Bad leadership has a domino effect throughout the organization, leading to higher employee turnover and lower productiveness in the workplace, which will lead to unhappy guests and experiences.
If you are currently in a leadership position or looking to one day be a leader, these are the 5 most common bad leadership traits to avoid making.
1. Not recognizing good work or great team members
Leaders who recognize their team members and do great work boost morale and give employees an added reason to perform their best. It will also increase employee loyalty and tenure, and create a happier workplace which will translate to guest interactions and experiences.
Make sure to take time during team meetings, or during individual check-ins to highlight work, results, and/or attitude that deserves it.
2. Not supporting your team members
If your team feels overwhelmed, understaffed, or just simply needs help accomplishing tasks, it’s part of your role as a leader to lend them a hand. Make sure to check in with your team members on schedules, capacity, and goals and fill in any gaps they have or help create a plan to accomplish everything.
As a leader, you should be supporting your team members by recommending them for promotions, salary increases, recognition programs, etc… when appropriate, and helping to make cases for new resources, training, etc if your team members express interest or needs.
3. Not communicating effectively
Communication and hospitality are essentially synonymous. In order to help your team be successful, you need to communicate with them the team goals, responsibilities, tasks, and how you plan on measuring success, as well as create an open communication environment for your team to approach you about any concerns, goals or questions.
4. Not giving timely feedback
If people don’t know they’re doing something wrong, they don’t get the chance to improve, or if they are doing something right, letting them know will ensure they continue.
Often managers or leaders save feedback for annual reviews where it can be too late for correction or improvements and leaves the team member frustrated and feeling underappreciated or unsuccessful. Give timely and immediate feedback when possible.
5. My way or the highway thinking
Part of being a leader is to inspire your team to take ownership of their work and be ever-evolving in their career path. A great way to do that is to allow them the freedom to tackle responsibilities, interactions, and problems the way they see fit knowing you are there to help support them if they need it.
Each team member can bring a new, more efficient, or better way of doing things that you haven’t thought of, and by not allowing that freedom you take away the chance for individuals to directly impact the success of the team and the organization.