Leadership Reimagined: The Strategic Value of Being Likeable

There is an all-too-common belief in the workplace that executives must be tough, unsentimental, even callous if they are to lead their companies in the dog-eat-dog world of business. This belief has solidified the idea that the business world often confuses kindness with compromise, which assumes that kindness and emotion have no place in the mind of a leader. 

But in today’s rapidly evolving workplace, this assumption is being challenged. Increasingly, the most celebrated and successful business leaders are not ones who rule through fear and punishment, but by empathy and connection. These likeable leaders have been able to build companies with positive cultures, less employee turnover, and stronger long-term performance. In this article, we’ll walk through some of the new trends and research shaping this outlook, to prove that sometimes, yes, nice decency is a winning strategy and leaders who lead with humanity tend to come out ahead.

The way a company leader acts has a profound impact on the emotions and behaviors of the rest of the organization. This is known as the psychology of “reciprocity,” and it informs how we respond to the actions of other people. If a company boss is kind, employees will return a similar sentiment, building trust between them. 

The same can be said for the dynamic between coworkers. Displays of respect and congeniality within teams have a compounding effect, leading to more of that behavior and an overall stronger work environment. Colleagues will advocate for each other, help each other, and strive to accomplish more for the good of the team. 

Neuroscientists call this “emotional contagion”—the phenomenon of a person unintentionally mirroring the emotions of those around them. And it goes both ways: fear and despair can spread across an organization just as quickly as positivity and kindness. Leaders who exude a positive attitude will find that sense of benevolence proliferating across their companies. 

Likeability isn’t just a boon for company leaders - employees at every level of an organization can advance their work and careers through positivity. After all, who doesn’t appreciate a friendly, easy to get along with coworker? 

A technical term for this type of trait is “emotional intelligence,” or the ability to understand and manage both one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of those around them. And the benefits of high emotional intelligence seem endless: such people are more innovative, more satisfied with their jobs, and more likely to become effective leaders. 

Employers recognize this too, and when hiring, will often consider characteristics such as collaboration and positivity in potential job candidates. In a choice between two candidates with more or less identical skills and credentials, many hiring managers will decide based on personality, identifying the person who is more likely to get along with the rest of the team. That’s because good companies want their employees to express optimism, energy, and teamwork, which can uplift entire teams and organizations. 

Employers recognize this too, and when hiring, will often consider characteristics such as collaboration and positivity in potential job candidates. In a choice between two candidates with more or less identical skills and credentials, many hiring managers will decide based on personality, identifying the person who is more likely to get along with the rest of the team. That’s because good companies want their employees to express optimism, energy, and teamwork, which can uplift entire teams and organizations. 

Today’s consumers like to know about the company that’s making their product or providing their service. It’s easy for them to research a company’s culture and how it treats its employees, and a negative assessment can steer them toward other options. 

Thoughtful, well-liked company CEOs will certainly appeal to consumers more than the alternative. Behavioral science studies show that people perceive likeable leaders as more competent and trustworthy—otherwise known as “the halo effect.” This association extends to the company’s brand, making consumers more likely to stick with the business. 

Innovation requires risk-taking, and risk-taking requires not being afraid of retribution in case those risks don’t pan out. In a company culture rife with fear of that kind of retribution or embarrassment, it’s unlikely that employees will take the leaps of imagination that lead to innovative solutions and new ideas. 

In the 1990s, Harvard Business School Professor Amy C. Edmondson introduced the concept of “team psychological safety” to describe an environment that allows innovation to flourish. These are places where values such as honesty and trust are paramount, and employees feel empowered to share their ideas without worry that they’ll be chastised. Since then, psychological safety has been found to be a vital part of successful teams. 

Both leaders and their teams would do well to remember these lessons. A culture of kindness and candor allows everyone to feel comfortable sharing ideas and taking chances, whether it’s addressing a small challenge in an unconventional manner or placing a big bet on an unproven strategy. 

Likeability and niceness are broad, open-ended traits, and there’s no single or simple path to enhance those characteristics. It’s a reputation that must be built over time and reinforced through consistent behavior and actions. And in the workplace, leaders have many ways to do so. 

The first is to truly listen to employees—both to assess their ideas for the company and demonstrate that their input is valued, whether it works out or not. Employees will appreciate the consideration and feel more respected in the workplace. 

Second is the power of showing appreciation. Leaders should try to acknowledge the contributions of their staff, such as by sending a thank-you email or giving them a public shout-out. To go the extra mile, leaders can handwrite a note to outstanding employees or give them a small gift after completing a difficult assignment. Such small but significant gestures build deep loyalty among staff. 

Having informal check-ins with employees rather than waiting for a formal review or meeting is another great way leaders can make themselves more accessible while promoting a culture of openness where staff feel heard. Leaders can use these moments to do several things: thanking employees for their hard work, listening to their concerns, expressing interest in their ideas, or just hearing about their lives. Such expressions of warmth go a long way toward cementing a culture of trust.

Research shows that concepts such as emotional intelligence and team psychological safety can transform an organization and strengthen teamwork. So, leaders have an incentive to be nice, but as the heads of their companies, they still must maintain their ultimate decision-making power. 

In other words, being likeable doesn’t mean leaders have to be passive, or worse, pushovers. Promoting a culture of risk-taking and idea-sharing can pay dividends, but leaders should remember to always maintain high standards when ultimately pursuing those innovations. Setting clear expectations can help ensure employees are giving their best effort without fear of exaggerated criticism. 

Being nice and still in control are not mutually exclusive leadership traits. Both effective leaders and ambitious staff should remember that it’s relationships, trust, and kindness that pave the way for advancement, whether in an individual career or across a competitive marketplace. 

Being kind and decent does not put you at the back of the pack; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The value of being a good boss, coworker, or overall human being is higher than ever, and we all can help lay the foundations for positivity and kindness in the workplace.