Additionally, there are impulsive leaders who can’t quite make up their minds which leads to them constantly changing directions. A common example is giving instructions for a task and contradicting them the next day. As such, it leaves the employee feeling insecure and uncertain about how to meet the needs of the leader. Consequently, this makes employees feel disempowered and dependent on the instructions of the leader.
Rather than consulting with team members, the impulsive leader makes decisions on a whim and expects immediate buy-in from their team. The challenge is they often don’t think through the consequences of their actions and decision-making. Thus, when a mistake occurs, impulsive leaders are quick to dodge accountability and instead blame their team. This not only creates more work for the team but it also leads to resentment, tension, and unnecessary stress.
Employees feel as if they’re being set up for failure due to tasks and big projects being added to their workload without any understanding of a deadline or what’s expected of them. When they attempt to seek help from their leader, they’re faced with silence because the leader has already shifted their focus to another task. Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D.,, asserted, “managers who are prone to acting on impulse are typically unfocused.
Due to a lack of consistency and expectations that are always changing, employees are left guessing how they should spend their time. Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO of, expressed, “an employee's capacity to achieve their objectives will be severely hindered if they don’t have a clear understanding of what’s expected of them.
Spot on!