Passive leadership is exactly that… passive.
Disengaged.
Nothing fazes them to the point that others also stop trying.
They are pushovers.
And unlike rejecting leaders, they are simply absent (physically, and emotionally).
Consequently their people are forced to fend for themselves.
Or they simply leave.
This is part 4 of my toxic leadership series.
Exploring the many different traits we can all display.
These are more caricatures.
They resemble what can happen when a certain style of leadership begins to dominate.
One would hope that no one is at these sort of extreme levels.
However, we can perhaps see a bit of ourselves in here from time to time.
And that’s an important part of leadership in its own right.
The ability to self reflect, adapt and take the good from many different styles.
Just as we’ve learned to do as clinicians with multi-pronged approaches to client care.
So too, must we adapt our leadership persona.
Passive leadership
In the most classical sense, a passive leader is one who is keen to avoid confrontation.
This could be as simple as not responding to an email.
Or, as complex as completely avoiding overlapping time with a difficult team member.
Unlike the emotional leader, they are completely disinterested.
Passive leadership is framed by a lack-of-decision making.
Perhaps, they’ve been pushed to this point.
I know a lot of us were overwhelmed through COVID.
And that constant cycle of decisions can be enough to burn through our energy.
Leaving behind passive strategies.
Such as avoiding emails altogether.
Or looking in the other direction, to save energy.
The FIFO
It’s not just the stressed out, overworked types.
One of the most toxic people can be the Laissez-Faire founder persona.
The fly in, fly out (FIFO) leader.
They show up, give a bit of a speech to people.
Bang a few drums, get some attention.
And then they disappear again.
Leaving an emotional void.
Playing into the people-pleasing behaviours of those beneath them.
I witnessed this occur in a business once.
And it was painful
Easily, one of the most toxic workplaces I’ve ever seen.
Generational toxicity
Staff members hung around for years, in spite of no progress.
Working in a business that was completely static, in spite of all the shiny objects.
Fancy lunches, free coffees, expensive nights out.
The people lacked connection with their leader.
They lacked true alignment.
Passive leadership can do a lot of damage to people.
And this was definitely a case of toxic leaders creating toxic teams.
Great things about passive leadership?
A passive approach can actually reduce conflict.
In the sense that it takes two to tango, and an absent leader cannot be involved in any active conflict.
But a Cold-War type mentality will inevitably occur.
Silence becomes the norm and unspeakables develop.
There are people who truly crave autonomy and just want to be left alone.
These personalities can thrive under passive leadership, to a point.
They will more than likely get exactly what they want from their leader.
Usually financial rewards.
And feel a great sense of self-importance, as they are living their most autonomous life.
Another skill a passive leader may have is listening skills.
However, listening without taking action is fraught with danger
Drawbacks of doing nothing
The polar opposite of the driven leaders.
The main issue with passive leadership is the frustration.
They lead without direction or clarity, and this absence creates a leadership vacuum.
Expectations and priorities get lost.
And inevitably, others try and step up to fill this void.
But without delegated authority, this invariably leads to conflict within teams.
Toxic environments ensue, as employees jostle for dominance.
Becoming the democrat
An effective move for a passive leadership style is to delegate authority.
Allow others to step in.
Facilitate someone who wants to take control, make decisions.
Whilst supporting them of course.
And doing so in a collective environment.
The democratic style can be exceptionally powerful.
A truly democratic leader would give everyone a voice, and a role.
And with that level of transparency, a lot of problems dissipate.
Team members can have the opportunity to step up.
And the leader may even find themselves re-invigorated.
By nothing other their newfound ability to walk quietly amongst the crowd.
