Leadership behaviours

By Rehan Khan

25-06-2024

The behaviour exhibited by a leader is critical, it not only effects their ability to manage, but also ripples out to impacting the work of their subordinates and their wider teams.

One study in Leadership Quarterly found that when a manager conveyed a piece of bad news, such as an employee failing to achieve their performance targets, but did so with a pleasant manner, employees rated this communication positively. Conversely when good news, such as an employee achieving their performance targets, was communicated with a morose dour countenance, employees rated this communication negatively as it left them feeling bad.

Another study in the Journal of Applied Psychology observed the contagion impact of mood. In it, they found that when fifty-six heads of teams were nudged into either a good or bad mood, this had a ripple effect on their team members. In other words, where there was a positive team-leader, their employees reported better moods.

Not only did it stimulate a better mood within the employees, it also resulted in team members coordinating their work better, and achieving more with less effort. Whereas those teams that were led by managers with bad moods, found themselves losing momentum and rhythm and becoming inefficient. Problems were further amplified in these teams, by employees trying to please the moody boss by second guessing their preferences, which resulted in bad decisions and poorly selected strategies.

A little bit of toughness from the boss can work at the right time, but if it gravitates towards the manager being in a perpetual state of fuming, then this is self-defeating. Being a moody boss might motivate your employees in the short term, but it’s unlikely to lead to better quality of work in the longer term. Rather a corrosive emotional environment, will end up destroying employee morale and shutting down their ability to think clearly.