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The Impact of Passive Communication on Business and Health?       

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in Leadership Skills

Passive communication is commonly deemed a benign and harmless communication style. Most people assume that it can do no significant damage in the workplace, especially since people who adopt this behavior are typically shy, quiet, and non-confrontational. However, there’s actually more to this than meets the eye.

Passive communication impacts business and health in many ways. It can improve your physical and mental wellness and enhance the team’s productivity. On the other hand, it can also adversely affect your overall well-being, especially if you consistently refuse to air out your thoughts to the team. 

In this article, we will talk about the different ways passive communication can affect your physical and mental well-being, including boosting your morale and job satisfaction, as well as possibly exposing you to risks of developing serious diseases. We will also discuss how this communication style can help promote the business’s interests and, if not checked, how it can make your team unproductive and inefficient. Let’s start!

What is really the importance of language in small team leadership?

Is Passive Communication Impactful in the Workplace?

Passive communication is impactful in the workplace because it can influence how other people perceive you and how you and the rest of the team can work systematically toward the attainment of common objectives.

Like other communication styles, it has its pros and cons and it’s worth looking closely into these to determine just how pivotal this communication style can be.

Being a passive communicator (instead of assertive) can also have an impact on your well-being. Constantly keeping your emotions in check can affect various aspects of your physical wellness. Moreover, holding in your opinions and ideas may influence your mental health. On the other hand, maintaining a tranquil, harmonious atmosphere around you may also do wonders for your overall well-being. 

Impact of Passive Communication on Business

Passive communicators are typically those who like sitting on the sidelines, preferring to never be in the spotlight at the workplace. They tend to blend in with the team, rarely opposing anyone’s views and quickly agreeing with practically anything anyone has to say. They have trouble saying “no” and prefer not to share their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas. 

This style of communication in the workplace might seem benign, but it has its own advantages and downsides. Here are some of them:

Passive Communication Pros

Passive communication can be advantageous in the workplace, as may be seen below.

Helps Avoid Conflicts

Passive communicators do not like confrontational discussions. Since they seldom oppose anybody, they help keep conflicts at bay. They also aid in diffusing tension within the team. If they have different views or contradicting ideas, they tend to keep these to themselves to keep the peace. 

As a result, the team becomes more collaborative and productive. Delays due to disputes are avoided, so more tasks are accomplished on time. Most employees appreciate how cooperative and amiable passive communicators are, and this is evident in how most are eager to collaborate with them. 

Helps De-Escalate Sticky Situations

When there are disputes within the team, among the best people you can turn to for help in de-escalating the situation are passive communicators. They will rarely take sides and will lend an air of calm to the tense atmosphere. Leading and managing a team made up of different personality types is challenging, especially when conflicts are happening, but a leader must know how to take advantage of their strengths and weaknesses. 

Passive communicators typically act and talk with nonchalance, which can easily rub off on agitated and irate teammates. They can quickly help subdue their teammates by exhibiting impartiality and open-mindedness. 

Aids in Promoting Teamwork

Passive communicators are keen on not offending anyone or hurting other people’s feelings. They would much rather keep their opinions to themselves than risk upsetting someone. This type of behavior helps make people feel safe around passive communicators. Teammates like working with them because they know that there won’t be a lot of drama and glitches along the way. 

Passive Communication Cons

On the flip side, passive communication can be negative in the following ways:

May Make You Feel Constantly Overwhelmed

Passive communicators are sometimes seen as people-pleasers since they find it difficult to say “no.” As a result, there’s a tendency for them to take on more responsibilities than they can efficiently handle. As a leader, they can be quite tricky to assess, so it’s important that they are always made aware of the value of limitations and boundaries. 

To add fuel to the fire, passive communicators don’t speak up about having too much on their plate since they don’t want to cause any inconveniences or trouble. They end up feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, and harboring notions that there are unfair treatments and unjust task allocations in the workplace. 

You May Often Be Overlooked

Since passive communicators rarely speak up during meetings and discussions, they may often be overlooked, disregarded, or even forgotten during crucial moments in the workplace.

It might be during role assignments, group consultations, or even when there are promotions up for grabs. 

Growth opportunities might slip by simply because you don’t share your opinions and thoughts, even during critical events in the workplace. Others might view you as indifferent and completely uninterested in some of the organization’s issues and activities, and they might assume that these opportunities don’t matter to you. 

Impact of Passive Communication on Health

Passive communicators are usually the quiet, shy, and introverted people in the team. They may seem wholesome and amiable, but that doesn’t mean that their needs and wants are not as important as everyone else’s. Usually, passive communicators are calm and disengaged, but they may be harboring some intense feelings inside. 

Your communication style can have an impact on your health and wellness. Here are some of the most inconspicuous effects of passive communication:

Passive Communication Pros

Passive communication can be beneficial to one’s well-being. Here’s how.

Serenity and Satisfaction

Contrary to what others might assume, some passive communicators are quite intentional with their words and actions. They prefer being out of the spotlight. They choose not to voice out their opinions and ideas. In this regard, such employees might enjoy a sense of calm and contentment in their personal and professional lives. 

When people are happy in their environment, their mental health is positively affected. They are not prone to experiencing mental issues and breakdowns. They take better care of themselves since they’re keen on keeping their physical wellness in top form. 

Passive Communication Cons

Conversely, passive communicators may experience the following downsides:

Anxiety and Depression

Passive Communicators don’t express their opinions and feelings. They let their own needs and wants take a back seat while allowing those of others to take front and center. This results in feelings of injustice and unfair treatment. Eventually, when these emotions remain consistently unexpressed, the employee might experience anxiety and depression. 

Additionally, passive communicators listen more than they speak. Their teammates may eventually get used to this arrangement and end up completely disregarding their opinions and ideas pertaining to various issues in the workplace. This leads to lower self-esteem, frequent self-deprecation, and other mental issues. 

Anxiety and depression are associated with these adverse effects:

  • Cardiovascular problems
  • Hypertension
  • Obesity
  • Digestive issues
  • Respiratory diseases
  • Weak immune system
  • Insomnia
  • Chronic fatigue

Loss of Control

Passive communicators are typically shy. They speak in a soft voice and rarely maintain eye contact. They are often unseen and unheard in the workplace, and when this becomes the norm, they may eventually feel utterly insignificant and neglected. They may start feeling as if they have lost control over their personal and professional lives. 

Buildup of Resentment 

Angry outbursts, sometimes completely disproportionate to the circumstances that triggered the response, may become a common occurrence when passive communicators begin feeling unhappy about their situation and reputation in the organization. They might feel a sense of shame or guilt after the explosive reaction, but will most probably go back to being a passive communicator after the incident. 

Key Takeaways

Passive communicators, although seemingly mild and amicable, can greatly affect the atmosphere in the workplace. They can bring about a sense of calm and may influence their teammates to adopt a similar cooperative stance in the workplace. This may result in an improvement in the team’s overall well-being, as well as a boost in the organization’s productivity and efficiency. 

However, passive communication can also adversely affect health and wellness. If you get too acquainted with this style, you run the risk of developing health complications, such as hypertension and cardiovascular issues, and you might experience some mental health challenges. 

Can Passive Communication Be Useful? (5 Situations)      

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in Leadership Skills

Can Passive Communication Be Useful (5 Situations)     

Passive communicator avoids sharing their opinions, ideas, and feelings on even the most crucial issues in the workplace, especially in a group setting. They shy away from the spotlight, let others shine, and take the lead. Passive communication is typically deemed detrimental since it affects one’s self-confidence and sense of ownership, but it certainly has benefits, too, depending on when you utilize it.

Passive communication can be helpful when being assertive and opinionated brings more harm than good. Go this route when resolving conflicts, diffusing tension, and preparing employees for higher roles. It’s also best when protecting others’ feelings and when delegating tasks.

Passive communication can be helpful when being assertive and opinionated brings more harm than good.

This article will cover five situations where a passive communication style is more beneficial than others and how to utilize it to promote your employees’ and team’s best interests. We will discuss how passive communication is advantageous when delegating tasks, training employees for leadership roles, resolving conflicts and tense situations, protecting employees’ sentiments, and at times when you have your hands full. Let’s start!

What is really the importance of language in small team leadership?

Situations Where Passive Communication Can Be Useful

Situations where passive communication can be useful
Situations where passive communication can be useful

Being a passive communicator is often frowned upon in business because it is associated with being lackadaisical, mediocre, and a pushover. However, this communication style can be beneficial in specific scenarios, and it can certainly be used to achieve particular results.

Passive communication (rather than assertive) should be used when being straightforward and powerful will cause more harm than good. Here are some examples:

1. When You Want Your Employees To Take the Lead

Leading and managing a team doesn’t mean you call the shots at all times. You also have to train your employees to be more independent and learn how to make sound decisions for themselves and the entire team. Passive communication is helpful in this scenario because it allows you to take a backseat and let your employees take the reins. 

Leading and managing a team doesn’t mean you call the shots at all times.

Say you’re launching a new project and want your employees to be more cooperative and take ownership of the processes involved. Rather than spearheading the planning and implementation stages, take on a passive communicator’s stance and let them think for themselves and make decisions on their own.

This is also a great way to get to know your employees better. Some of their strengths will shine, particularly those with strong leadership skills. You’ll identify employees who need more training and guidance regarding decision-making and collaborative skills. You’ll also get a glimpse of how team dynamics work and whether or not there are pressing issues to be addressed so they can work more synergistically.

2. When Resolving Conflicts in the Workplace

Conflicts in the workplace are unavoidable. This is especially true when you’re managing a group of people who all have different personalities. As a leader, you are expected to take control of the situation, especially when disputes threaten the team’s workflow and synergy.

However, sometimes, taking a step back and allowing the situation to unfold itself is the best route. Take a passive stance and enable your team members to take the lead in expressing their thoughts. Become a mere observer as your employees interact and communicate with each other as they try to settle conflicts among themselves.

In this scenario, not sharing your thoughts and opinions is advantageous since it eliminates the harmful effects of partiality. Naturally, after learning more about the conflict, you’ll lean toward one side of the whole equation, which might cause irreparable damage to your employees’ morale. Passive communication will not aggravate the situation and will help avoid further tension within the team.

Passive communication will not aggravate the situation and will help avoid further tension within the team.

In this scenario, not sharing your thoughts and opinions is advantageous since it eliminates the negative effects of partiality.

3. When You Have a Lot on Your Plate

When a lot is going on in your work and personal lives, and you’re starting to feel stressed and anxious, it might be a good idea to step back and let others take control. Passive communicators allow others to take the reins without offering too much resistance. Doing so will benefit your mental health and give you a much-needed break from tension and responsibilities. 

As a leader, this is also a great way to delegate tasks to your team. Rather than being the point person for every minute aspect of the business, turning over some of the responsibility to deserving and qualified employees will give you a clearer picture of their strengths and weaknesses. Take this as an opportunity for you to train and prepare employees for career advancement.

4. When De-Escalating a Tense Situation

When you find yourself in a situation where things feel spiraling out of control, with outbursts and violence seeming to loom on the horizon, it’s best to take things down a notch by momentarily withdrawing and taking a step back. This will hopefully neutralize the situation and alleviate the individuals involved. 

Allow each party to air their grievances and hold your comments and judgment for later. Avoid adding fuel to the fire by making your interpretations and conclusions. Hold your tongue until both sides are satisfied with everything they’ve divulged. Only then should you gather all information and invite the parties to discuss, address misconceptions, compromise, and agree to settle.

Taking on a passive stance — albeit temporarily — will significantly help diffuse rising tensions within the team. This communication style is perhaps the best option in situations like these because it allows you to help de-escalate tense situations faster and see how your employees handle disputes. It will enable you to peek into their true character, from where you can assess strengths, weaknesses, and areas for potential improvement.

Taking on a passive stance — albeit temporarily — will significantly help in diffusing rising tensions within the team.

5. When Trying To Avoid Hurting Others’ Feelings

As a leader, there are times when you must hold your tongue to spare your employees from getting hurt or upset. Perhaps it’s to keep them from embarrassment, or you won’t make them feel uninspired about a specific task or project. It could also be a show of support and respect to an employee going through a rough patch in their personal life, negatively affecting their work performance.. 

In such circumstances, a passive communication style saves the day. You can use minimal words to convey crucial, relevant information to employees while reserving your opinions and ideas for later. Ultimately, your employees will realize how you adapted to the situation and prioritized their feelings and perspectives. After all, leading and managing a team is not all about team growth and success — it’s also about respect, camaraderie, and teamwork.

You can use minimal words to convey crucial, relevant information to employees while reserving your opinions and ideas for later.

Situations where passive communication is useful
When is passive communication useful?
When Is Passive Communication Useful?Explanation
When You Want Your Employees To Take the LeadYou also have to train your employees to be more independent and learn how to make sound decisions for themselves and the entire team. Passive communication is helpful in this scenario because it allows you to take a backset and let your employees take the reins.
When Resolving Conflicts in the WorkplaceYou also have to train your employees to be more independent and learn how to make sound decisions for themselves and the entire team. Passive communication is helpful in this scenario because it allows you to take a backseat and let your employees take the reins.
When You Have a Lot on Your PlateWhen a lot is going on in your work and personal lives, and you’re starting to feel stressed and anxious, it might be a good idea to step back and let others take control. Passive communicators allow others to take the reins without offering too much resistance.
When De-Escalating a Tense SituationWhen you find yourself in a situation where things feel spiraling out of control, with outbursts and violence seeming to loom on the horizon, it’s best to take things down a notch by momentarily withdrawing and taking a step back.
When Trying To Avoid Hurting Others’ FeelingsAs a leader, there are times when you must hold your tongue to spare your employees from getting hurt or upset. Perhaps it’s to keep them from embarrassment, or you won’t make them feel uninspired about a specific task or project.
Situations where passive communication is useful

The short video below explains the characteristics of Good Communication and how it plays a huge role in building good relationships at work.

How important is Good Communication?

Final Thoughts

Passive communication has its pros and cons. It hinders you from expressing your views and taking a firm stand on contentious issues, but when utilized appropriately, it can be an effective tool to lead and manage a team toward growth and success. 

You can use it to train individuals for leadership roles and coach them in taking on more challenging tasks. It can also help when protecting your employee’s feelings and when you’re up to your ears in work and need others to take on more responsibilities. Passive communication also comes in handy when resolving conflicts and diffusing tension.

The 3 Views on Truth at the Workplace: Resolving Conflicts      

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in Leadership Skills

The 3 Views on Truth at the Workplace Resolving Conflicts   

Resolving conflicts in the workplace has been one of the most challenging roles during my time as a leader. It is inescapable and essential because unresolved disputes affect the team’s workflow, synergy, and productivity. Conflict resolution is crucial to the organization’s success, and you must quickly recognize and understand arguments to develop a helpful solution.

Views on truth at the workplace in resolving conflicts can typically be broken down into 3 — one person’s perspective, the other person’s viewpoint, and a synergized version of the truth — with all three not necessarily wholly accurate. The key is to arrive at an impartial form of the actual truth. 

Views on truth at the workplace in resolving conflicts can typically be broken down into 3 — one person’s perspective, the other person’s viewpoint, and a synergized version of the truth…

This article will talk about three major views on the truth when resolving conflicts in the workplace, including one person’s point of view, another person’s perspective, and the collaborative version of the truth, which merges both perspectives impartially and logically. We will also discuss red flags to watch out for while resolving conflicts, the negative impact of unresolved disputes within the team, and some tips for resolving conflicts. Let’s start!

What Is Truth in Leadership?

What is truth in leadership?
What is truth in leadership?

Truth in leadership is the benchmark for establishing your reputation as a trustworthy, respectable, and credible leader. It’s about exemplifying the value of honesty and transparency in everything you do. Set good examples for your team so they’ll look up to you as a role model worth emulating. 

Truth in leadership is the benchmark for establishing your reputation as a trustworthy, respectable, and credible leader.

Advocating the truth in the workplace is handy, especially when resolving conflicts. However, we sometimes find ourselves battling with the truth because of its varying interpretations. This is where conflicts arise — determining which version is, in fact, accurate — and leaders typically take on the role of mediator in resolving these disputes.

Here are some typical perspectives of the truth worth considering when striving to resolve conflicts at the workplace:

3 typical perspectives of truth
3 Typical Perspectives of Truth

1. One Person’s Version of the Truth

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” 

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

This quote from the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius rings true even in today’s modern world. One person’s point of view is their truth. It is a subjective version, seen through their eyes and influenced by their thoughts and emotions at a given time. Do not confuse this with a post-modern view that there is NO truth.

This is how most conflicts arise. People have different perspectives of the truth; sometimes, none are utterly wrong or entirely correct. As a leader in the workplace, you must spearhead efforts to resolve these conflicts so team spirit won’t be shattered and the workflow won’t be disrupted. One person’s version might differ from another’s, but that doesn’t necessarily mean one is lying.

As a leader in the workplace, you must spearhead efforts to resolve these conflicts so team spirit won’t be shattered and the workflow won’t be disrupted.

Leading and managing a team requires you to be impartial and fair when striving to resolve conflicts. Here are some tips on how best to end up with a just resolution that benefits the parties involved:

  • Deal with it head-on. Please don’t bury your head in the sand, hoping conflicts will eventually disappear. This is risky because disputes can swiftly reach a point where resolutions become practically impossible since bridges have been burned. A small problem today will multiply tomorrow.
  • Be proactive. Rather than waiting for a conflict to rear its ugly head, immediately take charge of the situation before matters get worse. This is a great way to ensure that things stay in proportion.
  • One-on-one talks. Seek to have a confidential discussion with each individual involved and actively hear their side of the story. At this point, avoid making generalizations and conclusions, focusing on facts rather than emotions and temperaments. 

2. Another Person’s Version of the Truth

This version typically contrasts with the first version. It is another individual’s take on what happened and usually consists of variations compared to the first version. Remember that people have different perspectives, so you must not conclude based only on what you think is most logical and acceptable.

As a leader, you must be level-headed, impartial, and intuitive when resolving conflict. Remember that you’re dealing with individuals exhibiting aversion and hatred against each other. Be mindful that there might be unfair, self-serving, manipulative tactics used to get you to swing to one side.

Here are some red flags to watch out for:

3 Red Flags to Watch Out when finding the truth
3 Red Flags to Watch Out
  • Finger-pointing. Some people resort to blame-shifting to make themselves look irreproachable. 
  • Exaggeration. Some employees might attempt to blow things out of proportion to make mundane issues seem entirely consequential. 
  • Deceit. Other employees might play the sympathy card to manipulate you into taking their side. They may tell half-truths and blatant lies to win your sympathy and favor.

3. A Synergized Version of the Truth

Since different people have different perspectives, getting to the bottom of these variations is crucial to take a step closer to conflict resolution. When disputes arise, you must factor in people’s unique standpoints, agendas, and emotions because these can significantly alter their take on what happened. 

The truth is sometimes a blend of details intricately intertwined to form a whole. When there’s a conflict in determining the truth, a healthy dialogue is the secret ingredient. This is how misgivings are aired and heard, and misconceptions are cleared. Ultimately, a compromise is reached where each person’s truth is factored in, effectively resolving the conflict.

Conflict resolution is crucial in maintaining healthy working relationships within the team. If these disputes aren’t destroyed or settled amicably, your organization could face disastrous consequences. Here are some of them:

  • Reduced productivity. Teamwork is affected when there are unresolved conflicts in the workplace. Employees can’t function as efficiently, even the ones who aren’t directly involved in the issue. Some might even take sides, creating barriers within a functional, collaborative team. 
  • Low morale. The whole team will eventually feel the hate with certain employees at odds. This can affect their enthusiasm about accomplishing their tasks and may even distract them from efficiently achieving set goals. 
  • Low retention rate. Some employees may leave the organization if unresolved conflicts fester within the team. Your best employees, specifically, may start looking for greener pastures where there is healthier, safer, and more inspiring work culture.
ViewKey Points
One Person’s VersionConflicts arise due to different perspectives of the truth. One person’s version may differ from another’s, but it doesn’t mean one is lying. Efforts should be made to resolve conflicts and maintain team spirit and workflow.
Another Person’s VersionThis version contrasts with the first version. It represents another individual’s perspective on what happened. Different perspectives must be considered, and conclusions should not be based solely on personal judgment.
A Synergized VersionDifferent people have different perspectives. Understanding unique standpoints, agendas, and emotions is crucial in conflict resolution. Healthy dialogue and compromise can lead to a resolution where each person’s truth is considered.
The 3 Views on Truth at the Workplace

Here’s a TED Talk by Liz Kislik where she describes the causes that can lock people into unproductive conflict and shares five steps to enable people in any kind of organization to identify the underpinnings of a conflict and work through it effectively.

What can you do to fix conflict at work?

5 Major Things That Happen to a Team Without Leadership!

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in Leadership Skills

5 Major things that happen to a team without leadership!

When I work with people outside the military, they often think leadership is about telling people what, when, and how to complete a task. And that a team can work perfectly fine without leadership.

A team without leadership usually struggles with direction, communication, excess frustration, and ineffective decision-making. Leaderless teams also miss opportunities and deal with more obstacles than necessary.

I have been on both excellent and crappy teams during my twelve years as a military officer. Today, I want to share some experiences of how it is to work on a leaderless team.

If you want to create extreme engagement on your team, i recommend you watch this video!

1. Lack of a Direction

One of the formal leader’s main jobs is to figure out the team’s direction and communicate that clearly so that everybody knows how to make decisions within their responsibilities.

If the team doesn’t have clear priorities connected to a clear budget, how will people know how to spend their time and resources?

The lack of direction often means that a task must be redone, which employees usually find very frustrating.

2. Frustration

Without leaders on the team, it is up to each individual to discuss and try to communicate why they think something is the best. This wastes a lot of time and slows down productivity. If you add to that a lack of direction, it is almost impossible for the team to get along and start executing.

I have been a part of such teams a few times, which isn’t very pleasant.

A few years ago, a few of my friends, all of them ex-military, decided to go on a hike together through the Swedish mountains. They used to work on the same theme in the military but, on this trip, decided to go about it in a more civilian manner.

It took about two days of non-leadership until one of the guys said; Can’t we go back to you being the team leader (while pointing to the old commander). Everyone sighed in relief and happily agreed to return to the senior leadership style; even though this was a fun trip, the frustration and communication issues took away the enjoyment.

This same thing happens in the workplace; If we don’t carefully lead our teams, they will soon stop enjoying work and look for something else.

3. Communications Channels Breakdown

A good team leader will be able to filter out what is useless to the team; without this filter, they will quickly get overwhelmed with information.

A good team leader will be able to filter out what is useless to the team; without this filter, they will quickly get overwhelmed with information.

The team leader also has a good relationship with upper management, meaning that he or she can communicate the team’s needs in a way that is most likely to be accepted and generate benefits for the team.

4. Ineffective Decision Making

Everybody loves the idea of Democratic decision-making styles where everyone gets heard. But as we can see from the example with my friends, we only appreciate that style to a certain degree. At some point, we want a decision so that we can move on and get things done.

5. Missing Out on Vital Opportunities

When you ask people what a good leader is, a typical response is someone who understands what I’m going through. And someone who can support me in my work. In a military setting, this translates into digging trenches with the guys and climbing the hill to get an overview of the situation.

When you ask people what a good leader is, a typical response is someone who understands what I’m going through. And someone who can support me in my work.

Once up on the hill, it is the leader’s job to spot obstacles and opportunities and prepare plans for those. Each time the leader climbs the mountain, they better understand the situation and potential impact on the mission.

Once up on the hill, it is the leader’s job to spot obstacles and opportunities and prepare plans for those.

You might think that you could hand over that information to someone else, and you can rotate between who gets to climb the hill. But anyone who has tried it knows that handing over a feel for the situation is incredibly difficult without distorting the information.

5 Major things that happen to a team without leadership!
5 Major things that happen to a team without leadership!

Who Is Actually Leading the Team?

Leadership constantly shifts depending on who has the experience and authority over the task.
Leadership constantly shifts depending on who has the experience and authority over the task.

When I am training leaders and ask them who leads the team, almost everybody gets it wrong. Most people think there is only one leader on a team, the formal manager or team leader.

This is entirely backward.

In a reasonably well-organized team, people listen to each other; they might not like each other, but they understand the benefits of listening to someone who knows more than they do.

In this type of organization, the leadership constantly shifts depending on who has the experience and authority over the task.

Leadership constantly shifts depending on who has the experience and authority over the task.

Leadership can be, and should be, practiced by each individual on a team; leadership is raising your hand to offer your help when someone needs it or being the first one to try a new but perhaps scary solution.

Jordan Peterson, in this video, talks about how good leadership means finding people who want to contribute. Lead your team like a free society, not a dictatorship.

The psychology of leadership

The Leaderless Organization

Leaderless team is it a disaster?
Leaderless team, is it a disaster?

In the book Myth of Leadership: creating leaderless organizations (Amazon), published in 2004, the author Jeffrey S Nielsen concludes that rank-based leadership is power-hungry, commanding, and controlling and, therefore, should be exchanged for peer-based leadership.

Nielsen argues that peer-based leadership is collaborating, sharing, egalitarian, and respectful, quite the opposite.

I have read some of the theories on leaderless organizations, but just as in the case of the book mentioned above, the arguments are usually straw manned and then attacked. Hopefully, you have had the same experience as me and understand that rank-based leadership doesn’t have to be power-hungry, commanding, and controlling but can be stress-relieving and effective.

8 Reasons Why Leaders Get Paid More Than Others

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in New Leaders

If you are like me, you probably have been frustrated more than a few times by why a low-performing leader gets paid more than a high-performing subordinate.

The reasons why leaders get paid more than others are; greater responsibility, more experience, higher education, strategic thinking skills, strong market demand, and being less agreeable.

Some of those you might find obvious, and some you might find interesting, most people I talk to don’t understand why less agreeable people make more money. If you want to understand that, you can skip directly to the bottom of this post!

Responsibility

The most obvious reason and the most common argument why leaders get higher salaries than their employees it’s because they assume a greater level of responsibility for the outcome; they are, therefore, also under scrutiny if something goes wrong.

Experience

Most organizations select leaders based on previous performance. This means that they have some experience that the upper management finds valuable. This experience should benefit the organization in making more money; hence, paying extra money for an effective leader is a good return on investment.

Education

Many times this experience is layered by different forms of education, often some MBA or leadership-specific certificate. People go to universities and high education to invest in themselves; they, therefore, leave university expecting to get paid more than people who do not.

Strategic Thinking

The ability to understand the big picture and where the organization is going in the future is a key quality of a good leader. This is something that needs to be practiced and takes a few years to develop.

Market Demand

Sometimes, it is as simple as a product of the market demand. Companies are willing to pay for unique skills because they know it will generate revenue to pay for itself. Often, whether we like it or not, the lowest in the hierarchy are the easiest people to exchange while maintaining productivity.

Therefore, someone with a more profound knowledge of a particular topic is harder to swap without losing momentum and may affect the bottom line.

Complex Tasks

In most jobs, the lower in the hierarchy you are, the more simple the tasks you should have; this does not mean that they are easy, but that the amount of uncertainty should be lower.

The Ability to Motivate and Inspire

Motivating and inspiring is the ability to create a higher output with the same resources. This is something that every organization strives for; it is easy to see why this is something that companies are willing to pay a premium for.

A good manager can also remove before they become a problem and so HR-related issues before they can impact productivity.

Many Leaders Are Disagreeable

If you have ever heard Dr. Jordan B Peterson talk, then you know that he is a big fan of the Big Five personality traits; he has his own test, which I have taken and recommend; you can find it on understandmyself.com.

One part of the Big Five personality test tests agreeableness, and it turns out that people getting paid more are often more disagreeable. These people also tend to think that they are correct and therefore want to change situations; these are people who apply for leadership positions.

All in all, this means that leaders are usually less willing to accept pay lower pay.

Should Subordinates Be Able to Earn More Than Their Superiors?

The main reason why leaders earn more than their subordinates is that their specific skillset has a higher value to the company. That means if the employees can an even greater value to the company by offering specific skills or tools, then they should earn more than the manager.

Is a Team Lead Position Worth It? (Free Assessment Tool)

Written by Gabriel "Gabo" von Knorring in New Leaders

Are you considering a future career in your organization, or maybe you have already been offered a position as a team lead? Are you trying to figure out if it’s worth it or not?

A team lead position is worth it if you believe it’s important to impact decisions, increase your salary, and boost your CV. Being a team lead is most likely not worth it if you are unwilling to bear the cost of Increased stress, taking responsibility for failures, and having to fire your friends.

Today I want to share with you the summary of my experiences as a team leader, as well as team leads from well-known locations such as Walmart.

What Is a Team Leader or Team Lead?

A team leader is responsible for completing tasks, taking care of their employees, and communicating the organization’s vision and goals to each individual on the team. The team leaders usually have a more intimate connection with their teammates than, let’s say, upper management.

Benefits

Being a team leader definitely has some serious benefits to it. Most of them, I would say, are on an internal level, but some are also external such as money and an improved resume. Let’s have a look at what we got.

Money

Team leaders earn a national average salary in the US Of $52,973 per year, according to indeed.com. Of course, depending on your experience, industry, and employer, this will vary greatly.

Improved CV

having been a successful team leader means that you can organize, prioritize and fulfill organizational goals; these skills are useful whether or not you are a leader. Being a team leader forces you to improve your self-awareness and, therefore also, your self-management skills, two skills that are vital for any good employee or a good friend for that matter.

Sense of Fulfillment

For me, one of the most significant rewards of being a team leader is when the unit archives something meaningful, and you can see your teammates thrive, improve and become better versions of themselves.

You might think that routine work is insignificant and has no greater impact on the essential things in life. I think this is wrong; every leader can profoundly impact their teammates. Every day is an opportunity for you to share values and life experiences they can implement to improve their lives.

Every day is an opportunity for you to share values and life experiences that they can implement to improve their lives.

Impact Decisions

No matter what you think is important, the higher the organizational ladder you claim, the more ability you will have to change things according to what you believe is good. You might think that upper management doesn’t understand what it is like to do the work on the floor.

This gives you a couple of options: you can try to impact management from where you are, or you can try to get to where they are and make the decision yourself.

Costs

Increased Stress

While researching this article, I encountered many people who mentioned stress as their number one motivator for not taking another job as a team leader. Many team leaders say they get tasked with problems that cannot be solved with the resources they have been given; this is what we at Sancus Leadership call the impossible task, something you should never delegate to your subordinates.

It’s not working and it’s not worth the stress and toll it’s taken

Anonymous Walmart Team Leader #1

Take Responsibility for Failures

A good leader always assumes extreme ownership of task completion; whatever happens to the team, for good or bad, you will be the one responsible. This is mentally very tough for unprepared leaders; you will be struggling if you do not have adequate training before entering a role like this. That is why we train leaders here at Sancus Leadership; we want new managers to not only complete tasks but to have a loyal following.

If you want money an can handle stress with meeting unreasonable expectations, go for it, it’s what I do overnight. Turning dumpster fires of a night into decently smoldering husks by morning.

Anonymous Walmart Team Leader #2

Enforcing the rules is another. It comes down to you enforce them all or let them slide.. Then who do you let slide?

Former Team Leader at Honeywell Aerospace

Having To Fire Your Friends

one of the worst parts of being a team leader is that one day, you might be faced with firing someone that you really like; if you have been on the team with someone for multiple years, many of us feel like we have become family in some sense. Being a leader often means you’ll have to make some tough decisions, and this is probably one of the toughest.

Firing someone should never be taken lightheartedly since it will most likely impact their life negatively, at least in the short term, and it will most definitely affect your friendship. My philosophy is that firing someone is the final solution we have tried all other reasonable measures. And if you communicate this clearly over a long enough period of time, most people will understand the reason the reasoning behind it.

Is a Team Lead Position For You?

The following is a simple tool you can use to better understand whether a team lead position will be beneficial or not. This is a subjective assessment, and it should be since no one other than you will truly know.

Go through each row and assign a value of low, medium, high, or vital. Select a value based on how important these are in your life, and how well they align with your intrinsic motivations and character.

If you get less than 6 points, then I would not recommend you to pursue a leadership career right now.

If you get between 7 and 14 points, I think you should seriously consider whether or not this is something you want to pursue.

If you reach more than 15 points, I think you should definitely look into becoming a team leader.

Team Leader RoleLow (1pt)Medium (2pts)High (3pts)Vital (5pts)
More money
Better CV
Impact on the organization
Fulfillment through responsibility
Enjoy high-stress environments
Take responsibility
Total:
Should I become a team leader assessment card.