By 
Leadership is all about people. Without the people element, a leader is of no value because a leader needs a followership to exist. A leader therefore needs to have what it takes to win and sustain the confidence of his people to be able to effectively influence them to do what he wants them to do, the way he wants them to do it, and the time he wants them to do it.
Given the critical role of having a strong and dedicated followership in leadership success, any leader who wants to succeed should identify and learn what it takes to win or lose the respect and trust of his people. Having this understanding will help him acquire the indispensable skills or make the necessary changes that will enable him to become the leader people would want to follow. Without a strong and committed followership leadership becomes a rough ride. If you are looking for ways to improve the loyalty and cooperation of your followership the best place to begin is to identify the common missteps that drain the people's trust in a leader. Here are 7 things that can make a leader lose the confidence of his people.
Unrealistic Demands
Loyalty has an elastic limit. Leaders who ignore this truth pay a huge price. Constantly making demands that lack empathy and objectivity puts undue pressure on the followers' patience. Unrealistic demands come across as mean and deliberate injustice. This makes followers lose faith in the leadership and encourages them to take their destiny into their own hands by resorting to self-help. Self-help syndrome often slides people into the flouting of operational standards and gross insubordination across the organization. Ignoring the genuine concerns of your team members when placing demands on them may result in low morale, infighting, and unhealthy resistance against the leadership. A leader who is unperturbed about the interests of his people will have a rough ride with the people in terms of cooperation. The absence of cooperation is often a sign that they have lost confidence in your Leadership.
Inconsistency
Trust is the foundation for every successful leadership. Your people want to know that they can trust you at all times. While consistency helps a leader build trust and credibility, not being transparent and honest in your communication and decision-making makes you untrustworthy. A trustworthy leader is viewed as responsible and dependable and that wins him the respect of the stakeholders. When you are inconsistent in words and actions you are instructing your team not to put their confidence in you. A leader whose words cannot be taken seriously and is unable to follow through on commitments will find it difficult to cultivate strategic relationships and secure committed partnerships needed for success. Inconsistency projects one as unreliable making it impossible for people to build the trust needed to submit or commit to your leadership
Bad Decisions
Strategic decisions are pivotal in leadership success. Actions that are perceived as unthoughtful, lacking in objectivity, and not in tandem with reality categorize a leader as unwise and incapable of high-level responsibility. Bad decisions diminish your credibility and send negative signals about your competence and expertise to your followers. Bad decisions may also threaten the interpersonal equilibrium needed to maintain harmony, collaboration, and productivity. Being vindictive, or showing favoritism for example projects a leader as biased, and incapable of upholding equity and fairness on matters of importance. Being in the habit of not taking responsibility for missteps and learning from them can also erode the respect and goodwill you enjoy from your followers culminating in a total lack of faith in your Leadership.
Poor Conflict Management
Conflicts are inevitable whenever two or more people from different backgrounds work together. A leader’s ability to manage conflict determines a lot about how the followers perceive and respond to his leadership. Inability to quickly diagnose and resolve interpersonal differences to avert escalation and communication breakdown may cast doubt on your Leadership capacity. When conflicts are allowed to fester it destroys the fabric that binds the team together and gets in the way of the team’s effectiveness. Without a strong bond among team members the desire to cooperate and collaborate declines, jeopardizing the team's morale and productivity. A leader under whose watch team fragments will be considered ineffective and may likely lose the confidence of his people.
Disrespecting People
Mutual respect is the foundation for cooperation and collaboration. If you don't demonstrate respect to your team members securing their commitmment and loyalty will be a tough call. Also, being open to feedback and willing to make changes based on that feedback improves the confidence of your team. It tells them your respect other people view. Conversely, not seeking your team's opinion or disregarding collective decision for example sends a strong message to the stakeholders that they are unimportant and that their opinion doesn't count in the scheme of things. This may make them recoil, hindering the flow of fresh ideas and the advancement of new perspectives resulting in a decline in productivity. Also, disrespect breeds disrespect. If a leader consistently disrespects the stakeholders, they will disrespect his office by withdrawing their loyalty thus passing a vote of no-confidence on the leader. This may degenerate into insubordination or mass exit.
Ineffective Problem-Solving
Problems are an integral part of business. The ability of a leader to find effective solutions to attendant problems impacts his credibility, loyalty, and success. Problems associated with operations create waste, low morale, and disorientation which may impede productivity, and pose a threat to the existence of the organization. People look up to the leader in moments of a problem for a solution and when he constantly fails it makes his people question his credibility. Businesses leverage customers' problems to increase market share by creating solutions for critical problems they have potential for. If a leader is skilled in Problem-solving he will be able to identify which customers need and pain points will help his organization meet its objectives. He then leverages it to develop new markets or expand old ones. A leader who is ineffective at problem-solving would miss out on huge economic opportunities. This will in turn deplete the profitability as well as the confidence the stakeholders have in his leadership.
Nothing Gets Done
Leadership is judged by outcome. A leader’s capacity to lead is measured by the progress he makes in goal execution through people. A leader who cannot implement decisions or initiatives will not be seen as effective and worthy of the office. People want an inspiring leader. A leader that will get the job done. A leader who doesn’t wait for things to happen but is willing to take up the responsibility of getting things done will earn the respect of the people. When important tasks or initiatives remain pending and not followed through and decisions reached are never implemented the confidence of the people in the leader will wane.
In closing, the above-listed things that can erode the trust the people have in the leader are fortunately avoidable. Making concerted effort to avoid the pitfalls mentioned therein will help you build and sustain the trust of the people you lead. This will make them more disposed to submitting and committing to your leadership at all times.
