🧨 Myth #4: “𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳...“

>>> 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂.” 🤔

🎭 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗘𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘

I get it. We’ve all heard it.

“You can’t be too friendly with your staff.”
“If you’re close to your team, they’ll walk all over you.”
“Keep some distance, or they won’t respect you.”

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱...
The bosses I respected the most?
💡Were the ones who 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗺𝗲.
💬𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 really doing.
🙌𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴, not a name on a payroll.

And guess what?
That made me want to show up even more.
Not because I feared them.
But because I didn’t want to let them down.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁.

I’ve seen the “cold boss” act.
The kind that hides behind closed doors and corporate buzzwords.
Sure, they got the job done but no one followed them out of loyalty. Just survival.

🤣Give me the boss who laughs at team lunches.
The one who rolls up their sleeves when we’re slammed.
The one who says, “Hey, I’ve been there too.”
That’s who I’ll go the extra mile for.

🏢 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗘𝗥 / 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘

Let’s cut the nonsense.

This idea that you have to be a “stone-faced manager” to be respected?
That’s yesterday’s playbook - dinosaurian age.

Today’s workforce?
They want real. They want human. They want you.

You don’t lose respect by being approachable.
You lose it by being inconsistent, dismissive, or hiding behind your title.

🔥𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵
You can be kind and still hold people accountable.
You can laugh with your team and still run a tight ship.
You can connect deeply and still lead firmly.

Respect isn’t about being feared.
It’s about being trusted.

📉𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁?
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to be someone you’re not. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 like emotions are a weakness.
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 where people feel like they have 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

😇𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱.
They’re 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺, but 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿.
𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰, but 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺.
𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆, but 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿.

Being human doesn’t cost you leadership power > 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁.

So if someone tells you, “You’re being too friendly with your staff” smile and say,
“That’s why they show up for me not just because they have to, but because they want to.”

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿.
𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁.

🧠𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
Have you ever worked for someone who led with warmth and earned even more respect because of it?

I am Kevin Goh, Empowering People & Businesses | Building Modern HR for the Evolving Workplace
#HRMythBusters #RealLeadership #HumanAtWork #LeadershipTruths #KevinGohHR

This article originally appeared on LinkedIn by Kevin Goh – Director. You can read the full post here. Adapted and shared with permission.