by Jose Astorga

Created on: March 19, 2008

As a manager, it is not only important for employees to like you, but also essential that employees respect you.

If the "employees" in the question posed was singular, the answer is a resounding no. Not every employee likes their manager because decisions are made that alienate some employees while the same decisions might endear some employees. It's a dichotomy of leadership and it is unavoidable. But the general opinion of a department should definitely be in favor of the manager.

The ultimate test of a manager is whether objectives are reached or not, employee relationships unconsidered. I propose that a manager disliked by employees will not experience repeated and long term success in today's market. I stress today's market because the expectation of life long employment by one organization no longer exists. Corporate loyalty has given way to the bottom line. Consequently, employees don't fear job loss enough to endure a bullying, irrational or schizophrenic boss. This paradigm shift might partly account for the plethora of "feel-good" consultants and literature that teach management communication and introspection. Go figurea niceness syllabus.

There are many leadership methods and many managers practice only one or two styles. Some managers know only one way to lead. For example, the authoritarian manager rules by edict. With this guy, it's his way or the highway. He might reach his objectives, but his employees probably dislike him. In a good economy, the dictator will experience employee turn-over and or a high degree of dissention within the ranks and not care or recognize why.

Managers not liked by employees are not liked by other managers and other departments unless the corporate leadership is autocratic in nature. Employees are generally miserable and unfulfilled in repressive working conditions. I have visited autocratic facilities and the employee gloom is tangible. Life is too short to spend a third of our valuable time in misery working for a boss we don't like.

The most effective management style is flexibility and adaptability. Adapt your personality and decision making to the environment and current situation. Adjusting aspects of your management style does not mean compromising values or core beliefs. But if your value system does not allow for the treatment of people with dignity, respect, and empathy then you'll never really make it as a leader.

Relationships are very important in business and the work place. Everyone, it turns out, is expendable and if we don't have each other to depend on and trust, we have nothing. The corporate walls we find ourselves in are transparent and extremely fragile; our relationships don't have to be.

The biggest advantage accrued to a leader who is liked and respected by her employees is the loyalty of her employees; loyalty in the form of commitment as opposed to conformity.

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