Discover Career Opportunities

5 Warning Signs of Ineffective Leadership

We may receive compensation when you click on product links from our partners. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

It’s common knowledge that leadership is nothing that you can learn from experience. Instead, it’s a happy mixture of creative thinking, setting high personal goals, and dressing for the job you want. But while these can be the key to working your way up to a management position, they don’t make you good at it. In fact, if you’re guilty of any of these 5 management crimes, it’s fair to say that you’re a bad manager.

1. Your time means overtime

Working overtime is never a sign of dedication or quality work. You might want to make a good impression or push your team to work harder, but overtime is not synonymous with increased productivity. In truth, working long hours means that you need to improve your time management strategy so that you allocate the appropriate time for each task. Your team will appreciate the change of directive, and you’ll even be surprised to find out that overall productivity increases with shorter work days.

Recognize the red flags of ineffective leadership: ignoring team input, showing favoritism, being indecisive, not listening to feedback, and taking credit for others' work. Improve your leadership skills and boost team morale. #Leadership #ManagementTipsClick To Tweet

2. You don’t share information

Managers who keep business information to themselves and only share superficial notes with their team never last long in an office. For your team, it’s unfair treatment as they deserve to know what is happening to their workplace, whether the company is struggling with debts or acquiring new partners. More importantly, your team will resent you for not keeping them informed.

An Essential Guide to Interpersonal Communication : Building Great Relationships

This dynamic book is certain to help anyone improve their communications skills at work and at home.

Buy from Walmart.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

3. Your staff don’t trust you

It doesn’t matter how hard you work at improving your management role. If your team doesn’t trust you, then you are doing a bad job. As a rule of thumb, staff finds it difficult to trust a manager who is happy to criticize colleagues in front of them.

It is often perceived as a sign that you are more likely to blame someone else instead of being accountable for the performance of your team. Additionally, if you are obsessed with the arrival and departure time of your team, proof of presence is likely more important to you than achieving results. For your team, it’s a weakness because their work is valued by the hours of office presence instead of quality.

Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow
$7.99

Leadership Step by Step walks readers through what to do and how to do it in an integrated and comprehensive progression of exercises designed to cultivate key abilities, behaviors, and beliefs through experience. The 22 exercises in this hands-on book help you accomplish the inner work and gain the social skills required for great leadership.

View on Amazon.com View on Walmart.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
11/06/2024 11:08 pm GMT

4. Your work matters more

The famous “Do you have a minute ?” line, dropped before borrowing an employee’s time for a matter that wasn’t on their agenda initially is an office nightmare. Interruptions in the workplace make it hard to work effectively. If you’re a manager who likes to interrupt and ask questions frequently, you are not only disturbing your team but also showing them that you don’t value their work.

“All successful businesses have one thing in common? They have great leadership. Great leaders not only have the qualities and traits to create value. They are a catalyst to ensuring that all aspects of a business work together. There may be people who are born leaders but many of us are not. If you are looking to take boost your career with a business leadership role, leadership coaching can help you get there.” – Leadership

Time Management (The Brian Tracy Success Library)

21 proven time management techniques you can use immediately to gain two or more productive hours every day. 

Buy on Amazon.com Buy from Walmart.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

5. You don’t show empathy

Driving your team to achieve results, no matter what is an old-school management method. It doesn’t work. Your team has personal lives and worries that they take with them to work. Knowing and respecting these – acknowledging that you work with people – makes you a great leader. Ignoring social emotions to focus on the tasks of the day instead is likely to decrease overall office performance. Nobody likes to work for a heartless robot.

Being a leader is easily done. All you need is the right knowledge and connection. Being a good leader is an art that you can master with practice and common sense. It’s about caring for the people you work with. A great leader is above all a great carer.

Improve Your Skills as a Manager

Coursera

Coursera offers a variety of leadership courses from top universities like Yale, the University of Michigan, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These courses cover diverse topics such as connected leadership, strategic management, and leadership communication

Coursera | Online Courses & Credentials From Top Educators. Join for Free

Learn without limits

Start, switch, or advance your career with more than 5,800 courses, Professional Certificates, and degrees from world-class universities and companies.

Learn More
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Simplilearn

Simplilearn is one of the world’s leading certification training providers. They provide online training in disciplines such as Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, Project Management, digital marketing, and Data Science among others, where technologies and best practices are changing rapidly and demand for qualified candidates significantly exceeds supply.

Tony Robbins Coaching

Tony Robbins provides coaching sessions that get results. Hand-selected and trained in Tony Robbins proprietary methodologies, our Results Coaches will empower you with the focus, insight, and accountability you need to achieve the consistent results you demand

Udemy

Udemy hosts a vast selection of leadership courses ranging from beginner to advanced levels. Topics include leadership development, management skills, and emotional intelligence​


What's next?

home popular resources subscribe search

You cannot copy content of this page