3 signs your employees don’t respect you

Leadership is hard. It’s harder when your team doesn’t respect you. Here are three ways you can tell if your staff wish someone else did your job:

• They ignore you. Is there anything more disrespectful than ignoring someone? If your team knows they can pay you lip service but do whatever they want, you have a problem on your hands. Let staff know there are consequences to not carrying out instructions and actually follow through on them.

• They gossip about you. Everyone chats with coworkers about the boss. It’s how staff sort out what’s important, where the boundaries are and clarify instructions. But gossiping about the boss, belittling mannerisms, clothing choices and other petty topics, are a sure sign they don’t care for you personally and don’t respect you enough to stick to discussing work related topics.

• They openly mock you. Staff who like their boss and have a good relationship with him or her may engage in good natured teasing. They don’t openly make fun of their boss, though. If staff are laughing at you rather than with you, you have a serious problem. Any pretense of your authority is gone. Get things under control immediately or face full on anarchy. 

Click here for a list of 4 signs you should not be a leader.