“I want everyone to like me!”…No You Don’t!

Leadership Development

“For some leaders, they associate being liked with being a good leader. Guess what? Not everyone is going to like you, but you do want people to respect you and your decisions. I am not sure when the “I want to be liked by everyone” movement happened, but it needs to end.” – Excerpt from “You’re Not the Boss of Me! A Guide to Leadership Development”

Are you a leader that feels that everyone needs to like you? Do you associate your leadership success with the number of folks who say they like you? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but not everyone is going to like you. This is a fact of life. You are going to make decisions that make some people angry and some people happy. It is very rare that you will satisfy everyone at the same time.

Yes, it is difficult to be a leader. Yes, it can hurt your feelings when people say mean and ugly things to you and about you. Yes, it can be challenging to maintain your professionalism.

We have acknowledged that your feelings can get hurt; now, get over it!

You must start building a tougher hide if you want to be a successful leader. You cannot take every quip, question, or disagreement personally. You must separate your feelings from the business at hand. It is imperative that you know who you are as a person and leader so that when your ideas and/or decisions are challenged, you do not become despondent.

It is time to get real about leadership. Using a measurement stick of likes, like you would click on a Facebook post will lead you down an unsteady (and unfulfilled) path of leadership. Do you know who you are as a leader? Do you know who you are as a person?

If you become so consumed with others liking you, what do you do when you stop liking yourself?

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment