10 Traits ALL Likeable People Have

In this video, we take a look at why it is so important to be likeable both in business and in personal relationships, and go over the 10 traits that all likeable people and how you can start adopting these traits if you are lacking some or all of them.

The first trait that likeable people have is that they don't criticize, condemn, or complain. Instead they focus on giving feedback and lifting people up, rather than bringing them down. An example of this would be instead of criticizing an employee for wearing inappropriate clothes to the office, you could compliment them on their gear and concede that in a different context that would be an appropriate attire, but then proceed to provide feedback that for this environment a different type of clothing is more appropriate.

Likeable people give honest and sincere appreciation to those around them. Most people go through their lives never complementing others, and never receiving compliments either. It takes almost no time and barely any effort to find something to genuinely compliment in other people, so why not do it.

Another trait is that they smile often. Smiling helps others feel more comfortable around you as it makes you more trust worthy in their eyes. It is also something that takes barely any effort or time to do, so it is a no brainer to implement into your conversations.

Likeable people become genuinely interested in other people. Instead of always talking about themselves, they are interested in learning more about the other person and use their listening skills to actively listen and empower the other party.

They also remember the persons name, and use it often when addressing them. Using someone's name instead of just referring to them with pronouns, helps build trust and also convey that you are indeed taking a genuine interest in them, at least enough to have bothered to learn and use their name.

They are good listeners. They actively listen when the other person speaks, and they convey this by asking questions about what was just said, or reacting to the surprising or interesting elements of their story.

They recognize that the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. We often get involved in arguments where neither side is going to convince each other, and both go strongly at it for no reason at all. A likeable person recognizes the futility of such arguments, and avoids them if possible.

They admit when they are wrong, and they do it quickly and emphatically. Nothing builds trust more than showing that you are quick to admit when you are wrong and set the record straight. People recognize that everyone make mistakes at some point, that is simply human nature, so those who admit to their mistakes and correct them are most perceived to be worthy of trust as they are the only ones that illustrated their high degree of honesty and integrity.

They let the other person feel that the idea is theirs. People want to feel like the decision they make are their own ideas, so instead of trying to take credit for every single good idea, likeable people recognize the importance of letting people think they came up with an idea themselves.

They try to see things from the other person's point of view. In all interactions, there are two sides to the story, and often times they differ gravely from one another. Instead of being quick to blame the other side as wrong, likeable people consider "why would a smart and well intentioned person do this?"