I always find it a struggle adjusting at this time. I love my job but I love being on holiday more! For those of us in leadership roles, it is a good time to reflect on how we can make that adjustment more positive for our people and inject some "promise of the new year" motivation into our teams.
As we head into what is shaping up to be an economically challenging 2025, every business will be relying on its leaders to inspire their teams, ignite innovation and bring the organisation’s vision to life.
But what happens when leaders lack the skills to fulfil this role?
The impact ripples through the organisation, often leading to stress, low morale and disengagement. People start already holding out for their next holiday. Worse, these challenges can compound over time, eroding trust, stalling productivity, and damaging both outcomes and reputation.
Let’s explore what happens when leaders struggle and, more importantly, what we can do to change it.
When leaders lack clarity and skills
In my experience, the vast majority of people want to do a good job and take pride in their work. However, when leaders are not equipped with the tools and confidence they need, their teams feel the effects immediately. Here’s how it usually plays out:
1. Lack of clarity and direction
When expectations are not clear, teams feel confused and untethered. Without knowing the standards they are expected to meet, people become frustrated and disengaged. Productivity suffers and employees often feel like they are working in circles, unsure of how to move forward. They simply do not know what "good" looks like.
2. Erosion of trust
Trust is the foundation of every high-performing team and, without it, communication slows to a crawl. When trust is missing, critical feedback and information are withheld. People avoid asking questions for fear of humiliation and problems are left to fester. I’ve heard it put like this: "Culture isn’t what’s written on your wall, it’s what happens when no-one’s looking." When trust erodes, so do morale and collaboration and this eventually impacts the quality of your services, products and outcomes.
3. Fear of change
Change is one of the few constants in any organisation, yet it can feel threatening. People fear change because it comes with a whole lot of unknowns and, deep down, we can be insecure about whether we are still going to be competent and valuable to our team and employer in the new situation. When leaders are unable to address these fears or help their teams navigate change, people become patch-protective. They hoard information, block progress and try to make themselves indispensable, all at the expense of collaboration and innovation. Many of us have experienced how frustrating it can be working with a "gate-keeper".
4. Indecisiveness
When leaders lack confidence or clarity, they often "flip-flop" on decisions. This leaves teams feeling untethered, uncertain and insecure. As a result, progress stalls and both leaders and teams lose the momentum they need to move forward.
5. Wasted potential
Without trust, clarity or support, people retreat into themselves. They hold back their ideas, creativity and full potential. It’s not safe to share that left-field idea or challenge a problem that seems so obvious or admit they need help. As a leader. you are left with only a fraction of what your team is capable of — and this can make your organisation stagnant and vulnerable.
6. Excuses over action
Overwhelmed leaders often become conservative, clinging to the status quo rather than embracing innovation or smart risks. They rely on excuses to justify inaction, creating a culture of fear rather than progress.
The emotional toll on leaders and teams
It is no surprise that when leaders struggle, emotions run high. As I have written before, emotions are powerful drivers of behaviour. Using Jonathan Haidt’s metaphor of the "elephant and the rider", we can understand this better:
• The elephant represents the emotional brain — strong, instinctive and deeply connected to fear, memory and survival.
• The rider represents the logical brain — analytical, data-driven and rational.
The "elephant" can be a source of motivation and determination, but when leaders are overwhelmed, their "rider" struggles to effectively guide their "elephant", leading to poor decision-making, conflict avoidance, or defensive behaviour. The example they set can ripple out to the entire organisation, creating an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and stagnation.
Breaking the cycle: Five ways to build better leaders
Here is the good news: These challenges are not permanent. Leaders can learn to manage their emotions, build trust and inspire their teams with the right tools and mindset.
Here’s where to start:
1. Clarity is key: As leaders, we must set clear expectations and communicate them consistently. When people know what "good" looks like, they are empowered to deliver their best work.
2. Trust builds bridges: When we model open and respectfully honest communication, it creates an environment where people feel safe to share ideas, collaborate and speak up about things that need addressing. This is the foundation of all high-performing teams.
3. Courageous conversations: Avoiding conflict only lets problems fester. Leaders need the skills to have hard conversations with mana, integrity and empathy. These conversations build trust, clear misunderstandings and strengthen relationships. In my experience, being brave is always worth it, even if the result is different from what you were hoping.
4. Emotional intelligence: The best leaders learn to manage their emotions and lead from a place of stability and confidence. This keeps the "elephant" calm yet motivated and the "rider" in control.
The challenges of leadership are real but are not insurmountable. Even though there are probably times ahead when you long to be back in that sunny summer bubble by the lake ... with the right skills, leaders can create teams that are connected, confident and working from a place of clarity.
A well-developed internal coaching model can help facilitate this and so can external training. I don’t know an organisation that regretted investing in high quality leadership development.
A high-performance culture starts at the top and, when leaders thrive, their teams do too. Let’s create workplaces where trust, collaboration and innovation shine.
• Sarah Cross is director of Kakapo Consulting.
