Is your leadership style inspiring your team to succeed, or is it hindering their success?

If you’ve noticed a drop in productivity, low employee engagement, or higher turnover on your team, you may be quick to blame your staff or other external factors. However, in order to be an effective leader, it’s important to be self-aware and get real with ourselves about where we may be falling short, and how that could be affecting our team.

So, here are 5 signs that your leadership style may be the problem:

1) High Turnover

One of the most obvious signs of leadership trouble is high employee turnover. You know that saying, “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers”? Well, it has some merit.

If you find that your team members are leaving your organization more frequently than you’d like, it’s worth examining why. Do they feel appreciated, challenged, or supported? Are they able to see a clear path for growth or development? Do they have trust in your leadership or vision?

These are all common reasons for turnover, and they can be addressed through better communication, feedback, recognition, and coaching.

2) Low Engagement

Do your team members seem disengaged and unmotivated? Has there been an increase in absenteeism? It could be due to your leadership style.

One common reason why employees disengage is because they don’t feel aligned with their leader’s or organization’s goals and values. It could also be because they don’t feel empowered to make decisions or contribute new ideas. 

If you’ve noticed low engagement among your team members, it is often due to ineffective delegation or a lack of recognition.

3) Decreased Productivity

If you find that your team members are not achieving their goals or deadlines, or that their quality of work is declining, don’t be too quick to place the blame on them.

Instead, ask yourself these questions:

• Do they have the resources or support they need?
• Have they been given proper training to get the job done effectively?
• Am I providing regular motivation and accountability? 

These are all common reasons for decreased productivity, and they can be addressed through better planning, delegation, training, and coaching.

4) Decreased Team Morale

If you’ve noticed a sense of negativity or apathy in the air, it’s important to understand what caused the decline in morale. This often happens when employees don’t feel a sense of purpose or meaning behind their work. It could also be due to a lack of connection, trust, or camaraderie to your or each other.

If you’re sensing a decline in morale, it’s time to focus on better communication and building a positive, connected work culture.

5) Increased Workplace Conflict

Are you sensing tension within your team? Have you noticed team members not getting along or resolving their conflicts in a healthy way?

This could be due to unclear expectations or a lack of a shared vision or purpose. It could also be because they haven’t been given the proper tools to communicate effectively – or perhaps they haven’t been modeled on how to handle conflict in a healthy way.

So, where do you go from here?

If you recognize any of these 5 signs within your team, first, take a deep breath. Don’t beat yourself up over it.

Often, we step into a leadership position but we’re not given the proper training and tools to know how to effectively lead a team. Therefore, if your leadership style has negatively impacted your team, it is most likely happening on a subconscious level, and it’s not helpful to go into pity party mode.

Instead, shift your focus to the areas of improvement that you recognized above. To get a better understanding of your natural leadership style and potential strengths and weaknesses, take our free Leadership Superpower quiz here.

Next, consider working with a leadership coach who can help you identify how your leadership style has been impacting your team. Your coach will be able to provide tangible tools and strategies to help you develop your leadership skills and integrate a new leadership approach with your team.