subject: It's Better To Be Respected Than Liked [print this page] It's Better To Be Respected Than Liked It's Better To Be Respected Than Liked
When I started University, my faculty passed out a sheet of paper to all of the students that contained a set of 10 rules for being successful in the business world. And while I have long since lost the sheet, there is one rule I remember very clearly:
It's better to be respected than liked.
While this made some sense to me at the time, I have only recently started to appreciate exactly what it means for your career. Now that I have been in the corporate world for a few years, it has become easier to see the link between how people view you and your career advancement. People who are like rather than respected have a far more difficult time getting promoted. This has to do with how people perceive people in the work place. This may not be fair, but it's the way things work.
There are many ways/reasons for people to like you. You could:
Be a genuinely nice person
Be social
Do favors for others without any expectation of favors back
Make people smile or laugh
But ultimately, being liked in itself will not advance your career. Do to this, you need to be respected. And in my opinion, there are only two ways to gain the respect of others:
By making good decisions
Through your ability to get the job done and done right
Without gaining the respect of others, you cannot expect to move up within an organization. The reason for this is that decisions on promotions are rarely made in a vacuum. Your boss may think that you are a nice person and want to promote you, but unless you have gained the respect of the majority of the decision makers (including your boss), it will not happen.
This is not to say that you don't need to be liked. In fact, it is incredibly important to be both liked AND respected. Being liked can often make the difference in a competition between two well respected employees. However, without having the respect of your peers and superiors, you will never be given that opportunity.
So once you land the Entry Level Job of your dreams, remember that in order to get ahead, you need to gain the respect of those around you. You can do this with a strong work ethic and sound decision making skills. Without respect, you will find your career path more challenging.
