Interesting, I have heard the following phrase frequently lately: ‘He/she is a nice guy but ….’ (Insert negative commentary on performance).

When I first started selling, a rep named John Van Atter (very successful copier salesman) who used to say ‘You don’t have to like me, but you need to respect me’. The context was that he did a good job and deserved the respect, but he really did not care if you liked him since it was not about whether or not you and he were going to be buddies. It was about performance.