The Leadership Mistake Killing Your Team Morale — and How to Fix It

Are you unknowingly leading your team—and yourself—into burnout? 

The real cost? Lost energy, diminished creativity, and slipping profits. 

In this episode, you’ll uncover the hidden mistake holding your team back and learn how to fix it fast.

What You’ll Take Away:

• Stop the Energy Drain: Why blurred boundaries are costing you focus and your team morale.
• Lead with Clarity: How setting simple, clear limits restores productivity and trust.
• Boost Creativity and Profits: The proven way to recharge your leadership and drive results.

🎧 Click to listen now and transform your leadership today!

Unlock Your Business's Full Potential: Enroll Now in Dr. Dave's free Flow-Driven Business Blueprint Course!

Transcript

Just one more message. Sarah thought, glancing at the clock, 11:58pm, this will only take a second, she told herself. She hits send, pours her tea and sighs, another problem solved, or so she thought. The next morning, her team lead Mark walks into her office with dark circles under his eyes. He says, Sarah, I can't keep doing this. Mark explained how the constant late night pings and unspoken expectations had taken a toll on the entire team. We feel like we can't unplug like we always have to be on. He said, For Sarah, it was a wake up call. Her good intentions. Being accessible, responsive and dedicated had backfired. She wasn't modeling commitment. She was modeling exhaustion and the results, the creativity dried up, the morale dipped. Her team wasn't thriving. They were just surviving. Does this sound familiar? How can setting boundaries protect your energy and empower your team? And how does this tie into creating flow and fostering courageous communication in your business. Hey there. Welcome to flow driven leadership, the podcast that transforms visionary entrepreneurs into flow driven CEOs with high performance workplaces. I'm your host and coach, Dr Dave Maloley, and I believe that entrepreneurs are athletes and their business is their field of play. Every day is a game, and the outcome of that game depends on whether you're prepared to win or you're not. Here's what I dream of a world where businesses routinely adopt flow as one of their core values. Imagine workplaces where leaders and teams perform in harmony, where challenges are met with collaboration, and where potential is unlocked, not wasted. Flow driven leadership is where high performance and high profit intersect, and that idea is supported by four pillars. First, we have mental optimization, sharpening your mindset so you can operate at your very best as a leader. Then we have flow orchestration, structuring your business for seamless execution. Third, we have courageous communication, building trust and alignment through open candid dialog. And finally, we have team transformation that's all about creating a culture that amplifies collective genius and drives exceptional profitability. Today, we'll be focusing on that third pillar, courageous communication. Sarah's story at the beginning of the show highlights a challenge that many leaders I know face the line between being dedicated and overextending gets blurry. Did you know that 59% of US workers report experiencing burnout in their current job, and a lot of that comes from unclear or non existent boundaries. Here's the thing, when you send that email late at night, even if you don't expect a response, you're sending a different message. You're saying the work here never stops. Your team feels like they have to match your pace, and before long, everyone's running on fumes. This concept of burnout is not new. Way back in 1974 a psychologist named Herbert fruiting Berger introduced the term. He described burnout as an onslaught that results from excessive demands on a person's energy, strength and resources and the outcome they become, in his words inoperative. And that's exactly what happens when boundaries are ignored. Let's make this real. Imagine a phone battery. If you keep running apps without ever charging it, it doesn't just slow down, it shuts off. People are the same when we don't set boundaries to recharge, we become inoperative too, and that's where the creativity is going to stall, the productivity is going to plummet, and the team morale is going to take a nosedive. But here's the kicker, burnout isn't just bad for the individuals, it's really bad for the business too. Studies show that burnout costs companies billions of dollars in lost productivity and turnover when leaders don't model boundaries, the ripple effects are costly. I want to be clear, boundaries aren't walls to shut people out. They're really bridges to help everyone's. Connected, focused and effective without them, your work and your team's energy scatter like water without a dam, as Brene Brown, a research professor and author of Darren, greatly, puts it, when we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. Boundaries give clarity. They communicate a few things. First, here's what I need to perform at my best. Second, here's how you can own your work. And third, here's how we all stay focused on what matters. Here's another perspective from one of my all time favorite authors, Stephen Covey, author of the classic The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he said, You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage, pleasantly smilingly unapologetically to Say no to other things. So saying no, isn't selfish. It's a strategic move to protect your focus and your team success, and when you do it with kindness and clarity, it actually builds trust. Take a moment to reflect now, what's one boundary you've let slide recently, and how has it affected you? How has it affected your team? Recognizing these moments is a first step to reclaiming control. Now I'd like to talk about a trap that many leaders fall into, the trap of people pleasing. It's natural to want to be liked, but here's the hard truth, people pleasing tends to erode trust and effectiveness faster than you realize. Why? Because every time you say yes to something you shouldn't, you're saying no to what truly matters. You dilute your focus and your team's priorities. Worse, you risk over promising and under delivering, not because you're lazy, but because you're stretched way too thin, as Dr Henry Cloud, author of the book boundaries, reminds us, you get what you tolerate. Here's an example. A leader I coached once told me that they never said no to their team because they wanted to be approachable. The my office door is always open, type, but over time, their yeses created confusion. Team members didn't know what was truly important, and projects started falling apart. People pleasing also creates dependency. Your team learns to rely on your approval instead of building their own confidence and decision making skills, and in the long run, that's going to stifle their growth and your business potential. The next time you feel pressure to say yes, remember that Leadership isn't about being liked, it's about being trusted and respected, and trust is built through consistency and clear boundaries. Now let's tie this all into flow, that magical state where time disappears and everything just clicks. It's going to be the peak of you and your team's productivity and creativity. But here's the thing, that flow does not happen by accident. It needs structure. Think of a river for that water to flow smoothly, the banks must be solid and clearly defined. Boundaries are like those banks without them, energy spills everywhere, and momentum is lost. Psychologist Mihai chick set Mihai, who coined the term flow, described it as a balance between challenge and skill, but if your team is overwhelmed by unclear expectations or micromanaged into boredom, they'll never spend any time in flow. Boundaries give them the space to focus and thrive, and here's how that ties into courageous communication. Setting boundaries requires honest conversations. It's about saying, here's where I draw the line, and here's why think of it as building trust, plank by plank, clear expectations, honest feedback and consistent follow through. That's not always easy, but it will always be worth it. The best leaders model courageous communication by sharing their boundaries transparently. It's not about saying no to your team. It's about saying yes to what helps everyone succeed.

Now let's make this actionable. Here's your leadership boundary blueprint. First, identify your non negotiables. What three things do? Need to protect to perform at your very best, maybe it's family dinner time. Focus blocks during the work day or unplugging on weekends. Write those down second, communicate clearly. Be upfront with your team, for example, say I don't check emails after 6pm because that's family time. If it's urgent, please use Slack. Third, delegate and trust. Stop trying to solve every problem. Instead, ask, how do you plan to handle this? Or what ideas do you have? Delegation builds confidence and trust. Four, lead by example, model the boundaries you set if you expect your team to unplug, don't send those late night emails. And finally, number five, review and adjust good boundaries aren't static. Check in regularly to see what's working and what needs refinement. By following these steps, you'll create a culture where clarity, trust and flow can flourish. Remember Sarah by setting clear boundaries, she didn't just reclaim her evenings. She created space for her team to thrive. What's one boundary you'll set today to create that space for yourself and those you lead. So that's my challenge for you. Set one boundary today and stick to it. It could be as simple as logging off at 6pm or as bold as turning off notifications for an entire weekend, what will your commitment be? Thank you for joining me today on flow driven leadership. I appreciate you. If this episode resonated with you, if you found it valuable, I'm going to ask you to pay a small fee first share it with another leader who could benefit from these insights, and secondly, leave a five star review that will help me continue this show's growth until next week. This is Dr Dave reminding you to stay focused and flow driven.