Struggling with low engagement, high turnover, or burnout? In this article we’ll address the root cause: bad leadership.
Poor leadership creates a toxic work environment, leading to workplace risks and diminished employee retention. We understand the fear of making costly mistakes, and this article provides essential strategies to foster a positive culture.
With years of experience in leadership development, we’ve helped organizations transform their leadership approach, resulting in improved employee satisfaction.
To cultivate an employee experience that attracts and retains top talent, it’s essential to identify and address leadership deficiencies at all levels of the organization.
Let’s take a look at what bad leadership is.
What is bad leadership?
Bad leadership is the inability to inspire, guide, or lead others effectively. This can lead to dysfunction in teams, departments, meetings, and entire company cultures.
Poor leadership traits affect workplace culture much more than you probably think.
Research indicates that one in two employees has quit a job due to a bad boss, and 70% are actively looking for new jobs because of a lack of support and recognition from their leaders. This shows how detrimental poor leadership traits can be to employee morale and well-being.
Here’s what you should look for when identifying leadership deficiencies:
- Lack of Communication: Bad leaders often fail to communicate effectively with their team. They may provide little to no feedback, avoid important discussions, or be unclear about expectations and goals, leading to confusion and frustration among employees.
- Inconsistent Decision-Making: A bad leader frequently makes arbitrary or inconsistent decisions, which can create a sense of instability within the team. This inconsistency can undermine trust and make it difficult for employees to understand what is expected of them.
- Blame-Shifting: Poor leaders tend to avoid accountability and often shift blame onto others when things go wrong. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions or decisions, they may scapegoat team members, which can damage morale and foster a toxic work environment.
- Neglecting Employee Development: Bad leaders show little interest in the growth and development of their team members. They may fail to provide opportunities for training, mentorship, or career advancement, leading to disengagement and high turnover rates.
- Toxic Behavior: Signs of a bad leader include exhibiting toxic behaviors such as bullying, favoritism, or a lack of empathy. These behaviors can create a hostile work environment, leading to decreased employee morale and productivity.
You may remember the controversy with Uber’s former CEO back in 2017. Travis Kalanick faced numerous controversies, including allegations of a toxic workplace culture, sexual harassment, and regulatory issues. Kalanick’s leadership style was criticized for being aggressive and dismissive of employee concerns. This culminated in his resignation and a significant overhaul of the company’s leadership and culture.
What are some common bad leadership qualities?
So what qualities show up in the behaviors or actions of a “bad leader?” You might see your leader displaying micromanagement, lack of empathy, poor communication skills, and unreasonable expectations. They also may fail to inspire their teams.
While your leader may be good at the nuts and bolts of their job, their emotional intelligence may not be up to standard, meaning they display controlling or reactionary behavior.
What does bad leadership look like in an organization?
This inevitably trickles down into an organization as toxic workplace behavior. Since the employees don’t have a clear frame of reference on how to act positively, it can result in disengaged employees and lack of trust in leadership, leading to high employee turnover.
The bad leader’s inefficient decision making doesn’t just affect employees; it has an impact on the bottom line, too. Studies found that it could cost companies up to $7 million in employee wages!
Examples of bad leadership
Self-awareness, empathy, and resilience are critical in today’s workplace. It’s about leading with heart, not just head.
Picture this scenario in a team meeting:
Manager: (dismissively) I didn’t have time to review your ideas, so just make sure you hit the deadline.
Employee: (nervously) I thought we could discuss some improvements together. Your feedback would really help us align with the client’s vision.
Manager: (interrupting) If you want to change anything, just do it. I’m too busy to micromanage. Don’t mess it up like last time.
Employee: (frustrated) I understand, but…
Manager: (rolling eyes) Look, if you can’t handle this, maybe you shouldn’t be on the project. (The employee looks disheartened, and the team shifts uncomfortably.)
We can clearly spot a few leadership mistakes here. Their negative management style will undoubtedly have a profound effect on team dynamics, likely lowering morale. We may even find that there is workplace conflict following this interaction.
So what happens if you don’t address this?
The Risks of Not Addressing Bad Leadership
Bad leadership is a pervasive issue that many individuals encounter throughout their careers.
According to a Harris Poll survey, 71% of respondents reported having at least one manager who displayed toxic behaviors, with 31% currently experiencing such leadership. Common grievances associated with ineffective managers include:
- Micromanagement
- Lack of employee recognition or appreciation
- Unreasonable expectations
- Inconsistent or unbalanced feedback
- Absence of empathy
While toxic workplace culture can be challenging to measure, its effects on employee attitudes and behaviors are significant. Just as effective leadership can motivate teams to innovate and excel, poor leadership can lead to detrimental outcomes and reputation damage.
How bad leadership can affect your organization as a whole if it goes unchecked:
1. Higher turnover
In today’s competitive job market, organizations face significant employee retention challenges. With talent shortages, employees have many options. Instead of addressing issues with HR, many choose to leave or become disengaged.
A FlexJobs survey found that 43% of employees with a toxic boss quit, while 12% resorted to “quiet quitting.” This trend contributes to workforce instability and highlights growing disengagement trends that organizations must address.
2. Lawsuits & employment claims
Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation can occur in any workplace, posing serious discrimination risks. Companies that foster effective conflict resolution are more likely to achieve positive outcomes. Conversely, managers lacking conflict management skills can lead to employer liability, lawsuits, and costly regulatory fines.
For example, the FDIC faced backlash after over 500 employees reported harassment and poor management responses, emphasizing the need to address harassment in the workplace.
3. Disengaged employees
Employees who feel undervalued are less motivated, leading to a significant cost of poor management. According to Gallup research, lost productivity from disengaged employees in the U.S. costs between $960 billion and $1.2 trillion annually. Organizations must tackle team performance challenges to mitigate low motivation and foster engagement.
4. Lack of trust
Only 23% of employees trust their company leadership, a concerning statistic. Managers who micromanage and lack transparency hinder trust development. Implementing trust-building strategies and enhancing transparency in leadership are essential.
Addressing the impact of micromanagement and promoting healthy employee-coach dynamics can improve leadership accountability.
5. Stressed & burned-out employees
Managerial behavior significantly impacts employees’ mental health. A Workforce Institute study found that managers influence mental health more than doctors or therapists. If managers lack skills in empathy and trust, anxiety and burnout are likely to increase.
Organizations must prioritize employee mental health and implement burnout prevention strategies to create a supportive work environment. Recognizing stress in the workplace and the impact of leadership on wellness is crucial for promoting employee well-being. Toxic managers drive people to leave and can worsen their health. One study found that managers have just as much of an impact on people’s mental health as their spouse.
How to deal with bad or toxic leadership
Addressing toxic leadership is crucial for fostering a healthy workplace culture and ensuring employee well-being. Here are some effective strategies to combat bad leadership and promote a more positive environment:
Solving Bad Leadership with Scalable Coaching & Development
To enhance employee engagement, retention, and trust, organizations must adopt a comprehensive approach that includes effective feedback mechanisms and strong HR partnerships. Skilled frontline leaders are crucial, yet they often receive insufficient development and training, with budgets typically allocated to higher-level leadership.
While cost-effective online learning is commonly used for developing early-career managers, it often fails to engage learners effectively.
Our recent IMPACT Group study revealed that 63% of talent and HR leaders see engagement as a challenge when relying solely on online platforms for leadership development.
This has led us to develop a microcoaching solution to combat this challenge, resulting in better engagement strategies for frontline manager development.
Why microcoaching with online learning is the perfect solution for improving leadership in your organization
If frontline managers don’t understand their role as leaders or how to lead, employees don’t receive the guidance and communication they need to perform. We can help solve this challenge through scalable leadership development.
Online learning has clear benefits to improve bad leadership, especially when paired with live coaching sessions.
Microcoaching in the form of affordable training programs, professional coaching, and quick videos can be an agile way of learning for leaders who are mostly busy throughout the day. It’s about seamlessly integrating training into the workday, not disrupting it.
Our budget-friendly program combines LinkedIn Learning® courses with live, microcoaching. We call it Link Learn Coach™.
Each program is an 8-week learning journey to enhance your training for frontline managers. In conjunction with curated LinkedIn Learning® content, participants complete hands-on application activities and receive four one-on-one live coaching sessions.
Start Cultivating A Coaching Culture
We hope this guide has helped you decide on how to identify bad leadership in your company and choose the right path to upskill your leaders!
If you’re ready to start now, please book a call with us – we’d be happy to talk through the options below – without any commitment on your part or sales pressure.
- IMPACT Group’s seasoned and dedicated coaches guide leaders to set and achieve meaningful development goals while leaving a legacy of learning.
- Affordable and scalable coaching programs that combine microcoaching sessions with online learning can help your organization reach more frontline and middle managers and develop a new cohort of emerging leaders each year.
- An assessment plus coaching package that pairs 360° feedback with coaching is a powerful accelerator for both self-awareness and what to do about it.
- Check out our highly customized, one-on-one wraparound coaching engagement that adds coaching to your existing program. Book a call with us below to learn more.
Further reading:
- 6 Biggest Frontline Management Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
- How CEOs are Addressing Trust Issues
- 4 Steps to Creating a Workplace Culture No One Wants to Leave
Note: LinkedIn Learning® is a registered trademark of LinkedIn Corporation. Link Learn Coach™ is a trademark of IMPACT Group.
