Nothing hurts an organization more than a leader who doesn’t lead. Where there is no vision, people perish, Scripture says, and where there is no action, people pay the price. It’s not pretty.

When leaders don’t lead, several things inexorably turn out:

Nobody knows where the organization is headed. In fact, it probably isn’t going anywhere other than back, down, or over the edge. No vision, narrow vision, or unclear vision breeds uncertainty, insecurity, inefficiency, lack of productivity, declining excellence.

The organization is adrift. You can see it in the uncut grass and feel it in the organizational culture.

Key decisions remain undecided. Nobody pulls the trigger. Risk aversion is paramount.

The board of the organization is weakening. If a leader is not leading the board of the organization it is part of the problem. You are not holding the leader accountable and you are turning on yourself.

The budget is out of focus and therefore inefficient. Resources are wasted. Staff are more concerned with how they can protect what they have than with how they can advance the mission of the organization.

Staff lack incentives and responsibility. No one is energizing you, guiding you or monitoring you, rewarding you.

The best and the brightest staff leave. People with talent and initiative want to follow people with the same. They want to go and grow, not get ahead.

The organization’s assets are eroding. Income inevitably declines. Endowments and property are attached. Operating deficits and accumulated operating debt increase.

Power bases are developed among staff. Nature abhors a vacuum, they say, and this maxim is proven once again. When leaders don’t lead, someone else tries to do it, no matter how reckless. The “camps” take place within the organization. People don’t join; they separate.

When leaders don’t lead, the organization becomes one of the walking dead. It’s certainly not thriving and barely surviving over time.

Leaders who do not lead, for whatever reasons, remain responsible and should be held accountable. It sounds harsh, but the stakes are too high. Leaders must lead, follow, or get out of the way.