The Hidden Leadership Habits That Are Holding Back Your Team (And How to Fix Them)
It’s easy to feel like you’ve done everything right as a leader—created a great environment, earned your team’s trust, and built a positive culture.
But if your managers aren’t delivering the results you need, something is missing.
I recently worked with an MD in this exact position. His team loved working for him, and he’d created a supportive, engaging culture. On the surface, he looked like the ideal leader.
But despite that, he was constantly stepping in to fix things his managers should have been handling. It was holding back the business and putting unnecessary pressure on him.
So, what was the real issue?
Multipliers and Diminishers
It wasn’t about more meetings or another performance review. It came down to multipliers and diminishers—the behaviours that either make your managers better or unintentionally hold them back.
Multipliers are the things you do that help your managers take ownership, be accountable, and push themselves. Diminishers, on the other hand, are those hidden habits that keep them dependent on you.
Here’s the surprising part—some of the things this MD thought were helping his team were actually diminishing their performance.
Common Leadership Diminishers
Here are a few common diminishers that I often see in leaders:
- Over-supporting: You’ve created such a supportive environment that it’s become cozy. Managers get too comfortable, and instead of taking ownership, they lean on you to solve problems. They’re waiting for approval or reassurance rather than taking responsibility and moving forward.
- Avoiding tough conversations: No one enjoys conflict, but when you avoid those difficult conversations, performance issues go unaddressed.
- Reliance on hand-holding: Your managers become dependent on you for every decision because it’s easy. Instead of stepping up, they rely on you as their safety net.
In this MD’s case, his supportive environment had unintentionally created a culture where his managers were feeling over-entitled. They were:
- Expecting more staff without maximising the team they already had—leading to underperformance and inefficiencies.
- Blaming circumstances rather than taking control of outcomes.
It was a cycle they’d fallen into, and it wasn’t going to resolve itself.
The Impact of Diminishers on Your Business
When diminishers are at play, they don’t just affect your managers—they affect your entire business:
- Bottlenecking Progress: Instead of a proactive team, you’ve got managers waiting for your approval, slowing down progress.
- CEO Burnout: You’re stuck putting out fires your managers should be handling, draining your energy and keeping you from focusing on growth. It leaves you operating below your best—and let’s be honest, it’s no fun.
- Missed Opportunities: When your managers are too reliant on you, they’re not seizing new opportunities. They’re waiting for you to make every decision.
How to Spot Your Diminishers
If you’re starting to recognise these patterns in your leadership style, here’s how to pinpoint your diminishers:
- Reflect on your role: Do you feel like you’re constantly stepping in to “save the day”? Are you the one fixing problems that should be handled by your managers?
- Get feedback: Ask your team for honest feedback. Are there areas where they’re too dependent on you? Are they comfortable making decisions on their own?
By identifying these diminishers, you can start making small shifts that have a big impact on your team’s performance and your own ability to focus on growth.
Real-World Example
Let me share how this played out for the MD I mentioned earlier.
He had created a great culture—his team loved working for him, and he was seen as a supportive leader. But the reality was, he was still stepping in to fix issues that his managers should have been handling. They were too comfortable relying on his support instead of stepping up and taking ownership.
Once we identified the diminishers at play, we made some key shifts. I helped him create real accountability while maintaining the supportive culture he’d worked so hard to build. The result? His managers stopped relying on him to solve their problems and started taking ownership of their roles.
The team became more proactive, and projects that had been stuck for months started moving forward without him needing to be involved in every. single. thing.
Next Steps
If this is resonating with you and you’re noticing some of these patterns in your own team, don’t worry—it’s fixable.
I’m hosting a masterclass on “How to Get Your Managers to Actually Manage and Save 8+ Hours of Firefighting Every Week.” In this session, I’ll walk you through how to identify and address these diminishers so you can turn your managers into the proactive leaders your business needs.
Click here to sign up for the masterclass: https://go.leannebridges.com/highperformingteam
Or, if you’re ready to dive into this now, book a call with me for a free team audit. We’ll pinpoint exactly what needs to change so you can step out of the day-to-day and focus on growing your business.
Click here to book your free call: https://calendly.com/leannebridges/team-audit