5 habits that are making you a worse leader
30 Jul 2025 · 2 min
Leadership habits that backfire: avoiding tough decisions, staying busy without impact, and spreading negativity. The podcast explores how these patterns undermine effectiveness and what experts say about breaking them.
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Requires a matrix of skills and abilities working in tandem. The ability to foster hope, cultivate trust and and motivate people to action can make a difference in your company's ability to function effectively and retain employees. 80% of employees responded that they'd stay in a job because they have a manager they trust. And no small part of the ability to lead is executive and leadership presence. A well published study by Kokwal, formerly the center for Talent Innovation, found executive presence looking and acting the part of a leader makes up 26% of what it takes to ascend to top jobs. If I were to boil everything down, the two fundamental core principles of good, successful, solid leadership is strong and unquestionable authenticity and trust, says executive and leadership development coach Serena Palmer. However, there are some common behaviors and habits that undermine those leadership essentials. Palmer and other executives say being aware of them is is the first step to correcting them. Shifting from me to We Some leaders, especially those who are new to their roles and may be feeling insecure, have trouble shifting from being individual contributors who need to toot their own horns to get ahead to being a leader and responsible for a team's performance, says leadership expert and coach Emily Walton. This can take a few forms, she says, including emphasizing your own importance in a situation, micromanaging and failing to give credit to others for the team's success. Sometimes people will take these actions because they might be feeling insecure about themselves, in their role or about their contributions, walton says. When you shift into leadership, it's a we thing, and you want to do that because it strengthens your network and it also strengthens the trust that people have in you, that you're going to speak up for them whether they're in the room or not, and that you're honest and authentic. Avoiding the tough parts the COQUAL survey found that gravitas was the number one factor in leadership presence, according to 67% of respondents. Key components of gravitas include exuding confidence, showing grace under pressure, and speaking the truth even when it's difficult. One of the quickest ways to erode the trust of your team, Watson says, is people pleasing, especially when it comes to making tough decisions and standing up for your team. If you're constantly trying to please everyone else, it's going to frustrate your team, and it's also going to frustrate your colleagues because they're not going to know where you stand and you're no longer dependable, walton says. Another version of this behavior Palmer calls don't shoot the messenger. In other words, when difficult decisions are made or bad news surfaces, the leader abdicates responsibility for the decision or news, saying it was someone else's to make, she says. In other cases, the leader just avoids making a decision, such as allowing bad behavior on a team to continue rather than addressing it head on. Both undermine authenticity of the leader and again, you will lose people that way, she says. Being busy without impact wearing busyness as a badge of honor without making a significant impact is another action that will erode the trust and confidence of teams in their leaders, says personal branding expert Nicole Hart. When someone is proclaiming how busy they are and the results of that work aren't evident, the people around you and your superiors are going to be like, oh, I don't have the faith that I can put more on their plate, she says. And so it kind of decreases faith for leaders when I think people are actually trying to do the opposite. Hart adds that insecure leaders may do this to try to solidify their place as necessary to a company or organization. However, effective leaders know how to prioritize where their efforts are best. Devoted spewing negativity Chronic negativity can also wear on a leader's presence, Hart says. Bringing up negative personal issues when they're not relevant. Being cruel or overly negative when giving feedback, and even being negative about your own ideas as you pitch them all damage credibility and relationships with the team. Leadership requires vision. Vision requires the ability to see untapped positive opportunity. Negative leaders can't inspire innovation or loyalty, hart says. Avoiding vulnerability Walton says that communication issues like being a know it all and having an inability to apologize can also undermine leadership presence. Similarly, an inability to show vulnerability can do the same, says Palmer. By not doing that, you don't give permission for people in your team to be able to have a safe space to share whatever it is they're having difficulties with, she says. Leaders who feel like they may be undermining their own leadership presence should try to get to the root of why trust is being lost, Walton says. Own up to it and then outline what you're going to do differently and then actually do it, she says. Otherwise, it's just lip service, and that's not going to change how people feel, that's all. Today from Fast Company Talk to you tomorrow.
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