Founders are particularly prone to seagull behaviour because of the unique incentives involved in running a business. However, any leader can demonstrate seagull behaviour, especially when:
Just like the distinctive bird this management style is named after, you can generally spot a seagull from a mile off. So, grab your binoculars and we’ll talk through what to look out for - and then share some practical advice on how to deal with leaders with seagull tendencies.
The nesting - the seagull gets involved in all sorts of minor decisions - irrespective of the fact they lack operational context. This often becomes a negative spiral, causing teams to depend on the seagull for sign off, which reinforces their idea that they need to be involved in minutiae rather than focusing on the bigger picture.
The fowl play - seagulls are open about the fact they have high expectations. They just won’t necessarily tell you what they are. But you’ll definitely know when you’ve not met them.
The squawking - seagulls interventionist behaviour often discourages risk-taking and sharing ideas. But so does their wrath when something doesn’t work. They are prone to playing the blame game and their emotive critique can make even inconsequential errors feel huge.
The preening - seagulls are prone to making ‘jokes’ about how they can do everyone’s job, but better. Whilst, in fairness, some leaders probably have tried their hand at a fair few different disciplines at some point - this questionable humour only serves to undermine trust and the authority of the specialist team members that they’ve hired.
The migrating - whilst seagulls are quick to jump in when there’s a fire to put out, they’re not generally hands on people managers who take the time to invest in team members development. Not only is the lack of consistency confusing, their intermittent involvement also often undermines the authority of team leads lower down the pecking order.
In my experience, most leaders want to create a culture where people feel safe to bring challenges, questions and ideas. They want people to be bold, take risks and work autonomously.
Seagull behaviour undermines all of these aspirations. However, seagulls can lack the self-awareness to realise the gap between their intention and behaviour.
One technique for avoiding seagulling is to work with the leader in question to understand their expectations in detail. What does great look like in their eyes? Who has decision-making responsibilities within this project?
If you can align early on what success looks like, when their input is needed and how they’ll be kept up to date, it should lessen the temptation for them to ‘check in’ ad hoc.
If your seagull is prone to emotional outbursts, then giving feedback on their ‘feedback’ is essential.
Feedback which is critical rather than constructive is likely to provoke a flight, fight, freeze or fawn response, which inhibits creativity and confidence within the team.
In this situation, it’s important to remind your leader of the weight their opinion carries and their role in creating a positive, open feedback culture.
Encourage your seagull to commit to:
As highlighted above, sometimes seagull behaviour can be caused by a lack of clarity around a leader's role. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a problem you can - or should - solve for them, one thing you can do is highlight their strengths. This can contribute to a better understanding of where they add most value and encourage them to focus more time and energy in these areas.
Seagulling often stems from good intentions, but its impact can be damaging—raising stress, lowering productivity, and eroding trust. By spotting the signs early, you can help seagulls see the unintended effects. With support and feedback, their urge to interfere should ease over time.
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