Sometimes I hear leaders say - 

• “My job is to get work done and I don’t care if anyone likes me or not.” 
• “One can’t possibly like their boss, who always delegates work to them!” 
• “This is workplace, it’s not their home. They need to behave like adults (read - hide emotions)” 

True! If you are delegating work to them and not the vision, then no one is likely to like you. Also, if you treat them like a “resource”, dehumanising them to get your work done, then of course there is no liking the leader here.

So what is the flip side of not being liked? Given that you don’t care about not being liked, let’s leave that obvious point aside.

1. A lot of companies use terms like resource, FTE, bill-ables etc, these terms are dehumanising. “The resource” will also treat their employer as a “resource” who is giving them work. And everyone in the team may treat each other the same way. Every day will be purely transactional with a lack of human connections. 
2. When there are no human connections, there will be no inspiration to work in the long run. For some it can be a cold and hostile environment to work at.
3. Even if you are doing exceptionally innovative and challenging work, “the resource” will burn out or get bored out, if he does not connect to the vision or with the leader. 
4. People will eventually leave. Financial bait (paycheque) can retain a “resource” but not their passion and productivity. And also, since this bait is industry wide; the person can move anywhere else for work. And worse, if they are demotivated performers and are not even moving out, it means that they are not market ready. Their learnings under your leadership is of no use to them!

As much as we say don’t work for your boss or your company, in reality a person’s environment (including the lead) plays a significant role at keeping him/her at work and to be their best productive self. 

So what should a leader do to keep her/his team inspired and driven and to ultimately realise their vision. 

1. Do not lead by fear, lead with respect. Stop treating a person as a resource . Some companies freely use the word ‘resource’ around like it's their right to consider people as objects. Conversations like these are common - “How many resources do you have in your project? I need 2 more 'full time bill-ables' to execute this project.” By calling them a “resource”, we are removing the human factor and treating them as just another tool along with the computers and desks. 
2. Treat them as an adult because they are. I once overheard an exec level leader telling his team leads, ‘the team has to be instructed, they are like monkeys, they do exactly what we tell them. So you better not give incomplete or wrong instructions’. This statement has a cultural background too. I don’t want to get into that in this article. Let’s focus on the topic. So from the leader’s perspective he is telling his next in line leads to be good at their job which is to give instructions because he has no trust on the team receiving the instructions. If we dig deeper into this, it could be his past experience or hearsay that he carries this opinion of the offshore team. Now how does a leader ensure to not reach this point where s/he has no trust on the team? See the next point
3. Share your vision and big picture to inspire the team both intellectually and emotionally to climb on to your boat and be driven towards the larger goal. Imagine rowing a boat blindfolded and not knowing which way to go ! Most people have an innate need to see where their effort fits into the larger scheme of things, unless you have hired a toddler to operate a rattle. And inspiration doesn’t come by listening to one speech, it has to be a recurring effort and you have to lead by example. If you have a downcast behaviour at workplace all the time, then it would send out a wrong message that you are uninspired by work. So if you are enthusiastic about the work, show it! If not, it’s time to realign yourself and do work that inspires you in the first place! Clarity of vision and value is important to be able to lead successfully.
4. Connect with them as individuals because they are not just a means to realise your vision, they are humans. The key is to bring together a team that has your vision. 
5. People to role mapping should ultimately meet their individual personal growth goals too and not just the organisation needs. Utilise their strengths and occasionally challenge them on the skills they need to improve on. All challenging work and no rewarding work which plays on their strength, will not be motivating enough to keep them going during tough times. They need a good balance of tough tasks and the tasks they are good at. 
6. Appreciate genuinely - Don’t overdo and don’t underplay it either. If you think that how you feel truly about your appreciation is well hidden, think again. Most people don’t need an EI course to know when an appreciation is authentic. Take time to give specific feedback about what you see as good rather than saying good job! For e.g. if their presentation quality needs improvement but they stayed late to finish the work then appreciate their commitment rather than praising the quality of the work. 
7. Genuine relationship building - This should not be just a checklist of team outings, dinners and free alcohol. It needs to be REAL relationship building that starts from the time they join your team until forever. Yes, even after they leave your organisation. Be genuinely concerned with their well being, learning and growth as an individual. Provide them with opportunities and timely feedback and not just your opinions or a verdict at the performance appraisal. In other words be a true mentor who cares. 
8. Be consistent - Your team should know what to expect of you. Asking them “How was your weekend” and greeting them happily on random days and on other days being cold to them doesn’t go well. Do not carry your disappointments of their work or of them, in your vibe. Remember that you have words to communicate your expectations and feedback formally. 
9. People at the CORE - Move from customer centric to people centric vision (employee and customer). Bring in people at the core of your business if you want to be a good leader!