Chasing approval turns leading into taking orders from whoever complains loudest.

If being liked is the goal, every decision ends up handed to whoever is most willing to be unpleasant about it. That is not leading, it is a queue where volume is the ticket, and the quiet majority lives with choices made for the benefit of one loud person. Wanting approval is normal. Using it as a compass is what goes wrong.

Before your next decision, write down what you think the right call is and who will be annoyed by it. Then make it and say plainly why. One unpopular decision held calmly earns you more than ten accommodating ones.