There’s nothing which drives employees more nuts than being an unpredictable leader.

Careful! Predictable doesn’t mean boring. It means that your team can learn how you’ll make decisions and what is valued in the organization.

When they feel that you’re just making things up as you go along, that’s what drives them crazy.

How do you find the right balance?

It comes down to having some foundation beliefs and values which are the basis for how you act. If you believe that people are basically good, then you’ll cut someone more slack when they make a mistake. Otherwise, you’ll tend to assume that they were operating out of malice.

If you value being fair to all parties, then you’ll be asking questions about balance. You’ll look for equitable tradeoffs, and be concerned when someone is taking advantage of someone else. Like overcharging customers just because you think you can get away with it.

It could be that you believe success lies with always being the leader of your industry. People will see you asking questions which push the boundaries of the industry norms, and you’ll support people taking risks by exploring the unknown. “Everybody does it this way” will be used to launch into new territory: “but not us!”

Figure out what values and principles form your thinking. Then stick with those to the best of your ability. And explain to people why you’re diverging when you have to.