In many organisations, individual leaders may each be genuinely capable in their own right, and yet the leadership team as a collective unit functions poorly — decisions made in one meeting quietly undone in another, genuine distrust between senior leaders that filters down through their respective teams, a lack of real alignment that leaves the broader organisation confused about actual priorities. A dysfunctional leadership team creates ripple effects considerably beyond the team itself, and recognising the genuine signs, along with what can actually be done about it, matters for anyone operating within or affected by this kind of dynamic.
Why Leadership Team Dysfunction Is Particularly Damaging
Dysfunction within a leadership team doesn’t stay contained to that team — it filters down through the entire organisation, since every leader on that team also leads their own team, who observes and is affected by the dysfunction above them, even when it’s never explicitly named or acknowledged. This makes leadership team dysfunction genuinely more consequential than dysfunction within most other teams, precisely because its effects compound and spread throughout the broader organisational structure rather than remaining contained to a single, isolated unit.
Genuine Signs of Leadership Team Dysfunction
Decisions made collectively that are quietly undermined individually afterward. A leadership team that agrees to something together, only for individual leaders to quietly act as though the agreement doesn’t fully apply to their own team, reflects a genuine lack of real commitment beneath surface-level, performative agreement.
Genuine distrust or unhealthy competition among leaders themselves. Leaders who compete for resources, credit, or influence in ways that undermine collective effectiveness, rather than genuinely collaborating toward shared organisational goals, create a dynamic that inevitably filters down to their respective teams.
A genuine lack of psychological safety within the leadership team itself. Senior leaders who don’t feel safe voicing honest disagreement or concerns within their own leadership team, defaulting instead to surface-level agreement while harbouring real reservations, prevents the kind of honest deliberation that produces genuinely sound collective decisions.
Inconsistent or contradictory messaging reaching the broader organisation. Different leaders communicating genuinely different, sometimes contradictory priorities to their own teams reflects a real lack of collective alignment at the leadership level, leaving the broader organisation confused about what actually matters most.
What an Individual Leader Can Genuinely Do Within a Dysfunctional Team
Model genuine collaborative behaviour yourself, even if others don’t. Consistently demonstrating honest collaboration, genuine follow-through on collective agreements, and authentic transparency, even when colleagues don’t reciprocate, can gradually influence broader team norms over time, though this genuinely takes patience and doesn’t guarantee immediate results.
Address concerns directly with the specific individuals involved, where genuinely appropriate. A direct, honest, and private conversation with a specific colleague about a genuine concern often proves more productive than either public confrontation or silent frustration that never gets genuinely addressed.
Protect your own team from the dysfunction as much as genuinely possible. While complete insulation isn’t genuinely realistic, making deliberate effort to shield your own team from unnecessary exposure to leadership-level dysfunction, and providing them with consistent, honest information despite what’s happening above, protects their own morale and function.
Raise the pattern honestly with appropriate parties, when genuinely warranted. If dysfunction is significant and persistent, honestly raising the pattern — not just isolated incidents — with someone positioned to genuinely address it, such as a CEO or board member, may be appropriate, particularly when the dysfunction is having a genuinely significant negative impact on the broader organisation.
Why This Requires Genuine Courage and Careful Judgement
It’s worth being direct that raising concerns about leadership team dysfunction, especially involving one’s own peers, requires genuine courage and carries real professional risk, and this reality deserves honest acknowledgement rather than a naive assumption that raising concerns is always simple or without genuine cost. Weighing this risk honestly against the genuine importance of the issue, and choosing your approach and timing thoughtfully, matters for navigating this difficult situation as effectively and safely as possible.
When External Help Is Genuinely Warranted
Recognise when dysfunction has become significant and persistent enough to warrant outside support. Some leadership team dysfunction is significant and persistent enough that it genuinely benefits from external facilitation — an executive coach or organisational consultant experienced specifically in this kind of dynamic — rather than being something the team can genuinely resolve entirely on its own.
Understand that this isn’t a sign of failure, but a legitimate and common intervention. Seeking external support for genuine leadership team dysfunction is a legitimate, common, and often effective intervention, not an admission of failure, and treating it this way helps a team engage with the process authentically rather than defensively.
Protecting Your Own Wellbeing Within a Dysfunctional Environment
Acknowledge honestly how the dysfunction is genuinely affecting you. Working within or adjacent to genuine leadership team dysfunction takes a real toll, and honestly acknowledging this impact, rather than minimising it, matters for your own wellbeing and sustainable engagement with a genuinely difficult situation.
Seek genuine support outside the situation itself. Processing the genuine frustration or difficulty of this dynamic with a trusted mentor, peer outside the organisation, or professional support protects your own resilience and perspective while navigating a situation that may take considerable time to genuinely improve.
A Practical Scenario
A division head within a leadership team increasingly troubled by genuine dysfunction — decisions quietly undermined after collective agreement, real distrust between colleagues, contradictory messaging reaching different parts of the organisation — begins by modelling genuine collaborative behaviour herself, consistently following through on collective agreements and communicating honestly even when others don’t reciprocate. She addresses a specific, genuine concern directly and privately with a colleague whose behaviour has been particularly undermining, rather than either confronting them publicly or remaining silently frustrated.
When the broader pattern persists despite her individual efforts, she raises it honestly with the CEO, focusing on the genuine pattern’s impact on the broader organisation rather than any single isolated incident, and the CEO ultimately brings in external facilitation to help the leadership team address the dysfunction directly. While the process takes genuine time and isn’t immediately transformative, the team’s functioning improves meaningfully over the following year — a direct result of an individual leader modelling better behaviour, addressing concerns directly where appropriate, and eventually raising the pattern honestly with someone positioned to genuinely help address a dysfunction the team couldn’t fully resolve entirely on its own.
Common Mistakes
Assuming leadership team dysfunction will simply resolve itself over time. Without genuine intervention, either from within the team or through external support, dysfunctional patterns tend to persist and continue creating ripple effects throughout the broader organisation.
Publicly confronting colleagues about dysfunction rather than addressing concerns privately. Direct, honest, and private conversations tend to be considerably more productive than public confrontation, which can escalate tension without genuinely resolving the underlying issue.
Failing to protect your own team from unnecessary exposure to leadership-level dysfunction. While complete insulation isn’t realistic, failing to make any deliberate effort to shield your own team leaves them unnecessarily exposed to dynamics they have no genuine ability to influence or address themselves.
Treating external facilitation as an admission of failure rather than a legitimate intervention. This framing can prevent a team from genuinely engaging with support that’s often effective, treating a common and legitimate intervention as something shameful rather than a genuine path toward improvement.
Action Steps
- Model genuine collaborative behaviour consistently yourself, even if colleagues within a dysfunctional leadership team don’t reciprocate immediately.
- Address specific, genuine concerns directly and privately with the individuals involved, rather than through public confrontation or silent frustration.
- Make deliberate effort to protect your own team from unnecessary exposure to leadership-level dysfunction, providing consistent and honest information.
- If dysfunction is significant and persistent, consider raising the honest pattern with someone positioned to genuinely address it, weighing the real risks involved.
- Seek genuine support outside the situation itself to protect your own wellbeing and perspective while navigating a difficult, ongoing dynamic.
Key Takeaways
- Leadership team dysfunction creates ripple effects considerably beyond the team itself, filtering down through the entire organisation via every leader’s own respective team.
- Genuine signs include collectively agreed decisions quietly undermined individually, unhealthy competition, lack of psychological safety, and contradictory messaging reaching the broader organisation.
- An individual leader can model better behaviour, address concerns directly and privately, protect their own team, and raise persistent patterns with appropriate parties when genuinely warranted.
- Raising concerns about leadership dysfunction carries real professional risk, deserving honest acknowledgement and careful, thoughtful judgement about approach and timing.
- Significant, persistent dysfunction often genuinely benefits from external facilitation, which is a legitimate and common intervention rather than an admission of failure.
The Cumulative Cost of Leaving Dysfunction Unaddressed for Years
Leadership team dysfunction left unaddressed for extended periods tends to become progressively more entrenched and harder to shift, making earlier, honest intervention considerably more effective and less costly than waiting until dysfunctional patterns have become deeply normalised across the organisation.
Why New Leaders Joining a Dysfunctional Team Have a Unique Vantage Point
Someone newly joining a leadership team often has a genuinely clearer, less normalised view of dysfunctional patterns than those who’ve been immersed in them for years, and this fresh perspective, offered honestly and diplomatically, can sometimes surface issues existing members have stopped consciously noticing.
Why New Leaders Joining a Dysfunctional Team Have a Unique Vantage Point
Someone embedded within a dysfunctional leadership team often struggles to see the pattern clearly, since the dysfunction itself can start to feel like simply how things normally work, making honest outside perspective — from a trusted mentor, coach, or peer elsewhere — genuinely valuable for accurately recognising what’s actually happening.
Distinguishing Genuine Dysfunction From Healthy Disagreement
Not all visible tension within a leadership team reflects genuine dysfunction — honest, substantive disagreement handled respectfully is a sign of a healthy team, and distinguishing this from the destructive patterns described here matters for accurately diagnosing what a specific team is actually experiencing.
Conclusion
A dysfunctional leadership team creates ripple effects throughout an entire organisation, making it a genuinely more consequential problem than dysfunction contained within most other teams. Modelling genuine collaborative behaviour, addressing concerns directly and privately where appropriate, protecting your own team as much as genuinely possible, and considering external facilitation for significant, persistent dysfunction all offer real paths toward improvement, even when the situation takes considerable patience, courage, and time to genuinely address well.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I tell if my leadership team is genuinely dysfunctional, not just going through a difficult period?
Look for persistent patterns — collectively agreed decisions quietly undermined afterward, genuine distrust or unhealthy competition, lack of psychological safety, and contradictory messaging reaching the broader organisation — rather than isolated, temporary difficulties.
What can I do as an individual leader within a dysfunctional leadership team?
Model genuine collaborative behaviour yourself, address specific concerns directly and privately with the individuals involved, and protect your own team from unnecessary exposure to the dysfunction where genuinely possible.
Is it risky to raise concerns about leadership team dysfunction?
Yes, genuinely — this carries real professional risk that deserves honest acknowledgement, making thoughtful judgement about timing and approach important rather than assuming raising concerns is always simple or costless.
When should leadership team dysfunction involve external help?
When it’s significant and persistent enough that the team genuinely can’t resolve it entirely on its own — external facilitation from an experienced coach or consultant is a legitimate, common, and often effective intervention in these cases.
How does leadership team dysfunction affect the broader organisation?
It filters down considerably, since every leader on a dysfunctional team also leads their own team, who observes and is affected by dynamics above them even when never explicitly named or acknowledged.
How can I protect my own wellbeing while working within a dysfunctional leadership environment?
Acknowledge honestly how the situation is affecting you, and seek genuine support outside the situation itself — a trusted mentor, peer, or professional support — to protect your resilience while navigating something that may take considerable time to improve.