which means: a gloved cat will never mouse well.
A cat in gloves catches no mice and I advised my friend that he should be more aggressive at work or he will not be successful.