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Leadership through fear - sad reality or happy ending?

Asked by Kameliya Kamenova on 17/06/2012

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Often there are "professionals", who have a job and a title, because they äre "somebody's man" and not because, they have good leadership qualities. Their leadership is based in fact only on the fear of the followers. What do you think, is this kind of leadership just a sad reality, which could not be changed, or the happy ending of this tendency is coming?

4 answers on "Leadership through fear - sad reality or happy ending? "

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  anthony

  11 months ago

  Leadership through fear is the worst type of leadership.  Leadership is all about; a) getting results, and b) having people that want to follow you.  Want being key word. Somebody who abuses their position is never going to get the most out their people - and grade A people want to work for people they both respect and like, not fear.  Although fear can command respect short term, long term good people will always leave - and leaders need good people long term.

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  Lucycanning

  11 months ago

  I agree, leadership through fear is the worst kind and indeed I would argue is not real leadership - it is merely bullying. In sense it merely reveals either the person's inability to persuade or an arrogance that suggests that they do not wish to persuade. Either way, good people don't stay to be led in this way - so all a bullying leader achieves is substandard to what they could have achieved: if only they had led in a different manner and kept the good people working with them.

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  MikeMorrison

  4 months ago

  whilst we may not like it, both can work in different cultures and contexts.

  Some of the most engaged (as in productive) workforces are in environments where there is a real autocrat at the top.

   

  people tend to leave businesses over time, and most leave becaus eof the direct expoerience they have of their immediate line manager - not the very senior people. If they feel that their immediate manager is to some extent "protecting" them, they will be loyal to that team.

  certainly no-one in their right mind would advocate "fear" as a legitimate, conscious strategy, but it (unfortunatly) can be a successful strategy - just look at the Jack Welche approach to performance management at GE, getting rid of the bottom % performers year, on year - this IS a culture of fear, and many found it successful - but as a strategy it does not always translate to other environments successfully

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  KameliyaKamenova

  4 months ago

  Especially for the leadership through fear:

  I don't think that it depends on the culture, the context or the environment.

  The real leader, the true leader has to lead through INSPIRATION. And where we have fear, there's no place for an inspiration. The fear says "I'll do it, because I'm scared for my job place, but I don't like what I do" - this thing makes people unhappy. I don't know a good product to be created by unhappy people. At the same time the inspiration says "I'll do it, because I like it and it will make the world a better place for my children".

  The fear in the leadership is the opposite pole of the inspiration and the leaders, who lead through fear are in fact no leaders. They are just amateurs, who want to be leaders, but don't know how to achieve it.

  Have a great day,

  K.K.

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