Bad Leaders: Why Companies are Afraid to Fire Them
Everyone has experienced a terrible leader and every organization I’ve worked in has had at least one – you know who I’m talking about. It’s the leader who has that big personality, is often the loudest voice in the room, manages up better than anyone, communicates around and about people instead of directly to them, owns key relationships with clients and the Board and brings in a heap of revenue. These “leaders” often manage by fear. Senior executives are afraid of terminating them lest business and key employees follow in their wake. After all, how could a CEO fire someone who essentially manages such a significant portion of the company’s business? And, employees are afraid of complaining about them or quitting since their career might easily be de-railed within and outside the company.
As a career Human Resources leader, I’ve thought a great deal about this topic -- in real time and in discussions with those who have been impacted by this type of individual. It’s an issue that so many organizations struggle with, despite knowing that such negative behavior only derails a company’s culture, devalues its people and ultimately impacts an organization’s ability to deliver results with its values intact.
In looking at the tight labor market (unemployment is at a 50-year low hovering around 3.6%) and decreased employee commitment to organizations (one-third of employees plan to leave their company within the next 12 months), companies must address leadership behavior simply to meet labor market challenges but more importantly, to do what the competition might be doing better.
Don’t take my word for it. What do employees have to say about this topic? Just read some of the comments current employees have left on Glassdoor under “Advice to Management.”
“Treat everyone with respect and perhaps try bringing out the best in them.”
“Bring down the hammer on middle management. Set high expectations for them to follow our values and hold them accountable for toxicity.
“I worked under a 'leader' who knee-jerk reacted to everything, took credit for their teams work, played into politics and operated with an overall 'mean girl' mentality. “Great leaders hold themselves accountable.”
“Senior management is not honest”
“Hire leaders that will nurture and grow employees versus grill them and place them in a pressure cooker.”
And it goes on and on and on. Frankly, this is the stuff of Management 101 – how leaders lead, how leaders communicate, how leaders treat people, and how leaders hold themselves accountable, all of which organizations have direct control over. It’s not a coincidence that the vast majority of employee departures are directly related to the failure of leadership.
So, why do companies tolerate bad leaders? There are a host of reasons but three stand out as among the most common.
1. It’s personal. This is a leader that the CEO or other senior leader has grown, groomed and vouched for over the years. The CEO has chosen to overlook some of these less-than-admirable personality traits and believed that the positive business contribution outweighed the negative culture loss.
2. It’s business. This is the leader who often owns a significant portion of the business – whether in the form of revenue generation, customer relationships or other key metrics for which this leader consistently delivers. It appears to be difficult to replace him/her and potentially too disruptive to the business to do so.
3. It’s easier. Change is always hard. It’s even harder when needing to manage a host of complex internal and external relationships. If, for the most part, the work is getting done and results achieved, why put the organization through what could be a difficult transition? Who cares that employee turnover under this leader is high and employee rumblings are frequent and consistent? We can just replace these employees who leave, right?
Not so fast.
In the past, it seemed to have been (somewhat) more acceptable for companies NOT to take action against bad leaders. But, today, it’s a new world order. What’s changed?
First, Culture is King. Glassdoor’s recent survey tells us that a whopping 77% of job seekers first consider a company’s culture before applying. And, great cultures typically employ great leaders who bring it all to life.
Newer generations have very different expectations of their employers. In addition to survey data which validate the importance of leadership and culture for Millennials, there are new norms in place today vs. when Generation X entered the workforce. Gen X’ers were essentially instructed to do their time (in retrospect, this sounds a lot like prison), get the work done at any cost (and at a measly salary), don’t complain AND be grateful for having a decent job sitting in a cubicle.
As Dr Seuss said, “Oh, the places you’ll go!” Given low unemployment, the expansion of the tech sector, and shortage of critical skills, it is clearly a job-seekers market today. And, Millennials are much more likely than any other generation to speak with their feet.
Finally, the notion of preserving the status quo is officially dead. From #metoo to #blacklivesmatter, women and people of color are rightfully demanding change. That means old behaviors and values that were tolerated can be tolerated no longer.
While it may seem fairly innocuous to let a terrible leader remain in place, the inevitable impact on the larger organization can be quite substantial in terms of turnover, cost, and employer brand.
Doing what’s right often involves doing what’s hard. Don’t be that leader looking for the easy way out. Your employees, your clients, your Board and your business demand nothing short of positive and excellent leadership at every level.