How Cowardly Leaders Impact Morale
Cowardly leaders impact morale? Huh??? A statement of the obvious?
Duh! That they impact morale goes without saying. They are going to manage (not lead) an organization, and more often than not, that management style results in low morale. The employees will, for the most part, be stressed. They will not understand their role, what is expected, or what their mission is. In all likelihood, that mission will routinely change based on what the cowardly leader has determined is to his best advantage.
Nevertheless, it’s valuable to understand what the effect is on the employees. When they are jerked around, used and abused, sacrificed for the benefit of the cowardly leader, they will suffer.
Ramifications
A Harvard Business Review article on morale and what happens when employees think the boss is biased (here), discusses the hundreds of articles and studies that have been performed on employees and how they perceive bias in the workplace. Just about every demographic group feels they are discriminated against in some way, so bias is present in every workplace in some fashion.
Therefore, bias is always present. Yet there are many examples of great leaders who lead great organizations. Bias is present in their organizations also, but they overcome it by acknowledging it and promoting teamwork.
However, whether it’s bias, or blatant unfairness, or the day-to-day actions of a cowardly leader who is in a position of power, employees pay an emotional price for the actions of a boss who is unfair.
Three Unsatisfactory Options
There really are only three options an employee has when working for a boss who is a cowardly leader:
- Leave. This often is not a realistic option. If you’re the breadwinner, it’s unlikely you can just leave without a viable option in place. But sometimes it happens. One of the two cowardly leaders I have worked for in my career was so blatantly biased that after two years, I left with no job prospects on the horizon. I was married and thankfully my wife was supportive enough to support my decision to leave (which maintained my sanity).
- Look to Leave. This is much more common. However, employees who are looking to leave the organization negatively affect the organization-and the other employees. Employees who perceive bias at work and/or feel as if they work for a cowardly leader, are, according to the HBR article, 60% more likely to have looked for a job while at work. They are over three times as likely to feel as if they will not work there within a year. In other words, they have somewhat mentally disengaged and checked out of the job. We have all worked with those who have no enthusiasm or passion for work. Many times, these are the employees who are looking to leave.
- Alienated. These employees have much the same attitude as those looking to leave, however, they aren’t looking to leave. They are just there, going through the motions. They are, or used to be angry. Now they are just burned out. They are over twice as likely as other employees to NOT feel proud to work there. They certainly are not proud to work for a cowardly leader. They also feel cynical at work twice as often as other employees.
I think it’s important to personalize just how cowardly leaders affect the lives and careers of their employees. Working in such an environment is a daily grind of frustration.
And, there are no magic answers.
Cowardly leaders who remain in positions of authority are affecting the workers of the cities and counties we all live in. They cost all of us tax dollars and productivity. They stifle innovation and vision. It’s all about them.
And we all suffer the consequences.
II-48
