Nice but dicey. Great but overwhelming. Cooperative but suffocating. These are some comments about people who keep people guessing. These are colleagues who seem to be good but maybe not really nice.
These are leaders who are not bad but still not good. Such people who are not really bad intentioned but mediocre leaders are quite common. Most people have personal blind spots.
Most organizations lack leadership grooming and coaching plans. Most cultures are not open enough to encourage honest feedback from the bottom to the top. This results in many cases of professional labelling of really not having it in them. This labelling can lead to a perception barrier that creates organizational and team discomfort.
There are people who are simply not made for leadership due to some serious character and competence defects. Then there are people who seem to have it but do not do it. This second “seem” needs further study.
Their behaviour is not aligned with their character. They are not toxic and not power hoarders but are still unable to inspire their team. That means that unknowingly or unintentionally they are guilty of behaving in a manner that puts people off.
These are people who have earned their way to the top. They are hardworking industrious people who have a lot of experience. Their dedication and loyalty over a period of time have made them deserve leadership positions. With such credentials they have tendencies that become irksome for people working with them. There are 4 main categories of leadership irritants:
- The autobiographer expert— These are leaders with tons of experience. They have entered companies on junior positions and have worked their way up through corporate storms.
Such leaders have a tendency of always reliving their past experiences to the juniors. Whenever a team member needs help or is stuck, such leaders go into long-drawn description.
They tell tale of how when they were in similar positions they managed the situation despite not having half the support the present-day team member has. This may seem like excellent advice based on work experience but is conveying two messages to the team member especially if he is from the Generation Z.
Firstly, it is telling him how great the leader was when he was his age and how ungrateful this generation is for cribbing over small things. Secondly, it is communicating a perception of an old, full of his own life, boring boss who is uninspiring and unhelpful.
This will create a communication gap and lead to disengagement and disenchantment. The classic generation gap occurs. These leaders normally do not respond well to HR counselling and need one to one external coaching to create the cycle of awareness, acceptance and adaptation.
- The popularity seeker— Then there are the leaders who are jovial and friendly. They engage with the team and support them in many ways. However, their ability to get team to work is still doubtful.
Their department performance is unstable. Such leaders are letting some team members who have discipline or other problems get away with violations. There is the old senior team member who has the system on his fingertips but is a habitual late comer.
His leader deals with it in a friendly manner but is not taken seriously by this senior team member. This creates conflict with the team members who are disciplined. Such leaders hide behind their own self-image of being very empathetic and humane.
However, due to the lack of accountability, this leader’s ability to win trust and respect becomes questionable. Sooner or later the department’s ability to deliver timely results will be affected.
- The ready to do solver— Then there is this leader who “knows the way”. He is somebody who is able to understand and execute most deliverables well. When his team member struggles to do something he very nobly takes the responsibility of doing it himself.
His own intent is to help and do it quickly because his junior is going to delay and make a lot of mistakes. But in the process he does not develop his team. People under him do not learn and grow. Most of his team will call him a micromanager and feel disempowered. Such mangers may also be viewed as not ready to coach, not ready to share, and not ready to develop successors.
This leader spends a lot of time in the workplace and sees himself as a loyal pillar. He constantly complains about the lack of “dedication and hard work” of the other team members.
- The fast and the furious— Leaders who are energetic and enthusiastic are normally termed as charismatic. They are quick in thinking, electric in speaking and fast in action. Great qualities.
The downside of such high energy leaders is that they are many times not in sync with the level and pace of the team’s thinking and working. A typical meeting for such leaders would entail the leader coming in and with full throttle zeal giving his opinion and asking the team for their opinion.
By the time the team gets their wits together and are able to give their two cents, the leader has moved to another idea. He is so good with holding attention that his constant switching of topics and actions is not apparently putting the team off.
He feels that he has mesmerized the team and they are ready to act. However, when the team walks out their head is spinning on the pace and whizzing pastthe topics. This creates pressure and confusion leading to a lack of execution. Such leaders then become frustrated and furious at what they feel is a “lax and laid back attitude”.
Being a leader and behaving as a leader are two different things. When leaders are behaving negatively and show obvious symptoms of power politics, they are easy to spot. The above four categories are the ones who are not easy to spot due to their motives being Apolitical.
The challenge is that even with the best of intentions you can be as detrimental to team morale and engagement as the openly negative leader. The problem is when you are up there, the spotlight is on you all the time highlighting every minute action.
In a recent case an employee felt disappointed with this leader who claimed that he really wants his team to have work-life balance. When I asked the reason for his disappointment, he said “Why would he send emails late at night and on Saturday if he really meant what he said”.
For a leader there is no hiding place behind his intent or his nice words.
A leader has to constantly align his behaviour with his intent and walk the talk for the team to trust and be inspired by him.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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