Everyone wants to be liked. It’s human nature. When this want, turns into a need, it’s an issue. This need to be liked, interferes with daily life and relationships, especially if you’re a business owner. As a trade business owner, your ability to manage your team and deal with customers is hindered. This can have a massive impact on the success or failure of your business.
Here are a 4 key areas your ‘need to be liked’ may affect within your business…
Key area #1. Decision making is impacted
By needing to be liked, you’ll do anything to please your employees and customers.
For example, when a customer calls you to say, “I’m going to have trouble paying this straight away, could I pay later?” Your ‘need to be liked’ will automatically have the word “Yes,” coming out of your mouth before you can even blink.
Likewise, when an employee comes to ask you for time off over a period of the year that you know is historically busy, you’ll find yourself agreeing and saying, “Sure, no worries have a great holiday”. It was already agreed no holidays were to be taken at this time of year. Where does this leave you?
On a daily basis, decisions such as these are impacted by your need to be ‘liked’. You’ll soon find yourself stuck in a rut with no cash flow, no employees at busy time periods, or in potentially worse situations!
Key area #2. Negotiating skills are impaired
Everyday, you engage in small negotiations. Whether you are communicating a message to a customer, asking your employees to do something for you or getting people to do something a certain way. When you need your employees to like you, you’ll do everything and anything to make sure that they do, including being lenient when negotiating and asking them to do things.
Letting go of this need, will allow you to stand your ground and be clear on your position, ultimately making you a master negotiator.
Key area #3. You’ll be seen as a pushover
As demonstrated in the above points, customers and employees you always say ‘yes’ to will immediately view you as a pushover… and take advantage of it when they can. Learn to risk being disliked so that you’re able to say no when needed.
Key area #4. You won’t seem genuine
To be likeable, you may find yourself changing your personality to suit who you’re talking to at the time. You may even find yourself saying different things to different people.
Your employees will chat between themselves, and rest assured, they will pick up on this if that is the case. If they do realise this, all respect they may have for you will be lost.
Ultimately, you need to learn to understand that not everyone is going to like you. Saying ‘no’ to an employee may disgruntle them but at the end of the day you are running a business, and if you want that business to succeed, you need to make the best decisions possible.
What’s next?
- Join our Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook Group, for access to trade business specific conversations, tips and resources, plus a like-minded community of tradies.
- Book a 15-minute Game Plan Call with Andy, owner of Dr. DRiP plumbing and co-founder of Lifestyle Tradie, to clarify your priorities and get clear action steps.
