It’s okay for managers to be disliked as long as it’s for the right reasons:

• Delivering bad news (e.g., layoffs).
• Delivering “unfair” or disappointing news (e.g., someone deserved a promotion but didn’t get it).
• Delivering negative feedback.
• Addressing the need for performance improvements.
• Addressing sensitive topics.
• Firing people (both for the people being fired and folks learning someone has been).
• Introducing unpolular decisions (e.g., taking away a perk).
• Intervening to disrupt interactions going south (e.g., name-calling, aggression, or even casual Sexist or Racist remarks in non-heated conversations that don’t deliberately aim to hurt someone).
• Escalating issues up the chain or to HR.

People pleasing doesn’t work in management. We act as a cushion for our direct reports, our peers, our superiors, senior management, Human Resources, IT, Legal, the economy, and sometimes even larger entities. We are often the face that gets the blame, and we can’t just pin it to someone else, or we’d end up in a place where everything that happens is no-one’s responsibility.