You’re listening to the Magnetic Leader Podcast with Lisa Jeffs. Are you ready to move beyond old school rules and lead with real influence? For those driven to have it all while making a difference, let’s get started.
Welcome to the show leader. Today we’re talking about how to be more respected. I wanted you to imagine for a second that you are doing your best to be liked, to be helpful, to be accommodating. And then when it’s time for the opportunity, you get passed up for someone you know, doesn’t know half as much as you do.
How many times have you heard of a scenario like this? Maybe it’s happened to you. This type of scenario happens all the time. And in this episode, we’re gonna go into how you can never find yourself in that situation because that is an incredibly challenging situation to be in. It not only happens in our work environments, in our businesses, it can also happen, bleed into all areas of life.
So why does this happen? I want you to think about your favorite teachers that you ever had. Someone once said, “We always remember the teachers who we respected.”
When I think about the teachers I still remember, they weren’t the ones who were the nicest or most accommodating. They were the ones I respected.
They had a few things in common. You could feel they cared about doing a good job. They had firm boundaries. They had high standards.
When we’re worried about being liked, we become very focused on ourselves—how we’re being perceived—instead of the people we’re working with.
Sure, people might like you when you’re accommodating and flexible. But you won’t get respect from that.
When you’re more concerned with being liked than being respected, you’re quietly holding yourself back.
You don’t need to be cold or harsh to be respected. That’s a false belief. You can be both liked and respected.
But the first step is being in congruence with yourself—doing what you say you’re going to do and acting in line with your values.
People are always picking up on this, whether they realize it or not. They can feel if you follow through, if you hold standards, if you’re someone they can trust.
And that’s what respect is built on.
If you don’t know your core values, that’s where you start.
And from there—do you follow through? Because people remember.
Every action is either building trust or weakening it.
Respect is about trusting someone’s authority.
Would you trust someone to lead something important if they constantly say one thing and do another? Of course not.
So you need to be clear on your standards. What matters to you? What are your non-negotiables?
If you say something is important but don’t uphold it, people lose trust. And once that trust drops, respect goes with it.
This isn’t about forcing people to respect you. It doesn’t work.
It’s about becoming someone who naturally earns it through consistency and clarity.
If your values say one thing but your actions say another, people feel that immediately.
That’s where the disconnect happens.
So get clear on what matters. Get clear on your standards. Get clear on your boundaries—and actually hold them.
If you’re expecting something from others that you’re not modeling yourself, people won’t take it seriously.
This is the foundation of respect.
I’ll wrap it up here, but if you want more on this, you can reach out through the podcast. There’s a link in the show notes where you can send a message or even a voice note.
If you’re listening to this, you likely already operate with a level of integrity. But you might be defaulting to being liked over being respected.
And that’s something we work through deeply in my coaching.
Because this isn’t always an instant shift. A lot of this is tied to nervous system patterns and past conditioning.
When you start setting boundaries and holding standards, it can feel uncomfortable at first.
But that’s part of the process.
I love you. I appreciate you. Thanks for joining me today.
And as always, let’s stay connected.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this and want more, you can find me at lisajeffs.com. I’ll see you next week.
