When faced with an underperforming employee, you may instinctively turn to formal training sessions as a solution. But while training is undoubtedly valuable, it’s not the best fit for every situation. As learning and performance strategist Jess Almlie shared in a recent post, “Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how fantastically designed our learning solutions are because training alone won’t address the root cause of a problem.”

If you've ever had the privilege to work for a good leader, you've probably noticed that they have their people's best interests in mind. In other words, they genuinely care about the success of their people -- including their career goals and aspirations. It is counterintuitive for most bosses to naturally gravitate toward caring and serving the needs of others due to competing demands, including pressures to meet their own performance expectations.

As John Maxwell likes to say, if people can’t get along with you, they won’t go along with you. As a leader, you will not be successful unless the team of people you lead wants you to be. As good as you may be, you can’t do it on your own. So, the answer to the second question in the title is, “yes,” you should do all you can to make people like you.