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Bosses act tough to keep staff in line — and end up wearing them out

Most executives think a leader has to look certain to be taken seriously. A CEO can win a team's trust by saying out loud what he or she doesn't know

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Most executives work hard to look like they have the answers. They keep their doubts out of meetings and rarely ask anyone for help. Everyone on the team gets the same deadline, even when one person is having a terrible month. In their view, people stop working as hard once the boss looks unsure or makes an exception.

Many of those executives also say a good boss notices what employees are going through. Two in five senior leaders rank empathy among a leader's three most important qualities, according to a BCG survey. Only one in six say the leaders at their own company do it well. Many of them stop asking........

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