Only 28 per cent of those in leadership positions gain satisfaction from the work that they do, according to Leadership Management Australasia's 2011 Leadership and Employment Direction (LEAD) Survey.

This lack of job satisfaction amongst leaders and managers, according to the survey which targeted 500 senior managers and over 1000 middle managers, is a result of work/life balance issues, the pressures of finding and retaining quality staff and high staff turnover.

However, it's the negative attitudes of unsatisfied leaders and managers that are making matters worse.

According to the LEAD survey, leaders and managers need to recognise the impact that issues such as a lack of work-life balance can have on their attitude to their job and work and be aware of the impression they give off to others when they experience a lack of balance.

"Organisations need to engage their leaders because they in turn influence the engagement, morale, productivity and commitment of the greater workforce," says executive chairman of Leadership Management Australia, Grant Sexton.

"With Australia facing overall skill and talent shortages for the future, we can't afford to have such high levels of disengagement and low workplace commitment. Not only are organisations suffering the area of productivity they are also still shouldering the added cost of staff turnover."

According to the survey, the challenge of finding the right people - and keeping them - is wearing leaders down and impacting negatively on their job satisfaction and subsequently the level of staff retention.

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"Clearly the pressure of talent management is felt at both ends of the scale - attraction and retention," the report states.

According to LEAD, leaders and managers need to reflect on how their own attitudes, and the signals they give off to current and prospective employees, can affect the willingness to join or stay with an organisation.

"Seek regular feedback to help modify or refine your attitudes and approaches. Be willing to listen to what others have to say about you, remembering that people join organisations and leave managers," the report states.

"Take the time to get to know and understand the motivations of the key people in your team. Identify the change or changes needing to be made in order to ensure you're not predisposing people to consider alternative employment."