When My Behavior Became the Team’s Blueprint: Lessons in Leadership

Three Examples and My Leadership Lessons

1. Communication

When You Don’t Communicate, They Won't Communicate.

Two months ago, I was overwhelmed with projects and my communication to the team and the company decreased by half. I figured, “I don’t have to share every detail,” but that’s where the consequences started showing up.

I noticed that the team did the same — updates became less frequent, and they overlook important highlights to share with other teams, or even with our clients. It was like a domino effect — one drop of poor communication led to a cascade of misunderstandings and missed opportunities.

Leadership Lesson: As a manager, your communication habits directly influence the team. If you create a culture of open, clear, and regular communication, your team will follow.

2. Stress

Your Stress is Directly Transferred to Your Teams.

I used to hear about the impact of my stress during 1:1s and saw it reflected in the quality of work. When I’m stressed, my team becomes tense, rushes tasks, and the overall mood drops. It’s exhausting to watch your team mirror your stress levels.

Once, during a 1:1, a team member admitted to feeling stressed because she saw that something bothered me and there was a conflict with another team. It was a wake-up call. Suddenly, the weight of my stress wasn’t just mine — it was shared by those around me.

Leadership Lesson: Your stress can become contagious. If you’re stressed, your team is likely to mirror this emotion, which can affect their work and mental health. If you’re unable to manage your stress (as can happen with any human being!), it might be better to step back for a short time, recalibrate, and return with renewed energy.

3. Creativity & Problem-Solving

Creativity Suffers When You Jump Into Tasks Too Quickly.

Early in my managerial role, I used to take up too many tasks, leaving little time for innovation and random creations. I was quick to jump into firefighting mode and react to any small problem that showed up.

I noticed my team started to follow the same approach. Instead of taking time to brainstorm or explore problems from every angle for creative solutions, they rushed into the first idea, which wasn’t always the best one. As you can imagine, this led to more problems down the line and made us miss some great opportunities.

Leadership Lesson: The way you handle problems shapes your team’s approach. Value and support exploration, and you will you enable your team to grow, innovate, and face challenges confidently.

Understanding the Impact

Understanding how your behavior impacts your team is just the beginning. As a leader, it’s crucial to recognize that your actions set the standard for your team’s behavior. If you can create an organized system to manage your team effectively, you can foster a positive and productive work environment.

As a people manager, I build frameworks, systems and tools for other people managers and their teams. You can follow me for more ideas and guides on practical management. Find the latest tools & templates on managerhacks.io.