3 Reasons Why Leading with Fear is a Terrible Idea

In the early 16th century, Niccolo Machiavelli famously wrote, “It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.

If we look at modern-day leaders, this seems to corroborate Machiavelli’s observation. Fear can be an effective mobilization tool in the short-term.

But research suggests that leading with fear is, at best, a shortsighted business strategy.Here are the three reasons why leading with fear will fail to bring out the best your team has to offer.

1. FEAR STIFLES EMPLOYEE INITIATIVE AND CREATIVITY
Striking fear into the hearts of your employees taps into some of their oldest survival mechanisms. As researchers from Penn State, Harvard, and Cornell Universities wrote in a 2009 article published in Research in Organizational Behavior, humans’ fear of challenging authority figures stems from our evolutionary history.

Obeying fearsome leaders helped early humans to survive, and an intimidating boss activates the same instincts in 21st-century workers.