10 Signs You Might be a Bad Leader
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Leadership is everywhere. It is the driving force behind successful businesses, education systems, and pretty much anything involving human interaction.
While there is no set handbook for good leadership vs. poor leadership, most people feel secure in their perception of both. From politics to business to religion, we’ve all, at some point, identified poor leadership.
But pointing the finger is easy. Not so easy is identifying whether you are being a bad leader yourself.
Nobody wants to feel like they suck at leadership. We’re human, after all. But awareness is key – it helps you gain a better understanding of when, why and how your leadership is lacking. Only then can you really turn yourself around and be the best leader you can be.
Below are 10 signs you might be a bad leader.
#1 Your vision and purpose aren’t aligned with your work
Getting clear about your vision and purpose, and aligning it with your work, can be the difference between a dreadful life and a meaningful one. When you identify your core self, you are able to build strong relationships, achieve your vision and share your gift with the world.
In the words of Jen Sincero:
It is critical for leaders to know where they’re heading; only then can they properly lead others in that direction.
#2 You turn a blind eye on self-care
Ah, typical leader mistake. This is probably one of the most difficult habits to turn around. Because high-achieving leaders are used to wearing multiple hats, serving multiple people, and always being one step ahead of the rest, self-care often ends up last on the priority list.
I get it. I hear ya. It’s easy to prioritize other money-making tasks first, or even to associate self-care with being lazy, but it actually helps you do better, quicker. It allows for clearer thinking, prevents burnout, and reduces stress levels, all of which allow your mind and body to function at full capacity. (Cough,cough, high-achieving).
#3 You don’t manage relationships well
Building relationships with others is essential for leadership success. If you aren’t connecting with others, you hold no influence.
The best way to gain influence is to make an impact. How is your work connecting with people? When you think about the work you do, do you feel like it is bettering the life of others? Think about it long and hard…
#4 You lack emotional intelligence
Good leaders stay in touch with their emotions.
Bad leaders don’t.
High levels of emotional intelligence allow you to stay in touch with the triggers that cause our brain to light up with alarm – so we can use our logical brain to calm ourselves down and deal rationally and effectively with the situation. Here are three ways to stay in touch with your emotions:
Staying in touch with your emotions helps you recognize how your feelings impact you, those around you, and their performance at work.
#5 You don’t communicate clearly and compellingly
Let’s face it: successful leadership and impact go hand in hand. You can have the best intentions, a great plan, and clear goals, but if you aren’t conveying the right message, your impact falls short. In the meantime, the larger your organization grows, the farther away you are from those who need to hear your message the most. Stop trusting hierarchy to convey vision and purpose – get out there yourself and do it with frequency!
You need clarity and direction to hone your message. Only then can you truly engage with people who matter most (e.g. employees, customers, and family). When leaders communicate with clarity and positive, engaging energy, magic happens.
#6 You don’t develop or implement strategies for employee engagement
Good leaders recognize that investing your time and energy in employee engagement offers one of the highest ROIs in leadership; bad leaders don’t. When you help create a connection between employees and their work, their performance improves. But don’t take my word for it…
According to OfficeVibe’s Top 10 Employee Engagement Statistics of 2017 report:
- Only 13% of employees are engaged worldwide
- Highly engaged businesses see a 10% increase in customer ratings
- 80% of employees would work more hours to work for a more empathetic employer
- Highly engaged businesses see a 20% increase in sales
- 60% of workers would like work praised more frequently
- 42% of employees feel that their leadership does not contribute to a positive company culture
- 60% of employees eat alone at their desk, working; 34% of employees don’t think they have enough interaction with their colleagues
Yeah, that’s right. Employee Engagement directly affects your bottom-line.
If you don’t recognize that/act upon it, chances are you might not be the best leader…
#7 You don’t build employee-customer connections
One of the biggest mistakes people make is view their customers as dollars or transactions rather than the true purpose of your calling/business. Customers/clients are human.
They are more than a transaction. Recognizing this allows leaders to understand their needs far beyond an initial “get” or “checkmark” and more as a lifelong mutually beneficial relationship.
The best way to add value to your customers is to understand your business inside and out. By knowing the climate of your business, you can provide insightful responses to any questions, comments, or needs they have. By understanding them, you are able to build a strong relationship by continuously evolving with their needs, which, as we all know leads to repeat business, referrals, and long-term relationships. Make it a priority to connect your employees to your customers.
#8 You don’t celebrate success
Being a leader in an organization is a high-profile job, so it’s easy to feel like you should be doing more. But guess what? Small steps turn into miles, and milestones should be celebrated. People appreciate being celebrated and celebrations are less frequent these days. Go all out, be all in. There is ALWAYS a reason to celebrate something. Your ROI will be incalculable.
#9 You lack organization or the ability to prioritize effectively
If you’re overwhelmed, lost, or lack connection to your work, your leadership efforts will fall through the cracks. As a leader, your voice and your brain are key to your success.
But in order to use your voice and brain effectively, you have to let go of most of the tasky stuff.
There is a reason leaders like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg wear the same thing every day – they are focusing on the art of eliminating all the “extra” – all those little decisions we make all day long that take up processing space in our brain which make it harder to use our brain for the more important decisions. Take time to get clear on the things only you can do so you can build talent to take on the rest.
#10 You’re afraid to let go of control
Leadership is no joke.
You need to be really good at prioritizing your tasks/focus and having clear end goals. The majority of your time should be spent on planning, building relationships, and being present. This means planning meaningful messages, running effective meetings, prioritizing and delegating, learning/understanding, and showing up with your full self so you can respond and make decisions that matter.
Notice – nowhere did we say “doing all the tasks…
At Energize Leadership, we believe in purposeful leadership.
Our suite of individual and corporate solutions are designed to support high-achieving leaders in their growth and success so that they can make the impact they want to make. If you’re looking to finally push through those barriers that are preventing you from being the best leader you can be, we invite you to contact us to learn more about our coaching solutions.
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