Factors to Assess: Impacts

Another important factor in assessing counterproductive leadership is identifying the impact it’s having on individuals, the unit, and the organization as a whole.

Counterproductive leadership can impact both the recipient and observers of the behavior by:

  • Decreasing health and well-being (e.g., stress, anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, burnout, exhaustion).
  • Decreasing opportunities for development.
  • Decreasing motivation.
  • Decreasing performance quality.
  • Lowering creativity.
  • Increasing absenteeism.
  • Decreasing job satisfaction.
  • Lowering organizational commitment.

Counterproductive leadership can impact units by:

  • Lowering unit performance.
  • Decreasing trust and cohesion.
  • Limiting unit members’ willingness to speak up due to fear of repercussions.
  • Eroding morale.
  • Motivating mere compliance/obedience rather than gaining true buy-in and commitment to the unit and its mission.
  • Reducing readiness.
  • Negatively impacting unit civility and discipline.

Counterproductive leadership can impact the organization by:

  • Causing Soldiers to leave the Army (i.e., subordinates “vote with their feet” when given the opportunity).
  • Perpetuating examples of poor leadership.