Fear is a powerful motivator. Concern for loss – whether it’s the loss of a job, social status, self-respect, or something else—fear of losing something is powerful.
Most managers who lead by inducing fear don’t even know they do it. So what are the characteristics of someone leading by fear and intimidation?
- The leader has their own underlying fears
- The majority of the leader’s communication is one-way
- The leader doesn’t realize the negative impact of their leadership style
- Negative reinforcement is prevalent
- The leader focuses almost entirely on metrics
- The leader tends to have a polarized view of their employees
- The leader shows off their accomplishments
- The leader won’t allow group feedback sessions
To understand what happens to team led this way, let’s first look at fear as a mechanism.
Characteristics of Fear
Dr. Karl Albrecht, a writer for Psychology Today, looks at the fear as an overall emotion. He says that, if you truly dissect it, all fear is born out of one of five things:
(1) “Extinction”: the fear of not being around any longer, or the fear of death.
An example of this is the fear of dying.
(2) “Mutilation”: the fear of the body being negatively altered, or the bodily space being invaded.
An example of this is the fear of losing a limb, or the fear of a snake or spider bite.
(3) “Loss of Autonomy”: the fear of losing the ability to move or operate freely. This could be as it relates to physical movement, according to Albrecht, it can also be as it relates to socialization (i.e., relationships.)
An example of this might be the fear of being paralyzed, going to prison, or something that might elicit similar feelings, such as being overwhelmed without an ability to see a way to gain control.
(4) “Separation”: the fear of being abandoned, not loved, rejected, or being connected to others.
An example of this might be the fear of being left as a child or as a spouse, of being socially rejected or being ousted from an association with others in some way.
(5) “Ego-death”: This relates to the fear of losing self-respect, or erosion of feeling worthy.
An example of this might be anything that causes humiliation or discredits oneself.
So, how does this translate to the workplace?
If fear falls into one of these five categories, leaders who manage by intimidating or causing fear in their employees induce one or more of these concerns.
Leaders may cause a fear of extinction. These are the managers who threaten the longevity of employees’ jobs. They may cause a concern for loss of autonomy, a fear of rejection and / or may receive such regular and negative feedback that they lose self-respect and eventually retreat as a way of self-preservation.
Leading by Fear or Respect… Which is Better?
While it might stand to reason that respect always garners a more productive work environment, many psychologists don’t definitively say that managing by respect is always the better route and they tend to qualify their answer to this question. The underlying reason? It goes back to fear being a powerful motivator.
Need some examples? Look no further than the television or YouTube at their ads. Many are based on tapping into a person’s fear of some type of loss. It’s called a fear appeal. The American Psychological Association describes fear appeals like this:
“Fear appeals are persuasive messages that emphasize the potential danger and harm that will befall individuals if they do not adopt the messages’ recommendations.”
While sometimes that may work, organizations today that operate for profit can have difficulty staying profitable for long with this type of management. People who are free to find other similar jobs will look elsewhere for their paycheck because the fight or flight reaction or anxiety that is cause by this type of management is hard to sustain.
Wharton School of Management’s professor Andrew Carton says this about motivating by fear:
“Fear may appear at first to be a mechanism that helps people stay alert to the unacceptability of failure, but it can ironically be a source of failure instead.” (2)
To understand why in more detail, let’s go back to the typical characteristics of someone leading by fear and see what is happening.
Characteristics of Leading by Fear
- The leader is typically fearful themselves. They often lack confidence in their own abilities or how they are perceived. This fear that they have themselves leads to many of the remaining
- There’s primarily one-way communication. The leader may be completely disinterested in feedback from their team so they don’t solicit it, and are often not open to receiving it. They like to tell; they are the boss, and that message is something that they may feel is important to reiterate frequently, either explicitly or they imply it.
- They generally have NO idea of the negative impact of their leadership.
- Negative reinforcement is prevalent. Someone who leads by fear or intimidation is often more comfortable making other people wrong, (maybe as a way of thinking that they are right, but certainly as a way of dominating). They tend to find it easier to notice what’s wrong, and don’t do a lot of celebrating of success. They catching people doing things wrong versus “catching employees doing things right.”
- The leader focuses on results as the only real metrics. The results are expected, so there likely is no celebration for meeting goals, because… they are expected. Results are measured without regard to behaviors leading to the results. Unexpected positive consequences may not be given much notice because the measurable results are what matters.
- The leader may have a polarized view of their employees. They perceive that they are either supported by the employee or not, but based on this, they will either be on the “good side” of the manager or not.
- The leader is collector of their accomplishments. They may accept recognition that truly should not go to them, they may acquire letters behind their name (certifications or other credentials) because they may feel the need for a visual display of their competence and value. They collect and display accolades or other visual proof of their value.
- The leader will not usually entertain group concerns. Anything brought to the manager by the group will be shut down so that the leader can control the discussion in a one-on-one format.
So, if that’s what leading by fear looks like, how does it affect the workplace?
Common Results of Leading by Fear and Intimidation
Less creativity:
Because employees have been taught to self-preserve, they are likely to not stick their necks out to provide creative solutions. That would risk being shot down and / or humiliated. Since there is less individual creativity, there’s less interest in exploring different solutions to problems and more group-think.
Unproductive documentation:
Because employees may have been admonished for doing things wrong in the past, they may feel the need to constantly “C.Y.A.”, or keep documentation such as emails or notes of events that have taken place in case they need it in the future to protect themselves.
(Have you ever seen people that have files and subfiles for emails that they’ve saved in case the specifics in the emails ever get called into question? What about notes concerning specific events that they can use to report to a higher authority if the employee’s back is against the wall?)
Attendance issues:
Employees who are in fear are typically not as happy, so they don’t enjoy their work environment, often having to “psych themselves up” to go to work. They may be late more than they otherwise would be.
Turnover also may be an issue:
This is directly related to the employees’ ability to find a comparable position somewhere else.
Less productivity:
Employees are less motivated to excel because they think they most likely won’t be rewarded for their extra efforts. They also may bottle up emotions until the boss is away and then, when it’s safe, use their time to vent to other employees, creating more negativity.
Development of a negative culture:
If the boss uses fear tactics as a way to motivate employees, it not only becomes more expected by employees, but those who may be being groomed for some type of supervisory roles begin to adopt these ways of motivating those people they supervise. To this point, in an article published by the New York Times, Dr. Leigh Thompson, an organizational psychologist at Northwestern University states, ”If the person in charge is high energy, aggressive, mean, the classic bully type then over time, that’s the way the No.2 person begins to act.” She says it works in reverse, as well; if the leader is more compassionate and collaborative in how they lead, the second-in-command is apt to adopt this way of supervising. (3)
How You Can Change a Culture of Fear
Acknowledge:
Change starts with acknowledgement. This is the tricky part. Most managers who lead by fear and intimidation don’t even recognize that they’re doing it. Either they, or their own leaders, must first recognize that this is happening in order to change it.
This either requires a certain amount of self-reflection by the manager or a higher leadership which is tuned in to their organizational dynamics.
In an article about fear mongering by the BBC, David Cunningham, a communications specialist and facilitator at an internationally renown forum for personal and professional development, discusses how it’s human nature for people to want to look good and avoid looking bad. His theory is that, if you are aware of this, and make a conscious effort NOT to do this, it can foster an environment where it’s okay to ask questions and sometimes be wrong. He says, “When there’s alignment, your daily interactions, your thinking, your feelings and your emotions can be shaped by your commitment [to the work] rather than your concern for looking good.”
Understand and Tackle Your Own Fears:
Since leading by fear is often caused because the leader having their own fears, understanding what you’re afraid of and figuring out how to overcome those fears is important.
Are you afraid of looking bad, or of not being in control, or maybe it’s a general fear of failure? Whatever the underlying fear, understand what it is and rationally look at what the worst result can be if those fears actually happen. A lot of times, the fear itself is worse than what might actually happen, which is at the root of the quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt:
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Communicate:
Discuss with your group your interest in change. Open up discussions for feedback. Be careful to ask questions and not “tell.” Evaluate the feedback, and show gratitude for those who provide it, which shows employees that it is safe to provide it.
This can be particularly hard at first because all of this leads to vulnerability. Vulnerability is often what leaders are afraid of, and if that’s the case, there’s no time like the present to open up, begin creating a team that trusts while tackling that fear head-on.
Empower:
This can be tricky, as well, if the fearful culture is deep-seeded. Employees may not be initially interested in accomplishing tasks on their own for concern of some type of punishment if they don’t do things to their boss’ liking. This is where recognition for good results is imperative with a lack of regard as to how the results were achieved.
Giving up total control of methods and sharing in the success of reaching the team goals is a key step in getting your team to realize their potential and in setting up an environment where team members feel free to be innovative without concern for punishment.
Establish Trust:
Know what it is that you do as a leader that elicits fear from your team, and stop. Establish a “safe” environment for your employees to operate freely. Eventually, if they begin to trust you, you’ll have begun changing the culture from being fear-based to collegial. You’ll find your employees will be happier and more productive, and you might just find that you are, as well!
To sum it all up, here’s a quote from Jim Rohn who was a motivational speaker and trainer:
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”
