Morale Hidden Obstacles: Regret, Jealousy, Resentment | Leadership
The morale hidden obstacles that are getting in the way of leading your organization are not insurmountable. In this post, I highlight the hidden obstacles and clarify their source and what to do.
Morale Hidden Obstacles. Image by PurpleMattfish via Flickr Creative Commons License.
Image by PurpleMattFish via Flickr Creative Commons License.
Leading Morale Hidden Obstacles
Beyond what you can see regarding morale, as a leader you must find the hidden obstacles to great morale and address them. Such as …
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Regret. This can occupy your employees’ minds and reduce morale and performance. Sources of regret can include regret that they didn’t take the other job offer, dismay that they asked for help with a project and others labeled them needy, disappointment over trusting a co-worker who betrayed them, etc… Suggestion: Learn about your employees and establish good relationships with them. You will more likely see this hidden obstacle the more you know them. Also, lead with the phrase, “we all learn every day. Let’s not regret our missteps; grow from them!”
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Biases. The combination of differences among employees and learned thoughts and entitlements can feed biases. Yet biases block teamwork and this hurts morale and performance. Suggestion: Respect feelings and diverse views to overcome biases.
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Insecurity. Even those who seem the most confident, can be insecure about their abilities. This undermines morale and performance. Help everyone to see their true potential. Suggestion: Hold a team session to highlight employees’ individual talents and how they contribute to the whole organization.
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Jealousy & Resentment. Jealousy and resentment grow when people don’t see other’s struggles. Their insecurity drives them to feel bad about themselves and resent others. Suggestion: Leadership steps to reduce jealousy & increase performance.
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Summary
As you uncover morale hidden obstacles and address these factors, you will lead morale and great performance. Replace any desire you might have to overlook these obstacles with your emotional intelligence to remove these hidden obstacles.
From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
Related Post:
Prevent Professional Jealousy From Ruining Your Career
©2025 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email [email protected] for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.
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