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I had massive problems with the productivity of my teams.

Deadlines were missed.

I had to push people constantly to get the tiniest amount of progress.

And the results I got went through many revisions until it could be released.

I thought I would be better off doing it by myself.

It turns out that a team's productivity depends mainly on its leader’s skills.

When a team doesn't perform in most cases, it's not because you have the wrong people.

It is because the leader lacks good leadership skills.

I had to learn this the hard way.

I'm a software engineer who knows how to build a product but never learned how to lead others.

When I started leading teams, I noticed these professions are entirely different.

And I'm not alone; there are a lot of engineers who are made leaders out there with the same problems.

Leadership is a spectrum between diminishing your team's capabilities and multiplying their talents.

If you're a multiplier, you will get 2x the productivity out of your teams, and it will feel effortless.

But when you're a diminisher, every step is a pain, and you must constantly replace people.

The first step in becoming a great leader is to develop an eye for good and bad leadership.

Let's have a look at the five types of diminishers.

So you can learn to see them and avoid them.

The 5 types of bad leaders

Empire Builder

The Empire Builder hoards talent and underutilizes their team.

They see their teams as a resource and a tool to reach their own goals.

And they will not share these resources with anyone else.

An Empire builder constantly lacks enough resources.

So, they're unwilling to share their teams’ talents with others.

In their eyes, work is a constant power struggle.

Opposite to the Emire Builder stands the Talent Magnet.

They develop their teams to reach a common goal.

Because their teams always get better, they act in abundance.

They share what they have with others to work for a greater goal than their own benefits.

Tyrant

If a leader has to use fear and punishment to get their team working, they're a Tyrant.

They demand more from their teams than they're willing or able to give.

Then, if the team can't deliver, they blame them for their mistakes.

The Tyrant makes themselves bigger and everyone around them smaller.

Why would anyone do any work if nothing is good enough?

This results in teams shutting down and not working at all anymore.

The Liberator has a better way.

They create an environment of exploration and learning.

If a mistake happens, they try to find out how to avoid it in the future.

This makes teams feel safe to take risks and bring greater results.

Know-it-all

I was a Know-it-all.

I was always the first to speak and give solutions.

I also talked most during each meeting.

My teams got silent around me because why should they think for themselves?

Marcel already had all the answers.

A Know-it-all tells people what they know and tests the knowledge of others.

They tend to tell people how to do their jobs better, even though they're not the experts.

No matter the topic, they're always the smartest person in the room.

The Know-it-all will always be the bottleneck of their teams.

And they limit the team to their capabilities.

The Challenger, on the other hand, is a multiplier for the combined expertise of their teams.

They ask questions and challenge their teams to find the solutions they couldn't see.

The results are generally better solutions and independently working teams.

Decision Maker

The Decision Maker does precisely what the name suggests.

They make the decisions alone or together with an elite circle.

Then, they tell their teams the outcomes.

Everyone is waiting for the Decision Maker to reach a conclusion.

This leads to very low feelings of ownership in their teams.

Why would you put any effort into something you can't shape or become creative with?

The best way to do this is to become a debate maker.

Sparking discussions and including others’ opinions in the decision-making process.

This way, everyone can contribute their talents and be motivated to see it executed.

Micro-Manager

Last on the list is the Micro-Manager.

I think we're all familiar with this one.

They tell their teams every step and do all the heavy lifting.

They work as a team, but it often seems that they prefer to work alone on the project.

The Micro-Manager controls others to get things done, underutilizing everyone in the process.

On the other hand, investors support and invest in their people to get things done.

They delegate and hand off responsibilities so they can focus on what is essential.

These are the 5 types of bad leaders and their counters:

The Empire Builder vs the Talent Magnet
The Tyrant vs the Liberator
The Know-it-all vs the Challenger
The Decision Maker vs the Debate Maker
The Micro Manager vs the Investor

What about you or your leaders?

Which diminisher behaviours can you spot?

Leadership is hard and requires skills completely different from most other work.

Just because someone is a good engineer doesn't mean they also will be a good leader.

You must put in the same effort to become a leader as you did to excel in your previous profession.

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How to spot bad leaders, the 5 types of diminishers.