While being liked can be more about gender bias in the eyes of the beholders than actual performance, experts do have some advice to help the ambitious thrive.
Provide Clear Feedback
As a leader, it's critical that you provide your employees with clear and precise feedback. There's nothing more frustrating for an employee who wants to move up in the ranks or improve their performance if their boss can't articulate what they need to do to make that happen.
Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Stealing credit, particularly from an underling, is petty and unnecessary. And chances are, if someone you supervise performs well, her success will reflect on you too. After all, you're the one who hired her.
Reward Good Work
While everyone likes to get a raise, it's not the only measure for acknowledging good work. A few words of praise--particularly when money is tight--can go a long way in increasing employee satisfaction. And an employee that feels appreciated tends to be a loyal and productive one.
Encourage Team Work
Pitting employees against each other is counterproductive and just plain bad management. Instead, foster an environment of cooperation and encourage workers to turn to each other for advice and support. Two heads almost always yield better ideas than just one.
Be A Good Role Model
How you conduct yourself in various settings--meetings, networking events, business dinner--sends a clear message to your employees about what is acceptable behavior. If you're always checking your BlackBerry or e-mail when you're talking to subordinates, you're sending a strong message that their time isn't valuable to you. If you're swamped, it's better to tell them that you don't have time at the moment but would love to talk when you can give them your undivided attention.
