I’ve been hearing from a lot of people who are unsettled in their current role. Often the backstory is similar. They joined an organization and were happy with their team and leadership. Time moved on and so did their manager. And now they are happy working with some of their colleagues, but are not treated like a valued, creative, important team member by their leaders.

And now they are in a pickle. Do you stay because you like the people who you work with even though you are mostly miserable because of your manager or leadership? Or what if people tell you the only reason they stay at the company is because you are there? They see all the shenanigans above your level, and they know you are shielding them and you have their best interest in mind.

I know there are teams with good leaders. I do hear from people who are excited to go to work in the morning.

My quandary is that I hear from more people who are frustrated than I hear from people who are happy.

How do we turn the tables so that the likelihood of joining a team with a good leader and good culture is greater than not?

I think it starts with us. It starts with us being good leaders of ourselves and others. But there must be more. We need to figure out how to influence the people who are in leadership right now.

Until the current leaders see what they are missing out on by being micromanagers, dictators, or just severely unpleasant, we’re not going to make things better. People who report to these people will follow their lead and we will perpetuate the situation.

Think about whether you are satisfied with your work team and leadership, or if there are gaps. If the former, what skills or behaviors can be improved to make it even better? If the latter, what’s missing?

When appropriate, work in your feedback to your leader. If you don’t work for an open-minded manager, that may mean leaving your thoughts on an anonymous survey when it’s offered. Let’s all give some feedback, even if it seems small.

And with any luck, someone will give us feedback so we can get better too.