4.
MAKE SURE THEY LIKE YOU

That old saying about not caring whether people like you or not just as long as they respect you is one of those rules that may have worked in yesterday’s military, but it has no place in today’s business.

Certainly you must earn the respect of the people you work with. That’s a given.

But make no mistake about it — you are running a popularity contest, for it is simply no fun to work with someone you dislike.

And when people aren’t having fun, work becomes work, and thus drudgery, and thus uninspired.

Happily enough, it is easy to make sure that the people you work with like you.

Simply make sure that you like them.

Over and over again in my career, I saw proof of the power of liking people.

Large creative departments in advertising agencies are usually comprised of groups of writers and art directors. These groups are headed by creative directors. During the course of a year, switching often occurs among the groups, with art director A going from Group X to Group Y; writer B, from Group C to Group D, and so on.

I saw again and again that when a writer or art director or producer switched from a group headed by an unpopular creative director to a group headed by a popular one, he or she started doing better work.31

So don’t tell me that being liked is overrated. I know better.