Bad leadership creates bad consequences throughout the organisation
The quality of leadership is a significant factor in the employee experience in today's working life. According to Gallup's research, two thirds of full-time employees experience burnout at work. Bad leadership has been linked to employee burnout in numerous studies. Various studies highlight the importance of good leadership for the atmosphere of the work community and the success of the organisation. Bad leadership, in turn, has been found to be a key factor that can lead to burnout, staff turnover and reduced productivity. The interaction between a manager and an employee has a significant impact on employees' satisfaction, engagement and performance. Positive interaction, which includes open communication, giving and receiving feedback, and building trust, increases work motivation and productivity. On the other hand, deficient or negative interaction leads to employee dissatisfaction, reduced engagement and higher turnover. The relationships between managers and staff, as well as leadership itself, are key to an organisation's success.8 signs of bad leadership
Signs of bad leadership include deficient communication, ignoring the needs and feedback of one's team members, opaque decision-making, playing favourites, setting unrealistic goals, an inability to acknowledge or correct one's own mistakes, and inflexibility in the face of change. A bad leader may also avoid responsibility and blame others for their own mistakes. Here is a list of 8 signs:1. A bad leader does not meet people as people or hold a sound view of humanity
Working life has an all too familiar saying: “good with things, bad with people”. Leadership work is, however, at its core about working with people, and if leadership is not based on a humane view of people and the leader is not interested in working with people, the result is often leadership that is experienced as bad.2. A bad leader sets unrealistic goals.
Goals are felt to be important, as they give direction and clarity about what the work is aiming at. Setting unrealistic goals causes hopelessness and motivation drops. Goals should be demanding, but achievable.3. The leader does not decide, support and communicate
Communication, decision-making and supporting the staff, as well as openness in all communication, are extremely important for a leader. A bad leader keeps the title but in practice leaves the work of leading undone.4. Micromanagement
Do you hear that voice behind your shoulder? That was the micromanager, checking that the comma in your email lands in the right place. While it is quite true that beauty lies in the details and the devil’s in the details, nobody actually likes having the details of their work constantly and excessively policed.5. Vagueness of feedback: feedback is not specific, there is too much praise or none at all
Feedback is important. Even more important is relevant, well-timed and constructive feedback. For feedback to remain constructive, it is important to acknowledge plenty of positive things as well as areas for improvement, but they must arise from matters that warrant it. If feedback is always negative, it does not motivate, and if feedback is always positive, it quickly starts to resemble empty talk.6. A bad leader acts in morally wrong ways
Acting in a morally wrong way can mean many things. In the case of a leader, we mean that the leader bullies, manipulates, or does other morally bad things, and thereby causes unnecessary stress, fear, shame, sadness or worry in their environment. A leader can act in morally wrong ways in many different manners: by shouting, threatening, talking badly behind people's backs, favouring others, ignoring people, and by other means.7. The leader is absent and cannot be reached
A bad leader is off in their own world and cannot be reached when help or decisions are needed. A bad leader thinks that self-direction means they can be unreachable and leave questions unanswered while the staff is left in the lurch.8. A bad leader ignores the five dysfunctions of a team
The five dysfunctions of a team are inattention to results, avoidance of accountability, lack of commitment, fear of conflict and absence of trust. A leader and a manager should have a view of the state of the staff, the teams and their own leadership team in relation to these dysfunctions, and intervene if dysfunctions appear.What can bad leadership stem from?
- Lack of time: A manager or leader may be a competent person for leadership work, but they do not have the time and resources to do it.
- The “Peter principle”: According to this view, good employees tend to get promoted until they reach a level for which they are not competent enough and no longer get promoted, leaving them at the level of an incompetent leader. It may also be that a leader has been promoted into a leadership position because of technical competence, but does not want to or does not know how to lead people.
- Competence gap: The leader lacks the skills. They may be qualified on paper, but not in practice.
- The organisational culture does not support good leadership: Bad leadership can be a personal trait of the leader or leaders, but it can also be a design flaw of the organisation and a cultural matter. Signs of an organisation that sows bad leadership:
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- It is assumed that people will lead themselves, individually or as a community, without permission, time, resources or context.
- The organisation has no vision, goals, leadership philosophy or values.
- Leaders are not trained in leadership
- Leadership and its development are not discussed, and leaders have no peer support
Read more:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237059/employee-burnout-part-main-causes.aspx
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33901940/
https://collegeforadultlearning.edu.au/impact-poor-management-skills-productivity/
https://www.ttl.fi/teemat/tyohyvinvointi-ja-tyokyky/hyva-johtaminen-on-tietoinen-valinta
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