The CEO's Job Isn't To Be Liked

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You know what kills great companies?

CEOs who want to be liked rather than respected.

Too many fall into the approval trap. Glass Door vanity metrics.

They try to keep their team happy.
They avoid conflict.
They make decisions that won’t rock the boat.

In the end, none of that matters!

Much like parenting, your job as CEO isn't to make friends. 

It's to make decisions. Hard ones. The kind that often make people uncomfortable.

The kind that always make people grow.

This definitely isn’t a popularity contest.

The CEO’s Job Is to Drive Results, Not Win The Popular Vote

• Your team doesn’t need a best friend. 
  They need a leader who makes tough, strategic calls.

• Your board doesn’t need you to be agreeable. 
  They need a CEO who can execute, even when it hurts.

• Your investors and stakeholders don’t need you to keep them happy. 
  They need growth, profitability, and long-term success.

How to Lead With Respect, Not Approval

1. Make Decisions Based on Strategy, Not Sentiment. 

CEOs: trying to please everyone is the fastest way to please no one.

The sooner you accept that, the faster your company will scale.

Make decisions based on data, long-term vision, and business impact. Not how they’ll be received in the moment.

2. Be Direct, Even When It’s Uncomfortable. 

Holding back criticism or sugarcoating bad news only creates confusion.

High performers crave clarity.

Bad news does not improve with time. Address challenges immediately and directly.

Be honest. Set clear expectations. Challenge your team to rise to the occasion.

3. Stop Justifying Every Decision. 

If you’re constantly explaining yourself, you’re signaling insecurity.

Confident CEOs communicate, then execute.

Decisions need to be explained, but they don’t need to be endlessly debated.

The Best CEOs Aren’t Always Liked. But They Are Respected

Being a great CEO sometimes means being the “bad guy.”

You’ll make tough calls that sting like hell.

People might not like you in the moment. That’s fine.

What matters is earning their respect over time by making the right calls for the business.

Are you leading, or just trying to be liked?

When you’re ready to discover your genius, here’s how I can help you:

1. Genius Talent™ Discovery. Uncover the one thing you do better than anyone else - your unique, innate talent. Since it's embedded in your DNA, you can't see it yourself, but once identified, work starts to feel like play, and your impact multiplies.

2. 1:1 CEO Coaching. Schedule a no obligation first session to find your superpower, connect with your highest ROI activities, and succeed with less effort and stress.

3. 3:1 CEO Coaching. Embark on a transformative journey toward realizing your limitless capabilities, partnering with two other CEOs. Learn and grow together.

Go forth and scale,

— John Hittler