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How to resolve AdBlock issue? Margo Faraci’s research counts the costs of poor leaders and managers
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
BUSINESSES around the world are caught in a vortex of bad leadership, leaders who simply aren’t up to the job. And they know it too. The result: inability to communicate with teams, falling morale and poor productivity.
It’s rife in Australia, the US and UK, according to Margo Faraci, a global leadership expert and executive.
Ms Faraci has a background in some of the largest global blue chip companies including in her native Australia – Macquarie Bank, NAB, Seek.com, Ashurst, and Commonwealth Bank – and internationally with global mega-techs such as Amazon and Coca-Cola.
Ms Faraci said bad management can mean a range of things to different people.
“But ultimately, it’s management and leadership that makes people small and misses their potential. And therefore business potential,” Ms Faraci told Talking Business. 
Self-awareness is key
Ms Faraci said much of it came down to self-awareness.
“If we’re turning up as leaders frustrated, if we’re turning up as leaders saying to ourselves” ‘Just do it for the money’. If we’re turning up not happy with our team, with the people around us, then we are probably operating from fear and there’s probably some work to be done there,” she said.
“In terms of finding out what’s going on in your team, what you realise the more senior you become is that the further up you go, the less you know what’s going on because people are really deferential to hierarchy.
“However, this means people stop telling you things so what you must do in your team is find out how people are and how they behave to you as a leader,” Ms Faraci said.
Build psychological safety
Ms Faraci said there are several ways to do this.
“The best thing you can do is be the leader admitting mistakes and asking for help,” she said.
“If you build what we call psychological safety, that’s the single biggest driver of performance.
“They’re the things you can do as a leader which will ensure people will come to you and let you know when there are problems in your team of direct reports.
“If you create the environment where people see you being open to different views and you admit mistakes, that creates psychological safety, that drives down fear.
“And performance is created when people can speak up, and people can have respectful debate and people can tell you things as they see it.”
Failing leaders cost companies
Ms Faraci said her study of managers in the US, UK and Australia showed leaders who couldn’t achieve this cost their companies heavily in terms of inadequate productivity.
Her research covered all sectors and examined emerging leaders in their late 20s and early 40s.
Ms Faraci’s research did not cover any particular industries. And it was the same across genders.
“About a third of emerging leaders are leading with what we call unconscious fear,” she said.
“That’s costing about $2.2 billion in Australia.
“If you don’t care about the impact on people, you might care about the dollar loss you are experiencing because of it.
“And we know those people who are leading unconsciously with fear are really unhappy as well. We know about half of them are unhappy in the job – so it’s not working for them either.” 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-11-interview-with-margot-faraci-global-lead