How do I get my team to respect me, not just like me?

You have worked hard to be liked, and it worked. People enjoy you. But somewhere along the way you traded away the harder thing, which is being respected, and now you can feel it costing you. Decisions get questioned, standards slip, and you sense the ground is soft under you. Being liked and being respected are not opposites, but when you chase the first you often lose the second. People respect a leader who tells them the truth, holds a line, and does not need their approval to sleep at night. That kind of leader is often liked more in the end, just not in every single moment. Start with one thing you have been avoiding because it might make you less popular. A standard you have let slide, a conversation you keep softening. Have it, kindly but plainly. You will feel the discomfort of not being instantly liked. Sit with it. That discomfort is the price of respect, and it is a fair one.