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Quick Look Course Summary:Being a Likeable Boss Training (1 day)
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 5,654 EX VAT 3 Person R 3,982 EX VAT 10 Person R 2,954 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
Being A Likeable Boss – self-paced online, 6 months’ access: R950 per learner (ex VAT); teams of 10 or more pay less.
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Being a Likeable Boss Training (1 day)
Managers who are respected and liked at the same time – trusted by their teams, clear in their feedback and firm when it counts.
Most people have worked for a boss they feared and a boss who wanted to be everyone's friend – and neither got the best from the team. Fear buys short-term compliance and long-term resignations; trying to be liked at all costs leaves poor performance unchallenged. This likeable boss training shows senior managers how to hold authority and goodwill at the same time, so people follow them because they want to, not because they have to.
Over one practical day, delegates look at leadership as a service to the team, what really motivates people, how tone and feedback land, and why micromanaging destroys trust. They work through realistic case studies – a feedback conversation that went wrong, a manager who cannot let go, a team that has stopped speaking up – and practise the adult-to-adult conversations that replace nagging and lecturing.
Delegates leave with a personal leadership statement, a short list of habits to start and stop, and an action plan for rebuilding trust with their own team. In South African workplaces, where teams span languages, cultures and generations, being approachable and consistent is not a soft extra – it is how a manager keeps good staff.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Managers who keep good people instead of driving them out
- More honest upward feedback, so problems surface before they become crises
- Less micromanagement and better use of delegation
- A consistent standard of respectful leadership across departments
For your delegates
- A clear way to be approachable without losing authority
- Feedback techniques that improve performance without resentment
- A personal leadership statement built on your own values
- Practical habits for earning and keeping your team's trust
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain why leading by fear or by popularity fails, and describe the middle ground of respected, approachable leadership
- Lead as a service to the team by getting to know each person's strengths, goals and pressures
- Write a personal leadership statement that links their goals, values and daily behaviour
- Identify what motivates individual team members and adjust their approach to each
- Give constructive feedback that is clear about intent and focused on future success
- Choose a tone that motivates or calms, and keep difficult conversations adult-to-adult
- Delegate with confidence and recognise the signs of micromanaging
- Build trust by being honest, consistent, available and open with the team
- Plan team exercises with a specific purpose that reinforce the team's strengths
Who should attend
Executive and senior managers – the audience this course was designed for – and any manager whose team respects their expertise but keeps its distance. It suits leaders who have been told they are hard to approach, leaders who struggle to deliver criticism without damaging relationships, and newly appointed senior managers who want to set the right tone from the start.
Course outline
Day 1 – Respected and liked: leading people who want to follow you
Loved, feared or respected?
- Why some leaders rule through fear – and what it costs the business
- Why trying to be everyone's friend backfires
- The argument against both extremes
- Finding the middle ground: firm, fair and approachable
- Case study: two managers, one team
Leadership as service, leadership by design
- Command from the top versus support from below
- Knowing your people: strengths, goals and pressures
- Empathy that is genuine, not a technique
- Starting with the end in mind: your goals and values
- Drafting a personal leadership mission statement
What motivates people
- Why people act as they do: Kenneth Burke's dramatism and the pentad of act, scene, agent, agency and purpose
- Guilt, blame and how a team moves on after mistakes
- Identification: helping people see their own goals in the team's goals
- Matching recognition to the individual
- Case study: a capable team member who has switched off
Feedback and tone
- Checking your intentions before you criticise
- Painting a positive picture of what success looks like
- The feedback sandwich – and when it backfires
- Following up without nagging
- Tone that sparks energy and tone that calms a crisis
- Adult-to-adult rather than parent-to-child conversations
- Rewriting the script of a conversation that is going badly
Trust in both directions
- The hidden cost of micromanaging
- Delegation and the anxiety it causes managers
- Putting the right people in the right roles
- Celebrating success in public
- Earning trust: honest, consistent, available and open
Building the team and leading yourself
- Mapping team strengths, gaps and roles
- Designing team exercises with a clear purpose – and what to avoid
- The kind of leader you would choose to follow
- Knowing yourself, improving yourself and keeping your balance
- Personal action plan and evaluation
How it is delivered
One day, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20; case studies can be tailored to your sector on request. Workbook, self-assessments and a personal action plan included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“The courses was efficiently scheduled and planned around our timetable. We were impressed by the quality of training … with overall scores of 5 out of 5.”
“Coaching sessions have been delivered on a consistent monthly basis throughout the engagement, with BOTI's facilitators demonstrating professionalism, flexibility in scheduling, and a strong ability to tailor coaching content to the individual development needs of our delegates.”
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa; we can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of 20. Senior teams often book it as a closed group so they can discuss real situations openly. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Is this course only for senior managers?
It was designed for executive and senior managers, but the content works for managers at any level. For first-line managers who also need day-to-day supervisory skills, Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders is a better first step.
Can we follow it up with individual support?
Yes. Many clients add one-on-one leadership coaching sessions so each manager gets help applying their action plan. The Servant Leadership Course is a natural next step for leaders who want to go deeper into leading by serving the team.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
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Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.