Does Good Leadership Require Popularity?

Considering 70% of U.S. employees admit to being disengaged at work, most managers and leaders are constantly searching for the Holy Grail that will boost engagement.

Is the solution getting your employees to like you? Probably not.

Being liked is more of a by-product of good leadership practices than something to pursue. Taking action—or avoiding taking action—based on its popularity is often detrimental to the results we’re responsible for. So if your likeability quotient isn’t the magic source of creating results, what is?

Gallup researchers report that managers who spend time focusing on employee strengths can nearly double their levels of engaged workers. And employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work.

Greater engagement results in greater productivity and profitability. Unfortunately, only one in four employees strongly agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day.

So what can you do? First, it’s crucial to make employee expectations crystal clear and talk about them often. Once team members understand what success looks like, you can help them reach their goals by focusing on their strengths. Don’t know what their strengths are? Ask. Then, give them an assessment, such as Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder® test, to see how closely their self-perceptions match the results.

Management consultant Peter Drucker once wrote, “Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong.” Team members often discount their strengths because those come easy. But therein lies the power of strengths. When team members can identify, develop and aim their unique strengths toward productive outcomes, that’s the secret to success.

As leaders, it’s your role to get results through others—and even more important, help your team develop their strengths while generating results.

Creating an engaging culture is not so much about the quest for likeability. It’s about creating a culture where team members know you’re committed to their development, progress and success.

Keith Baldwin is a Gallup-certified strengths coach and a certified professional coach.