Fear Based Leadership Is Like A Bad Horror Film
Since the 80's and early 90's fear leadership has cemented itself in the workplace. Do it or else, don't question just be a slave to the machine. Fear leadership is nothing other than the lack of confidence in the those around you and the fear of not hitting a goal.
As we progress in the workspace, fear leadership is becoming more and more prevalent. Companies are using employees for temporary gain to achieve short term goals. This thought process only puts a band aid on the real issues at hand.
Too often companies focus on short term gain and not long-term growth. They have created this idea that you can hire and fire people to inflate the profits of the company to show short term gains, it is a vicious cycle. Simon Sinek wrote a book called the infinet game that addresses this type of strategy and refers to it as a finite game. Meaning, that in the finite game you are looking to win, to vanquish your rival. This is not possible in business.
Looking to create longevity is the purpose of creating a company, it is also the purpose of hiring and investing into your team. Your objective is to create stability within the business therefore creating a stable business. How can you achieve this goal if your team is consistently unstable?
Sowing fear within a team to achieve not only puts additional pressures on them but can also lead to unsavory behavior. A team member can become underhanded with other team members, it can even lead to choosing more unethical behavior to accomplish the goals you have set before them. While they may achieve the goal, how they achieved it becomes worrisome. Letting this type of behavior reign gives a segway for other members to act accordingly.
Fear leadership only drives someone's natural ability and does not focus on growth or unlock potential nor does it give someone a reason to stay. By choosing fear over compassion you have set in motion the basis of your company, of your team. They will intern use the same strategy when addressing potential customers and other employees.
If you want to elevate your results, you must first elevate those who are responsible for producing them. Constantly lifting your team up, trusting,investing, and giving them a sense of purpose creates the relationships that are built for the long term objective.
Creating an atmosphere based on trust, individualism, and compassion you have given your team a reason to produce, a reason to be better than where they are at. This is your chance to invest in their education, invest into your team, and grow a squad that drives results that fear wishes it could achieve.
People will choose to go above and beyond if they feel that the reason they are doing it has a lasting impact on the result and for the people who they feel have their best interest. Fear drives the need to do the minimum, to appease the hierarchy and that's it, nothing more, nothing less, just enough not to get yelled at.
How you choose to lead your team will directly affect the results you wish to achieve. Lead out of fear and you will get mediocre results. Lead out of love and compassion and you will get results you once thought were unachievable.