The 5 Dangers of Poor Leadership & How To Fix Them

We're in the thick of the Covid-19 crisis here in the United States, and while I could easily jump into the dangers of poor leadership on a political level, I won't... it's obvious and is being remarked upon already.

What I want to talk about is the dangers that businesses face from their own internal leaders, delivering a poor performance during this time. I'm an Executive Leadership Coach and I've been volunteering my time through this crisis as a support group facilitator for professionals, and I can tell you, there's a lot of poor leadership happening right now. This not only hurts your people, but it will affect your bottom line going forward, and may impact your company's viability in the months and years to come.

Your employees are scared right now, they've been thrown off balance, and they're watching you, taking note of how you're handling this crisis. They're getting a chance to see how you are when things get rough, and are deciding now, whether they want to continue working with you going forward. If you're committing one of the following mistakes, you may get to the other side of this crisis and then lose your top performers, which would be an ugly hit to any business, crisis or no. Reputations are being forged right now and you want to make sure that you're developing the good kind of reputation, not the bad kind.

The 5 Dangers of Poor Leadership

1. Transparency- Leaders need to be transparent now more than ever. There are times when putting on a brave face, and assuring everyone that everything is going to be ok, is the best thing you can do- now is not that time. Your employees aren't stupid, and they're not checked out. They're paying attention to weekly sales huddles, and listening to the talk around how their industry is doing. If your business is facing hardship through this crisis then they know it already, and they need you to be transparent with them. It can be hard to tell a team of people that you're unsure if their jobs are going to make it through this, but in a time where so much is uncertain, please let your team to at least be certain of what possibilities face them- it allows them to plan for different outcomes, so that they can take care of themselves and their families. You may think that you're a good actor, but the rest of the world is giving you away.
2. Listening- I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and she was telling me how she was asking her manager about how many hours she and the team could submit for under their new, reduced pay schedule, and got the brush off. Her manager couldn't be bothered to hear the question, but worse, she didn't stop to listen to the underlying concern, which was along the lines of, "can I pay my mortgage this month?". When your team members reach out with a question about logistics, money, commitments, etc., yes, they want to know the nuts and bolts about what the new policies are, but they're asking something more dear, they're asking about how they take care of their own lives through this time. Stop. Listen. Care. No one is expecting you to tell them what they want to hear right now, that's impossible. Everyone is trying to figure out how to make this work and everyone wants their concerns listened to.
3. Recalibrating- I have been leading support calls for various organizations I'm involved in, and have noticed a trend on the sales side of companies. Some companies have not adjusted their sales goals to reflect the current climate and impact on their business. Not adjusting the numbers will accomplish two things- First, your business development and sales team members are going to burn out, fast. There's nothing like being held to what was an ambitious goal in a normal time, in a worldwide crisis where your potential clients are checked out and going on a buying freeze. I'm hearing stories of CROs hounding their Sales and BD leaders, demanding explanation for why new sales have slowed down, asking to see call and email logs, and pushing for more aggressive campaigns. This is demoralizing to everyone in these divisions and creates unnecessary stress in people who, by virtue of their chosen profession, are already highly competitive and probably already punishing themselves for their lower numbers. Also, many of these roles are compensated based on their performance through commissions. If a worker is scared about how they're going to pay the rent, or feed themselves and their family, then they're not going to be as productive as you want. Secondly, your customers, who are also feeling the pain of this crisis, will most likely get some poor messaging from your desperate sales staff, turning them off from buying your product or service in the long term. Recalibrate, adjust the numbers and expectations, and for goodness sake change how you pay people, if you can, if not then be upfront with everyone.
4. Checking in- Repeat after me... "People first, people first, people first". No you don't have to know the plan, you don't have to make it all better, you don't even have to have your own emotions 100% handled right now. Check in on your people. Give them a call, and ask them how they're doing. So many leaders are so focused on what can be accomplished right now that they're running over the best asset they have, their people, who I can tell you, are NOT doing ok. This is a time to lean into the communities that you belong to, work being a primary one, and to just care about each other. Set up times to just chat and connect. It'll make a bigger difference than you think.
5. Promoting burnout over boundaries- With the loss of accessing the outside world we're losing one of our most treasured and undervalued rituals of the day, the starting of work, and the ending of work. I'm hearing from every industry, every role, and every level, that the boundaries of work and home life have blurred to the point of becoming indistinguishable. Things that used to be quick are now taking longer, managers are working 11, 12, 13 hours a day to ensure that they get everything done, and in doing so, they're setting the example to their people that that is the expectation. With the dramatic and jarring shift to work from home, and the pressures of doing business in a crisis, your employees will need extra support, which means that the longer they work, the more they'll need from you, so the vicious cycle begins, forcing you to work longer and longer hours. This will lead to burnout on all fronts which won't serve anyone right now, or ever. It is OK to say NO. It is OK to stop after 8 or 9 hours of work and turn off your computer and have your 11 year old hide your phone somewhere in the house. The more you hold to the boundaries of work and home, the more your team will be able to so as well, and the lower your burnout rate will be. Boundaries. Boundaries over burnout.

I write this not to chastise anyone for making these mistakes, but to shine a light so that we may all do better. If you're making one of these mistakes then it's not too late to fix it. You can go to your team and tell them that you've been making a mistake in your leadership and that you want to fix it. We're leaning into our relationships with other people in an incredible way right now, and no one is expected to handle this perfectly. We're all humans, humaning with other humans, and that's a messy, imperfect business in the best of times. You're doing the best with what you've got right now and the sooner you give yourself some grace to be imperfect, the better you'll be at improving.

As always, if you need any support from a leadership coach, I am here and I'm offering free leader support calls to my world. The link to schedule is in my Linkedin Bio.