5 Reasons People May Not Be Following Your Leadership

Every so often, a leader has to look over their shoulder and see if anyone is actually following. Are we reaching our goals? Is the organization moving in a positive direction? Are people working together toward the results we want?

Losing influence usually doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over time. People are forgiving at the beginning, but the longer you lead, the less willing they are to overlook your shortcomings. The people you lead need to be led…and they WANT to be led.

We’ve probably all known “leaders” who were leaders in name only. They were put in charge, but they had no real influence. Or, maybe we’ve been put in charge of a group, a ministry or a project, and for some reason no one was following. There are lots of reasons that can happen, but here are 5 common ones I’ve discovered:

5 Reasons People Aren’t Following You

1. You’re disorganized.

Organization leads to clarity – clarity of mission, of tasks, of who does what. When a leader is disorganized, they lose credibility fast. It leads to confusion, missed deadlines and people feeling like their needs don’t matter. This is you if you’re often late to meetings, misplace documents, show up unprepared or forget who’s supposed to do what.

2. You’re inconsistent.

Consistency helps people know what’s expected. When a leader is inconsistent, the team is never sure what’s happening or what to do next. Consistency gives people a sense of safety and security, and that’s vital to a healthy team. This is you if you often change meeting times at the last minute, keep changing your mind about how to reach the goal, or your moods make people guess how you’ll react.

3. You don’t follow up.

That means answering emails, texts and calls in a timely way, and finishing the things assigned to you. When you don’t follow up, people feel unimportant and may take it as a sign they’re not needed. This is you if you don’t have a system for following up on requests, you don’t take notes in the meetings you lead, or your own action items regularly miss their deadlines. (Regular one-on-one meetings help a LOT here.)

4. You discourage more than you encourage.

One of your main responsibilities as a leader is to encourage the people you lead. That’s non-negotiable, and it applies to everyone regardless of position. Failing to encourage is enough to lose people. Actively discouraging them is worse, because it takes away the pride they have in their work. This is you if your first reaction to someone’s work is criticism, it’s easier for you to point out what’s wrong than what’s right, or you struggle to share praise with the team.

5. You care more about your success than theirs.

If you’re leading because you want the credit, people won’t follow you for long. One of the goals of leadership is to make the people around you better. If they someday pass you in title, responsibility or praise…so be it. That only looks good on you. This is you if you need to be praised for the team’s progress, you feel jealous when someone else gets recognized, or you take the credit when the team wins and point fingers when it loses.

Quick Answers

How do you regain influence as a leader? Own your mistakes out loud, pick one of these five to fix first, and be consistent long enough for people to notice. Trust comes back slowly, but it does come back.

How does your leadership measure up against these 5? Have you worked for leaders who showed some (or all) of them? Comment below and let me know…