A younger colleague complained bitterly to me recently that he didn’t like the people in his team. “We’ve got zero interests in common. My boss is no fun. I don’t like working with them at all.” He said that he could only do his best work with people that he liked.
Working professionally with others does not require that you like them and want to hang out socially with them all the time. “Liking” is an unhelpful standard. “Professional respect” is the standard. Find the interests you have in common with the work that needs to be done. Be respectful about decisions — offer your input, explain your recommendations, take feedback. Take on more than your “fair share” of work without grumbling or considering yourself better than someone else. Show up. Make commitments and keep them. Share credit appropriately. Aim to be better than you were yesterday.
If you have opportunities to move into roles working with people you like, great — and still be a consummate professional around them.
The world is full of people that you aren’t going always like. And people aren’t always going to like you. Navigate to success through professional respect — given and earned.
