When you are a leader of a company, you will naturally want to lead your colleagues and subordinates in the most effective, positive way possible. Many leaders, however, adopt negative leadership styles when under pressure, often without even realising it. In this blog post, we outline some of the most common, negative leadership styles.
1. Overly optimistic
While it may seem like an oxymoron that optimism can be negative, adopting an overly optimistic leadership style can be harmful for a leader and their company. While it may seem like a positive attitude is productive, failure to properly acknowledge, study and accept problems and issues can result in a company hoping for the best, without putting the actions and plans into place to really achieve its best. Optimism is often a positive leader attribute, but it must be properly balanced to ensure it is effective and not harmful.
2. Arrogant
When faced with criticism and pressure, some business owners and leaders can become arrogant, to compensate for the criticism of their company and expertise. This is often a quick and often unintentional response from a leader, as a result of their ego feeling threatened.
To avoid this, a leader must develop confidence and self-belief in themselves and learn to respond to criticism and pressure without becoming arrogant.
3. Controlling
Should a crisis occur, it is natural for leaders to do everything in their power to try and solve the situation and carry their company through to the other side of the crisis. This can result, however, in a leader becoming too controlling and micromanaging their employees. A good leader must know how to utilise their team and not try to take on too much of a workload themselves, as this can lead to employees feeling underutilised and a leader becoming burnt out.
4. Distant
On the opposite end of the spectrum to a controlling leadership style, is a distant leader. While it is good to have faith in your employees and allow them to work independently, regular communication and support are still required from a leader to build and maintain a productive work environment.
If you are interested to learn more about leadership styles or would like to discover more about how to adapt your leadership style in the most effective way, contact the Anthony Gregg Partnership today and talk to our executive recruitment team.