The qualities of a bad leader are by no means concrete, and vary depending on the situation. There are, however, certain things that you can avoid to ensure that you don't become a bad leader!
What Makes A Bad Leader
What Makes A Bad Leader
- Use of threats and/or punishment. These methods are clearly inefficient and ineffective leadership tactics. Punishment may stop unwanted or undesired behaviour, but fails to encourage or reward productive and positive behaviour or work. This can leave employees (I shall place this in the context of a company, but these rules can apply to virtually any other workplace scenario) feeling resentful, and wanting to get back at the source of the punishment, the bad leader.
- Use of fear. Bad leaders sometimes use fear as a weapon (e.g. If production doesn't pick up soon, then someone's going to be out of a job!) This method can often backfire, as fear can lead to stress and a drop in productivity, which could harm the company. Fear can cause individuals, groups and even entire organisations to begin to concentrate on self-preservation, which stifles inventiveness and originality.
- Selfish use of power. This can often occur when bad leaders become 'intoxicated' by the power that they wield over their employees, and therefore, often do things that are in their own best interests without contemplating the impact their actions will have for others.
- Creating factions within the work force. Although there is nothing wrong with having an 'A Team' of top-performing employees, there is a very delicate balance between rewarding productivity and clearly favouring certain employees over others. Bad leaders often have favourites that aren't the most productive employees, but are those who are most loyal to them. These favourites will then defend the bad leader from being criticised by other members of staff, and this is often how a bad leader stays in power.
