The Value of Being Liked

My work experience has led me to write this little post that I'm calling, "The Value of Being Liked."  I'm talking more specifically about the value of being liked in your workplace and even more specifically than  that about the value of being liked as a leader. Over the past few years I feel like I have gotten more and more observant and critical of leaders/management at work.  I've been at some jobs where I have been put in a leadership position, and many others where I'm looking up to someone else.   What I think I've discovered is that being liked by the people that work for you is important!  I think a lot of leader think that in order to demand respect from their workers, they need to almost be feared.  They seem to almost think that the risk of punishment is the best motivator.  While I think that staying out of trouble probably does motivate a lot of people to some degree, I don't think it is necessarily the best approach.  What I have found is that if you develop good relationships with people, then they are more likely to want to do a good job for you! 

 I know from experience on both sides that this is often true.  If I'm working for someone that doesn't treat me with respect, I'm usually much more likely to just do the bare minimum amount of work to avoid getting in trouble.  Look at it from the employees perspective, would you feel worse screwing over someone that you like? or someone that you don't? I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.  I can say 100% that I'm going to work harder for someone that I like, period.  While for some that may sound wrong that's just the way it is! It's not to say I won't work hard anyways, but you can always work a little harder, and I will go "Above and Beyond," for someone that is kind and shows me proper respect.  When I've had positions in which I've lead I've found this to be very true. I've worked with a lot of people that have been deemed lazy or grumpy, but I often found that as long as I'm respectful and listen to them when they have something they want to say, that it goes a looooooooooong way.   So next time you are trying to get someone to work hard, instead of scaring them! encourage them, get to know them, every once in a while bend a little bit for them and don't be surprised if they are willing to go out of their way for you!