Bradley Honnor, MD of MatchFit outlines traits of impactful leaders and common leadership pitfalls

Bradley Honnor, MD of MatchFit, (a specialist Learning & Development consultancy, focused on delivering sustainable high performance, and employee health & wellbeing through leadership, communication & culture development) is an experienced psychotherapist and close observer of human behaviour, who has over the years learnt to understand the subtle actions that point to an individual’s likely leadership capabilities.

Sign 1: A lack of engagement and interest

Poor leaders often struggle to engage positively with their teams, creating negative experiences during interactions. Their fixed mindset dismisses new ideas with an “it’s always been done this way” attitude, causing team frustration. They frequently appear disinterested and too busy, which are common negative traits.

In contrast, good leaders show genuine interest, actively participate in discussions, and remain open to learning and communicating beneficial insights for the entire team.

Sign 2: Inconsistent or unclear communication

Poor leaders often struggle to communicate effectively, relying on impersonal means such as emails to fire out instructions and tasks. Meaningful connections with team members through personal interactions aren’t established, leading to misunderstandings, poor team engagement and an undermining of a team’s cohesion and effectiveness. While not all effective leaders are inspirational communicators, avoiding common communication mistakes is important for maximising team performance.

Sign 3: Inability to balance leadership priorities

Effective leadership requires balancing team needs, individual development, and task completion—a balance often lacking in poor leaders. John Adair, a leading authority on leadership, highlights this with his model. He argues that focusing solely on individuals undermines team cohesion, whereas emphasising team performance can neglect individual needs. Overemphasis on tasks harms both team and individual performance.

Promoting skilled salespeople or technical experts to leadership roles often results in task-focused leaders who overlook the pressures on their team. Unlike these, effective leaders nurture individuals, develop cohesive teams, and achieve goals while being accountable. Football managers exemplify this balance: they inspire the team, support individual players, and strategise for wins.

Sign 4: Lack of endorsement from colleagues

At MatchFit, we regularly work with individuals and teams to develop their leadership capabilities.  During this process, conversations inevitably occur about their leaders and whether they are having a positive or negative impact on those in the room.

Poor leaders typically lack the respect and confidence of their colleagues, a reflection of their ineffective leadership style. In contrast, effective leaders earn respect through their actions, integrity, and ability to inspire and motivate others.

Sign 5: Inability to deliver results

Ultimately, leadership is measured by results. Poor leaders often preside over declining morale, sub-par team performances, and diminishing financial outcomes. Their inability to create a high-performing culture and achieve tangible outcomes undermines the organisation’s success. Conversely, effective leaders demonstrate a track record of success, inspiring confidence and driving performance through strategic vision, collaboration and accountability.

Assessing leadership, of course, is always complex and rarely clear cut. A leader might excel at team and individual engagement, yet lack vision, clarity, and the ability to lead the team to make a useful contribution to the business. The lesson, then, is one of self-awareness – and the willingness of a leader to continually evolve and develop.