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Founder & CEO, Likeable Local, NY Times Best Selling Author and Speaker

Being likeable will help you in your job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of successful business leaders in my last book, Likeable Business, to determine what made them so likeable and their companies so successful. All of the concepts are simple, and yet, perhaps in the name of revenues or the bottom line, we often lose sight of the simple things. Below are the eleven most important principles to integrate to become a better leader:

1. Listening

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway

Listening is the foundation of any good relationship. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors.

2. Storytelling

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." - Robert McAfee Brown

After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. Whether you're telling a story to one prospect over lunch, a boardroom full of people, or thousands of people through an online video storytelling wins customers.

3. Authenticity

"I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier." - Oprah Winfrey

Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. There used to be a divide between one's public self and private self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Tomorrow's leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional lives together.

4. Transparency

"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth." -John Whittier

Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues.

5. Team Playing

"Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." - SEAL Team Saying

Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, practicing humility, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader.

6. Responsiveness

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." - Charles Swindoll

Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug. Whether the communication is email, voice mail, a note or a tweet, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organisation.

7. Adaptability

"When you're finished changing, you're finished." - Ben Franklin

There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble enough to pivot at the right moment.

8. Passion

"The only way to do great work is to love the work you do." - Steve Jobs

People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike.

9. Surprise and Delight

"A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless." - Charles de Gaulle

Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way.

10. Simplicity

"Less isn't more; just enough is more." - Milton Glaser

The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity in design, form, and function. We humans all crave simplicity, and so today's leader must be focused and deliver simplicity.

11. Gratefulness

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." - Gilbert Chesterton

Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and success. Being appreciative and saying thank you to mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received.

The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you'd like to be treated

By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from co-workers, customers, and business partners.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dave Kerpen is the founder and CEO of Likeable Local. He is also the New York Times-bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business, and the new collection, Likeable Leadership.