Leaders Do Not Harm

I once worked with a leader who, during team meetings, berated his team for their lack of leadership ability. He intended this as a 'pep talk' to encourage the team to work harder and exert more control over their staff. Instead, it conveyed that the leader's need for power over them far outweighed his care for their well-being and that of their teams. The result was angry, stressed staff who, one by one, left the organisation. As they walked out the door, so did the valuable industry knowledge he relied upon to achieve results.

Who Holds Power Matters

This is one example of how leaders can harm their team and organisation by exercising power over people, rather than sharing power with them. When leaders leave their behaviour and its impact unexamined and use strategies like fear, intimidation, and excessive supervision to maintain control, they risk exposing people to psychosocial hazards, which can result in psychological harm. This is not only undesirable, it is unlawful.

Sharing Power

Genuine power-sharing extends far beyond simply delegating tasks or soliciting occasional input. It represents a fundamental shift in how leadership operates. Here are some reflection points:

• Fostering psychological safety: When leaders share power, they create spaces where team members feel safe expressing ideas, raising concerns, and even failing without fear of humiliation or punishment.

• Recognising distributed expertise: Effective leaders understand that knowledge and capability exist throughout the organisation, not just in the leader. They tap into this collective intelligence rather than assuming superior knowledge.

• Building sustainable organisations: When leaders fail to share power, they often create environments where departing employees discard institutional knowledge. Power-sharing leaders, by contrast, create conditions where knowledge is distributed and preserved.

• Modeling what they seek: Leaders who genuinely share power demonstrate the leadership qualities they hope to inspire in others. Rather than demanding leadership through intimidation, they cultivate it through example.

• Creating meaningful autonomy: This goes beyond simply giving people "ownership" of their work. It means providing the authority and resources needed to succeed, then stepping back to allow genuine self-direction.

• Embracing vulnerability: Power-sharing requires leaders to acknowledge their limitations and dependencies on team members' expertise. Not all leaders find this easy; they may believe it is a sign of weakness.

In the modern workplace, leaders who insist on having all the power don't just risk losing talent; they systematically undermine their organisation's ability to adapt, innovate, and thrive in complex environments. The psychosocial damage they may inflict has human and legal consequences that no organisation can ignore.

How Can We Help?

Leadership development isn't just about performance. It's about creating environments where people can thrive without harm.

At People Smart, we work with leaders to recognise and transform these patterns of power.

Schedule a no-obligation conversation about how we might collaborate to create non-harmful leadership while driving meaningful results.

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