Let’s just acknowledge that if you’re reading this, it’s very likely you work hard to lead your team well. You don’t fly into rages, impulsively—and explosively—reacting. You don’t lock yourself away in your office and refuse to engage. You don’t roll your eyes when divergent ideas are posed or use sarcasm and disdain as a weapon.
You know your people need you, and you would never hurt them... intentionally.
The most confusing and damaging pieces your team members likely deal with, however, are related to the gulf-wide difference between intent and impact. Despite a leader’s best intentions, their words and actions can negatively affect their people and the results they can achieve. If we do the work to bring those words and actions into the light, we can stop inadvertently harming our teams—and start making a powerful impact on morale, performance, results, and relationships.
5 Ways Leaders Inadvertently Hurt Teams
Are you unconsciously hurting your teams? If the following apply, the answer is, soberingly, “yes”.
1. Not Entrusting Them
How does this show up? You don’t delegate, preferring to handle things on your own. If you do give a team member a task, you’re constantly monitoring and checking their work. It could be that you don’t operate the same way; you are task-focused rather than creative (or vice versa) or their thought processes/actions don’t make sense to you. Perhaps they haven’t been accountable in the past, so you want to play it safe. Or maybe, just maybe, you simply think you will do it better.
Here’s what your people “hear.” I don’t trust you. You’re not good enough. Your days here may be numbered. There is a vibe, a gut instinct, that—while subliminal—eats away at teams. It triggers resentment and fear.
Great leaders are curious. Instead: Ask them to explain their work and thought processes. Ask them to explain how their way might improve flow. Truly consider their responses. Keep an open mind… and start delegating in a way that makes sense for you and for your people.
2. Micromanaging the Work
Micromanaging is a results-killer. When you overrule decisions that team members make and/or feel like your fingers have to be in everything, you take power away from your people. This is a slippery slope for those of us who are more comfortable “doing” than “leading.”
We can tell you that your team is not more comfortable with this! Feeling monitored takes extra time for members and leaders both and makes folks feel insecure and defensive. When everything has to be done exactly the way you would, it stops your team from showing initiative or stretching their abilities. They stop communicating and innovating while productivity—and profits—plummet.
We got to where we are, as effective leaders, through “doing.” Now we need to shift into “leading.” Instead of doing it all:
- Focus on identifying and respecting each team member’s distinctive abilities
- Assign projects in their sweet spot so they can excel—and you can showcase your leadership abilities
As Theodore Roosevelt said, “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” We’d make sure Teddy includes all folks, but the point still applies!
3. Spreading Toxic Positivity
Imagine a team member brings a concern, or even a complaint, to you. Is your tendency to minimize or even dismiss it? Do you find yourself saying things like, “You’re being negative.” Or: “This is counterproductive.” Or: “You’re not being a team player”? Push a bit further: maybe you don’t actually say those phrases verbally, but do they describe how you’re thinking about that team member in those conversations?
Yes, it can be challenging and uncomfortable to deal with negative emotions. We often avoid sharing or discussing tough issues we’re facing. But while understandable, this habit makes people feel invalidated and unsupported. Disengagement and decreased productivity rear their ugly heads again.
Instead, acknowledge and validate your people’s feelings and concerns. Model and approve vulnerability and provide emotional support. You are in the business of delivering solutions, but you also need to realize we work with human beings who need, and deserve, affirmation. Life isn’t sunshine and rainbows; leaders must allow space for conversations and actions around negative feelings. And an added benefit? Your team will be so much quicker at spotting and preparing for challenges in advance, because they know that those concerns will be heard and respected long before things manifest in an emergency.
4. Transferring Blame
Well, I didn’t do it.
Josephine is the one who… Alejandro missed…
No one likes making mistakes or being in the wrong. But, guess what? As we’ve already covered, we’re human beings! It’s challenging to take ownership of our decisions and actions (including knowledge transfer, training, and oversight), so many leaders revert to default settings. They don’t hold themselves accountable.
Let’s talk modelling. We call it follow the leader for a reason. Teams watch how their leader behaves—especially under pressure—and naturally follow suit. Unforeseen things still happen. People make mistakes. When a leader blames lack of results or missed deadlines on their team, a team member, or even unanticipated circumstances, blame culture starts its insidious cascade. Soon peers are blaming one another, managers point the finger at individual direct reports, and inevitably, driven by defensiveness and self-preservation, people start blaming the leader for lack of clarity, lack of oversight, and/or lack of resources.
Avoiding personal accountability not only erodes trust and respect (“Why am I held to this standard but the leader isn’t?!”) among team members, it blocks us from identifying the root causes of issues and developing solutions.
We could keep making the same mistakes again and again… Or we could model a culture of accountability. Set clear expectations, encourage personal accountability, and discuss potential problems openly. Most importantly, start with yourself.
5. Being Overprotective
You care about your team. So much so that you make excuses for lack of results. So much so that you do not pass on negative feedback or have tough conversations. So much so that you reinforce poor behaviour and/or performance and prevent your people from taking opportunities to improve.
So, let’s recalibrate. You really do care about your team. So much so that you recognize that being overprotective unintentionally hurts them. So much so that you identify ways to improve. This includes realizing that you are underestimating your team and holding them back. Acknowledge your overarching responsibility for problems (see #4), but ask them to come to you with solutions rather than providing them with one. The only way your team will grow in confidence and in skills is by acknowledging and taking ownership of their mistakes/problems—and figuring out how to resolve them. Give them this chance.
First, Do No Harm
You would never hurt your team intentionally. Are you ready to take steps to ensure that you do not inflict damage inadvertently? Take a moment to go deep and ask yourself: What can I change? And more importantly, how will I start to make that change? Ultimately, you want to uncover the subtle practices that may be holding you and your team back. If you aren’t sure how to begin, consider engaging a coach.
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