If You Hate These Employee Behaviors, Imagine What They Think of Yours

I’m not a fan of leaders who complain about their team. It’s cowardly. It’s lazy. If you engage in it, that is a major indication that your leadership effectiveness is drifting off course.

You say you want results, but you don’t model responsibility.

You want initiative, but you micromanage.

You want collaboration, but you breed fear.

This isn’t a set of recommendations for leaders who want to feel good. This is for leaders who want to do better, who are finally ready to hold up the mirror and see what’s causing dysfunction on their team.

Many of the things you dislike in your employees are a reflection of your leadership failures.

Below are 17 common complaints about employees from leaders. See if you can identify the specific accountability you’ve been dodging.

1. They Don’t Follow the Rules

Your Leadership Failure: You’re unclear, inconsistent, or outright arbitrary.

If your team ignores deadlines and directions, stop blaming “entitlement” and start clarifying expectations like a leader.

2. They Resist Feedback

Your Leadership Failure: You don’t coach; you criticize.

You’ve created a culture where feedback feels like punishment rather than growth. Want change? Start by building trust before correcting behavior.

3. They Act Like Know-it-Alls

Your Leadership Failure: You don’t reward curiosity, only conformity.

If every idea dies in your presence, your team will learn to act as if they have all the answers. Why risk vulnerability when arrogance feels safer?

4. They’re Arrogant

Your Leadership Failure: You confuse confidence with condescension, as you exhibit this trait as well.

If you tolerate arrogance in yourself, don’t be surprised when it spreads.

5. They’re Lone Wolves

Your Leadership Failure: You haven’t built a team; they’re just a group of individuals with shared anxiety.

Start promoting collaboration rather than competing egos.

6. They’re Frequently Absent

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve overlooked burnout and blurred boundaries.

Flexibility isn’t a weakness; it’s a strategy. So is accountability. You can, and must, provide both.

7. They’re Dishonest

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve taught them that truth comes with a price.

When honesty is punished, spin becomes a means of survival.

8. They’re Overly Sensitive or Jealous

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve established a status game.

If people feel like they are walking on eggshells or harbor resentment toward recognition, your culture is emotionally underdeveloped.

9. They’re Self-Centered

Your Leadership Failure: You haven’t connected individual success to team success.

Leaders who fail to align the mission will always manage misalignment.

10. They Dodge Responsibility

Your Leadership Failure: You haven’t established accountability as the norm.

If no one takes ownership of mistakes, consider this: When was the last time you did?

11. They Wait to Be Told What to Do

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve created dependents, not contributors.

Micromanagement stifles initiative. Let go or accept dragging dead weight.

12. They Complain Constantly

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve ignored the climate.

If your workplace feels toxic, it’s because no one has cleaned it up, and yes, that’s your responsibility.

13. They Communicate Poorly

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve modeled confusion, not clarity.

If people misunderstand you or each other, don’t yell louder; communicate better.

14. They’re Insubordinate

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve created resentment instead of respect.

Insubordination is often a symptom of ignored insight or misused authority.

15. They Waste Time

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve made time feel optional.

You’re late. You overschedule. You don’t set a rhythm. Want respect for time? Lead by example.

16. They’re Unprofessional

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve lowered the bar.

Whether it’s language, behavior, or dress, what you permit becomes the new standard.

17. They Gossip and Stir Drama

Your Leadership Failure: You’ve made drama more rewarding than dialogue.

If whispers shape the culture, it’s because candor feels unsafe.

The Bottom Line

You don’t have an employee problem; you have a leadership accountability problem.

And unless you address it, your organization will continue to underperform, disengage, and burn out your best people.

If that’s unacceptable to you (and it should be), then stop accepting mediocrity in your leadership.

Model what you expect. Address what you’ve ignored. And lead with integrity, not excuses.

At Karl Bimshas Consulting, we don’t just talk about leadership, we measure it, challenge it, and transform it. No fluff. No jerk behavior. And no letting you off the hook.

Do you want better results? Start becoming a better leader.

Ready to confront your accountability gaps?

Start with the Leadership Accountability Audit™ — a no-BS tool designed to uncover what’s drifting in your leadership.