A Tip for Tuesday – The 11 Laws of Likability

You know you work in public relations when you pick up a book called The 11 Laws of Likability (ugh, hate that spelling) and assume it’s a social media marketing book. In actuality, Michelle Tillis Lederman’s book is about the bigger picture – being liked in all aspects of life.

Upon this realization, I put the book down as I knew it couldn’t teach me anything. Everyone likes me.

Only joking, of course. I don’t think anyone can make it to adulthood without rubbing someone the wrong way, intentionally or not. Being able to network well and make new connections that last takes some knowledge and self-awareness that doesn’t come natural to some people. The 11 Laws are for those without an innate ability to, well, be likeable.

The 11 Laws that Lederman laid down did have some good advice, but nothing unique or original. I was actually struggling to write this blog, as I tried summarizing each of the Laws in my own words. It was like trying to explain a cliché in a new way, when everyone knows what the cliché means in the first place.

Then I realized: Clichés are around for a reason. And today that reason is to summarize The 11 Laws of Likeability. Stop me if you’ve heard these before….

The Law of Authenticity
Be yourself.

The Law of Self-Image
Love yourself and the others will follow.

The Law of Perception
Be the person you want to be.

The Law of Energy
What goes around, comes around.

The Law of Curiosity
There’s no such thing as a stupid question.

The Law of Listening
Listen, don’t just hear.

The Law of Similarity
Birds of a feather flock together.

The Law of Mood Memory
A good mood is contagious.

The Law of Familiarity
It’s about who you know.

The Law of Giving
I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.

The Law of Patience
Good things come to those who wait.

All in all I found The 11 Laws of Likeability to be ironic: I didn’t like it.