Inc. Magazine - How To Stop Worrying What Other People Think Of You

Inc. Magazine showcased an article: How To Stop Worrying What Other People Think Of You by Lolly Daskal, President and CEO of Lead From Within. Within the article Lolly shares 14 (for some reason she skipped number 10. Oh well.) different ways to eliminate the worry associated with wanting people to like us.

Leadership always means doing what is right for the goal, mission, and team. Unfortunately, that also means that you can't always be liked by everyone. A lot of the time, in fact you will have to make hard decisions that others won't agree with.

Back in 2012, I shared Colin Powell's Leadership Lessons. In this particular case numbers 1 and 18 hold significance:

Being Responsible Sometimes Means Pissing People Off

and

Command is Lonely

A leader has to be able to make decisions (in some cases THE decisions). That means (s)he needs to be prepared to piss people off, and honestly, be lonely within the team. If  you try to please people, or are worried about what people think, somewhere / sometime you will make a decision based on that criteria, rather than what is best for the entire team or goal.  In fact, that worry will shackle your (leadership) hands more strongly than handcuffs.

As is my habit, I would encourage you to read the article, as I won't rehash the 14 tactics here. There is one thing not listed in the 14 that I wanted to express (and perhaps it was the missing 10th item?):

10. Take the Long View: People in general are short sighted. Your job is to think long term. As a leader, you should find the long term perspective, which sometimes means breaking some things now in order to have a better future. One of the items I've learned is that people may not like you in the short-term, but if you do the right things for the goal / team, in the long run they will always remember you and the majority will think highly of you. 

Now, I would be very interested in knowing what you think about the article and her recommendations to stop worrying (personally, I lean towards 7-9). Do you have a personal favorite? What was missing from the list. Comment below to let me know!