Can poor leadership lead to a lack of communication & motivation in your team?

If we have an employer that refuses to take control, triangulates employees against one another,
and blames their mistakes on others, it’s a sure-fire recipe for a miserable workplace.

In a toxic working environment, the problem can almost always be traced to the person who oversees it all – the boss. The boss is the leader, and what the leader says, goes. So, what happens when your leader is just not good at leadership?

Setting an example

First of all, our leaders set examples of what to do and what not to do. Many people look to their leader to understand what an appropriate form of behaviour in the workplace is – and even if it doesn’t seem right, plenty of people will talk themselves into believing that it must be right, because a leader is doing it. The end result is employees all falling in line with a harmful behavioural style that can have a terrible knock-on effect across your business. Poor leadership often begins with poor communication, so the importance of communication skills in leadership should never be under-estimated.

Having clear goals

Next up, a boss with poor leadership skills lacks clear goals. As they say, what gets measured, gets
done, so we can only assume that what doesn’t get measured just sits there for months and years
until someone asks why it hasn’t been done.

Effective leaders have clear road maps for their objectives, pinpointing obstacles and milestones,
with timescales planned out and an end goal to point their team members towards. Without an
obvious aim, employees get lost. Knowing your goal is knowing your motivation. Not knowing your
goal leads to apathy. The last thing you want is your team asking, ‘why are we here?’.

Fear of punishment

Employees should never be afraid to own up to a mistake or report on something having gone wrong to their boss. Fear shuts down communication instantly. If your team is afraid of the consequences of being honest with you, it’s time for some self-reflection. Employees who are afraid of their boss are more likely to be miserable in the workplace and only be coming in for the pay cheque. Improve your communication style so that you relay a sense of calm and trust to your employees, and they’ll feel much safer in coming to you when a problem has occurred. An open team is far more efficient and much healthier for your business.

Get in touch

You may have recognised shades of yourself in this article and may be wondering how best you can improve yourself to improve your business and your life. At Shooksvensen, we have created a number of leadership and communication skills programmes to help with just that. Click here to find out more about improving communication skills in the workplace.

Image Source: Unsplash

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