6 minBusiness
Seven leadership patterns that push good employees away
A leadership coach identifies seven recurring managerial behaviors, from micromanagement to hoarding information, that drive talented staff to quit, and explains how leaders can reverse them.
Talented employees rarely quit after a single bad meeting or one difficult day. More often, they leave after months of repeated exposure to the same managerial behaviors, according to leadership coach Marcel Schwantes, who has spent two decades advising executives. Writing for, he argues that poor leadership follows recognizable patterns, and that leaders who learn to spot these patterns in themselves can change before their best people start updating their résumés.
Research from Gallup has repeatedly shown that managers account for most of the variance in employee engagement, Schwantes notes. Employees experience an organization primarily through the person they report to, which means a manager can make work meaningful or unbearable. The encouraging side of this dynamic, he writes, is that the opposite is equally true: when leaders trust their people, communicate openly, recognize contributions, admit mistakes, and genuinely care about employee growth, they create workplaces where talented employees choose to stay.
The first pattern Schwantes identifies is control becoming more important than trust. Micromanagement, he says, is rooted in fear, often the fear that no one else can do the job correctly or that mistakes will reflect poorly on the boss. Employees experience this as a lack of confidence in their judgment. The best leaders, by contrast, create clear expectations and then step back, coaching rather than hovering and allowing people the freedom to solve problems and learn from setbacks.
A second pattern is recognition that flows up instead of down. Some managers make every team success about themselves, while others overlook the daily contributions that keep the business moving. Employees do not expect praise for every task, Schwantes writes, but they do expect their work to matter. When leaders consistently recognize effort, celebrate wins, and share credit generously, they reinforce a culture where people feel valued rather than invisible.
Information hoarding is a third warning sign. Bad leaders often guard information as though it gives them leverage, avoiding difficult conversations, failing to explain decisions, or communicating only when absolutely necessary. The result is uncertainty, speculation, and declining trust. Schwantes argues that in an age of constant change, people can usually handle bad news; what they struggle with is silence. Honest, transparent communication reduces anxiety and gives employees confidence that they are being treated as partners rather than spectators.
Ego replacing humility is the fourth pattern. Leaders driven by ego deflect blame, dismiss feedback, and surround themselves with people who rarely challenge their thinking. Over time, innovation slows because employees learn it is safer to stay quiet than to speak honestly. Humility, Schwantes insists, is not weakness but one of leadership's greatest strengths, creating cultures where learning, collaboration, and trust thrive.
The fifth pattern is treating employees as resources instead of human beings. When productivity becomes the only metric that matters, people eventually feel like replaceable parts. Sustainable performance, Schwantes writes, begins with healthy people. Strong leaders ask about workload before burnout sets in, invest in growth instead of simply demanding results, and recognize that employees bring both talent and humanity to work every day. People give their best not because they are managed efficiently but because they know someone genuinely cares about their success.
Avoiding difficult conversations is the sixth pattern. Delaying uncomfortable feedback, relying on email to address sensitive issues, or hoping problems resolve themselves slowly destroys relationships. Good leaders address issues early, speak directly, and approach difficult conversations with empathy and respect. Trust grows when employees know where they stand, even when the message is hard to hear.
The seventh pattern, which Schwantes calls the one behind all the others, is the leader serving their own interests instead of the team. Some leaders see their role as advancing their own career, protecting their image, or maintaining authority; others see leadership as a responsibility to help others succeed. Employees know the difference. The question every leader should ask, he says, is not how the team can help the leader succeed, but how the leader can remove obstacles so the team can succeed.
Schwantes concludes that the best employees leave after months of experiencing behaviors that signal they are not trusted, respected, heard, or valued. Leadership, he writes, is ultimately measured not by how much authority, power, or control a person has, but by how many people flourish because of that person.
