4 Reasons You Have a Negative Team Member (Plus Leadership and Communication Skills to Help)

Ever feel like one negative team member can drain the energy out of an entire meeting before it even starts? If you’re trying to lead with clarity and momentum, persistent negativity can make you second-guess your strategy, waste hours in emotional cleanup, and quietly stall your team’s progress. This episode helps you stop treating “negativity” like a personality flaw you have to fight—and start figuring out what’s actually driving it, so you can respond in a way that protects your team, your time, and your leadership confidence. By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with: A simple way to diagnose what’s really behind the negativity—so you don’t coach the wrong problem or miss something important. Practical tools to turn negative energy into productive insight without letting it hijack team morale or momentum. Clear next steps for what to do when it won’t improve—including how to address performance, protect the team, and decide if it’s time for a change. Hit play now so you can stop getting pulled into the negativity spiral and start leading your team with more calm, clarity, and control—starting today. 00:52 — “What negativity looks like in real life” Quick examples of how negativity shows up (eye rolls, sarcasm, constant criticism) and why your first instinct to “coach it out” can backfire. 02:13 — “Start with a leadership self-audit” The episode lays out common leadership patterns that unintentionally create negativity—like lack of appreciation, poor follow-through, or leading with fear—and how to fix them. 13:19 — “The ‘plus one’ reason: mental health” A thoughtful section on how burnout, life circumstances, or depression can fuel negativity—and what supportive (but appropriate) leadership looks like here. Leadership Without Using Your Soul podcast offers insightful discussions on leadership and management, focusing on essential communication skills, productivity, teamwork, delegation, and feedback to help leaders navigate various leadership styles, management styles, conflict resolution, time management, and active listening while addressing challenges like overwhelm, burnout, work-life balance, and problem-solving in both online and in-person teams, all aimed at cultivating human-centered leadership qualities that promote growth and success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices