How to identify poor leadership and why bad leadership isn’t leadership

Poor leadership is one of the biggest predictors of employee stress and is the most influential in triggering serious mental and physical health, experts have warned.

When it comes to poor leadership in the workplace, many fixate on categorising behaviour traits such as inconsistency, incompetence, and potentially narcissism.

However, as a panel of experts told the Future Women Leadership Summit 2022, many are unaware of the health risks of poor leaders.

“I think it’s very common now for people to bucket their bad boss into a personality disorder and I think it’s important to know that personality disorders – particularly those narcissistic and antisocial – have about 1 per cent prevalence in the general population,” Dr Amandeep Hansra, GP and Digital Health Consultant said.

Hansra said while many people tend to wait out a toxic boss or work environment, such a decision, can have serious health repercussions.

“There are studies that have been done that show if you have a bad boss or a toxic work culture not only is it mental health risks that you’re exposed to but there are also evidence now that there are other conditions that you’re at risk of, such as stroke and heart disease,” she said.

“I think we tend to want to hold on to prove we can make it, but sometimes it is the right thing to go ‘well, my physical health and my mental health is not worth it and I need to look around and see what my other options are’.”

Aylin Dulagil, a coaching and organisational psychologist with The Indigo Project, agreed.

“Having a poor leader is the biggest predictor of employee stress and it’s the most influential psychosocial factor in the workplace,” she said.

“So, considering we spend one third, to a quarter of our life at work, that’s a really important thing to get right.”

Kate Mason, CEO and founder of Self Energy, said it is crucial to recognise positive leadership is about inclusive leadership.

“Toxic leadership is exclusive leadership and so I ask you all to think about whether you’ve for a narcissist, a sociopath, someone that is more interested in themselves and their own success,” she said.

She said often as women, in the early stages of their career, when inconsistent leadership happens they “dare to think” it might just be a one-off.

“That they (your boss) are just having a bad day and then they’ll throw you that bit of crumb of having that development conversation or caring about your kids and whether you’re going to pick up in time,” she said.

Mason listed her identifying signs of a bad leader as – someone very change resistant, undermining, a micromanager and fails to provide feedback to staff.

As for the suggestion women joined the ranks of bad bosses once they “get to the top”, the panellists all agreed this was a myth.

“It’s often been a convenient myth for men to perpetuate – ‘you can’t have two or three women on a leadership team because they’ll get bitchy or catty, or start to compete with each other’,” Mason said.

“So, let’s get real, that myth needs to be shoved right down the bottom of Sydney Harbour.”

Hansra said statistics showed 60 to 70 per cent of people bullied in the workplace are women, with men accounting for 60 to 70 per cent of workplace bullies.

“It’s a common myth, it makes a great movie, it makes for great things to be propagated so that we don’t continue to encourage women up into these positions. But I think the data always tells the truth,” she said.

As for how to cope with a bad boss, Dulagil said any response depends on the spectrum of poor leadership.

She said it’s important to maintain your boundaries and get “really clear” about what you are prepared to do in the job and what you are not prepared to do.

“One of the characteristics of poor leadership, particularly down the nastier end, is demanding unwavering loyalty and responsiveness from you,” she said.

“So maintaining boundaries is a really important one. I think not taking things personally is really important and it’s really hard because it will feel really personal with someone like that – but you have to remember it’s not about you, it’s about them. You are just a means to an end.”

Dulagil also said “building your own sense of confidence” should be another focus.

“Really focus on what’s working well for you, what are you doing well on a daily basis, what did you do well, how did your unique strengths and capabilities make that happen,” she said.

More from Future Women’s 2022 International Leadership Summit