Good and effective leadership is an essential element of any business endeavor. Whether it’s an individual or a group, leadership affects and reflects every organization’s success. Leadership styles differ depending on the business situation, resources, and economic aspects. But it will always have a long-lasting effect on business endeavors and success.
There are generally two types of leadership; good leadership and bad leadership.
What Is Good Leadership?
Good leadership is the ideal and positive method every employee looks for within the organization. It is the driving force for success, open communication, increased employee engagement, and developed corporate culture. Good leadership also boosts employee morale, leading to employee retention and long-term employee productivity, and work profitability.
A good leader motivates and leads their staff towards their collaborative success within the organization. Examples of good leadership are the following:
1. Communication is open and daily among staff and leaders. Employees do not hesitate to initiate contact with their superiors but sustain genuine ties for effective work camaraderie.
2. Employees see a clear and developed corporate culture where they feel a sense of organizational belongingness, work dedication, and responsibility.
3. A good leader gives consensus decisions and will openly and constructively accept criticisms on their actions and decisions, as needed.
4. Employee engagement is greater, as employees feel they are an essential and large part of the organization’s success. Every job is respected, recognized, and compensated accordingly.
5. Promotions and recognitions are objective and based on the employees’ integrity, work performance, technical skills, and work attributes. The leader gives everyone an equal opportunity to pursue a higher endeavor once a chance is given.
6. Good leaders encourage their staff to develop a healthy competition that ignites their desire to succeed by helping others.
7. Good leaders provide their employees with clear and defined roles in delegation and even offer guidance, as necessary.
8. Good leaders relentlessly pursue interpersonal interactions with their staff, providing daily motivation and recognition of the staff efforts, as needed.
9. Good leaders do not hesitate to serve their staff accordingly, within their scope of duty. They are ready to decide and take accountability for their actions for the group’s sake, regardless of the consequences.
What Is Bad Leadership?
Like good leadership, bad leadership is felt by all the organization members, but not in a pleasant manner. Bad leadership creates poor communication, demotivation, and disengagement among employees. It also fosters poor delegation, staff favoritism, and crab mentality within the team.
Bad leaders may leave their subordinates behind and cause the staff to pull each other downward, as in crab mentality. Examples of bad leadership are the following:
1. The corporate culture is unclear, as bad leaders fail to establish open communication among staff and management. This unclear corporate involvement may result in employee frustration and disengagement.
2. There is an absence of clear, consistent, and open communication, even though the leaders may claim otherwise. This approach creates poor interpersonal communication, which can increase employee frustration. It can also cultivate a negative work culture full of rumors, politics, and bad sportsmanship.
3. Bad leaders may become authoritarian or autocratic and single out an unsolicited action and decision not consulted with the group. They may even inflict the consequences of their decisions on the staff, even if they made the final choice.
4. Employee disengagement may happen as employees fail to see themselves as part of the organization. Hence, employees do not understand the business vision and goals. Not seeing their role in the organization’s greater whole may demotivate the employee and result in high turnovers.
5. Promotions are given on a subjective basis as to seniority, work favors, closeness, and familial ties. These bases of promotion can cultivate a hostile and chaotic work culture in any organization.
6. Bad leaders may influence their employees to play unhealthy and dirty competition for a promotion. This type of competition results in a crab mentality, where employees pull down each other.
7. Bad leaders merely delegate roles out of convenience or necessity and may not establish a clear assignment of tasks. Employees not appreciating their roles may result in disrespect, overlapping, and belittling of functions.
8. Poor leaders tend to create a clear, authoritative line between their staff. They may appear aloof, disinterested, and uninterested with their employees, further widening the communication gaps.
9. Bad leaders act more like a boss than a leader. They give a sole, unsolicited opinion and delegate full responsibility for action to their employees.
Final Words
Leaders in any organization significantly affect the corporate culture, work productivity, sustainability, and the employees’ work engagement. There is no ideal leadership type, as it depends on the work situation and resources present within the organization. However, good leadership is a gem to the entire organization. If you’re a leader, try to enhance your abilities to be good at leading your subordinates.
