Have you ever been so stressed at the thought of continuing to work with an ineffective leader — a “bad boss” — that you become physically ill? If so, you are not alone. Let’s examine the consequences and potential solutions.
The Problem Explained
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes “burnout” or workplace stress as a global occupational phenomenon.
As explained in “Mind the Workplace,” a survey by Mental Health America: “Research has shown that one’s ability to experience satisfaction in life is correlated with the opportunity to experience satisfaction in the workplace. When we consider that individuals will spend a quarter to a third of their life working, the state of workplaces and its impact on the workforce’s mental and physical health is an area that cannot be overlooked.”
PROMOTED
One study, titled “Ineffective-Leader-Induced Occupational Stress,” found that “Occupational stress has been linked to adverse individual health outcomes at the psychological levels (poor emotional and mental health) and physiological levels (poor physical health).”
According to Gallup’s “State of the American Manager Report,” (download required), one in two employees has quit their job because of a bad boss at some point in their career. Seventy percent are thinking about and/or actively looking for a new job due to a lack of support and recognition.
In addition to the individual outcomes, it also leads to organizational issues of lost productivity, employee absenteeism, safety issues, turnover and increased healthcare costs.”
Oftentimes, an ineffective leader will demonstrate behaviors such as low emotional intelligence, disrespect, bias, intimidation and a lack of empathy, support, recognition and self-accountability.
The individual consequences of employees dealing with behaviors like these can impact an employee’s whole life and manifest as fatigue, irritability, anger, lack of motivation, headaches and heart attacks. In fact, one report examining the relationship between workplace stressors and mortality claims that “more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5%–8% of annual healthcare costs are associated with and may be attributable to how U.S. companies manage their work forces.”
Based on these devastating outcomes, organizations are finding it increasingly more difficult to attract and retain high-performing leaders who inspire others. This problem becomes more complex when we consider the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the four generations currently in the workforce: baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z.
Many of us, across generations, are seeking more harmony in our work and personal commitments. Millennials and Generation Z employees have highlighted the need for meaning and balance in their lives. They are more selective about the work they choose and how it aligns with their personal values. In addition, their willingness to leave a job that causes excessive stress has been well-documented.
Personal Observations
During my 25-plus years in global corporate environments, I have experienced and observed the negative impact workplace stress can have on employees at all levels (including the ineffective leaders). As a coach and human resources business leader, I’ve coached many leaders through stressful situations with the goal of creating an environment that inspires employees to become their personal best. Unfortunately, many of those leaders were not committed to a growth mindset, healing emotional issues and developing the skills required to become inspirational leaders.
In spite of a leaders’ negative impact on employees, it can be very difficult to influence an organization to remove leaders, especially when they achieve financial results. Ironically, studies show that teams with leaders who inspire often achieve and exceed financial results.
Further, there’s a cascading effect of bad and good leadership (particularly when leaders have a team of new and/or emerging leaders). So basically, if you have inspirational leaders, they are generally supporting the development of other inspirational leaders, and if you have ineffective leaders, they are supporting the development of leaders in their image.
Potential Solution
Here is a plan to start addressing the critical issue — which has reached near epidemic levels — of ineffective leadership-induced stress in the workplace.
1. Clarify and acknowledge the problem. Senior leaders and organizations must accept the reality of the devastating consequences, request anonymous feedback from employees, respond appropriately and identify how the consequences are manifesting in their organizations (qualitatively and quantitatively).
2. Focus on leadership success principles and internal fitness. Create and/or update the success principles for all leaders. Develop internally or hire external subject matter experts to provide ongoing training for leaders. In addition to skills training, encourage the use of wellness, mindfulness, employee assistance programs and/or coaching services to provide ongoing support for leaders, address health and emotional issues and continue to develop overall leadership capability.
3. Secure senior leadership commitment. Ensure that leaders from the C-suite and throughout the organization are committed to role modeling and prioritizing objective assessments of their team’s demonstration of the success principles throughout the year. And take appropriate action to remove ineffective leaders, when necessary.
4. Check and adjust. Build incremental progress check-ins with all employees and leaders to determine the effectiveness of the plan and adjust as necessary.
As we move into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, organizations must address ineffective leadership as a business imperative. When leaders and organizations align the words “employees are our greatest asset” to their leadership behaviors and expectations, they can begin to seriously address this critical issue.
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