An effective leader should be present in every successful organization or group of individuals. A person’s ability to influence others to work toward a shared goal and guide an organization toward greater coherence is what it means to be a leader. Good leadership requires specific skills, but not everyone can benefit from them. Leaders are in charge of every aspect of a business, organization, or team. Furthermore, the leaders are continually aware of the goals of their followers and how to help them attain them. Good leaders are feared rather than loved, enabling them to thrive (Landesz, 2018). Threatening employees with punishment or dismissal if they do not meet expectations or challenge their boss are some fear techniques. In addition, employees may be concerned about tarnishing their reputations or seeming unprofessional to their coworkers. Leaders instill terror in their subordinates, preventing them from making mistakes or going in the wrong direction. Their subjects will admire them since they will work at their best level. Fear is perhaps the most powerful tool a leader can use to control their subordinates and maintain their leadership position.
Managers are required to influence the conduct of others, namely their subordinates, to achieve the company’s goals. A loved leader is more likely to be taken advantage of and ignored by their subjects. As a result, being feared rather than loved is a far more secure position for a leader to occupy, as those under the manager’s control are still more likely to comply out of a sense of security (Genau et al., 2021). Ideally, a boss should be both dreaded and loved, but if that cannot be achieved, being feared is preferable to being liked since being adored might have more negative consequences.
Delivery of punishment elicits fear, which may be classically influenced by stimuli that precede castigation. For example, when someone is penalized for a specific action, the environmental and organizational cues preceding that behavior become accustomed to the penalty. Consequently, the individual will avoid this circumstance to avoid punishment the next time they engage in the same activity (Landesz, 2018). There are two ways to improve a person’s response rate to adversity: raising their level of worry and diminishing their dread. To escape punishment, a person will evade the circumstance, and as anxiety grows, so does the motivation to avoid the scenario.
When people anticipate or become aware of the danger, they experience fear, an unpleasant and frequently powerful feeling. As an inherent aspect of human nature, fear assists individuals in recognizing and responding to potentially hazardous circumstances. Fear of failure has always existed, and it will continue to subsist. Many political leaders have realized that fear is an effective tool for preserving power and averting civil unrest throughout history. Nicole Machiavelli, a prominent philosopher, discovered the impacts of fear. In Machiavelli’s view, it is better to be feared than loved since the same person cannot easily elicit love and fear (Frazier & Jacezko, 2021). Fear is the only feeling that keeps people from revolting; it keeps them under control. When people adore a leader, such love will not stop them from breaching the law since they have no fear of retribution or repercussions for their conduct. Another issue is that the public may view an adored leader as flimsy or gullible. Feared leaders are better able to control their authority and hold onto it for more extended periods.
Great leaders are feared because they know precisely what they want and how they intend to get it done. Afterward, they inspire their subjects to work hard to achieve their goals. That is the only way to get there, and anyone who tries to thrive in any other manner will never succeed. The fear of abandonment is a common phobia among followers (Genau et al., 2021). There is a compulsion to believe that the way their leaders tell them to do is the correct one, regardless of the consequences. This group of people likewise believes that if they choose to follow these leaders, they will be shielded from any problems or losses and prosper. As a result, when people are afraid of their boss, they work more and perform better.
It is the responsibility of corporate executives to make difficult decisions. Additionally, this may entail doing what is suitable for an organization, even if it causes dissatisfaction among some employees. If one is the sort of manager who is friends with everyone, it may be more challenging to put the company’s demands above those of the employees. Fear may also be a powerful motivator, even if it is not always the first choice. Employees who feel threatened by their supervisors are less likely to slack off (Frazier & Jacezko, 2021). Workers who are not happy in their jobs are not expected to remain around for very long.
Feared leaders generate more outstanding outcomes because they inspire their followers to do their best work all the time. After heeding all the benefits gained by remaining loyal to their leader, followers are inspired to work more. Betraying their leader might take them down the wrong path. Such followers desire to learn and are eager for criticism (Frazier & Jacezko, 2021). They battle for what they need and want and what they and their managers believe is beneficial for the community at large. Every difficulty they face should be approached with the utmost respect for their leader’s perspective. They treat one other with respect, especially the leader, with the utmost regard.
Respect is shown when followers are focused on what their leader says. They do their best to adhere to what they articulate and do what they can. A feared leader cannot relent when they need or want something done; therefore, they make every effort to accomplish it. The followers never lie, injure, or oppose their leader; they always keep their heads high and never give up on their goals (Genau et al., 2021). Followers should fear when they do not meet their obligations; therefore, they offer all they have to show how much they respect their leaders’ preferences, rules, and aims. A leader’s highest honor is the adoration of those they lead; thus, feared principals are the most successful managers.
There should be significant penalties for specific actions so that those who violate them are alarmed. It is called accountability, and it is something people anticipate that their leaders will do. It would be difficult to have faith in a leader who does not hold their subordinates to account. Love and respect go hand in hand, but leaders should occasionally be prepared to do things that others dread to gain that reverence. According to common belief, to be loved is more complex than to be feared (Landesz, 2018). The criteria for what people need to love vary widely, even though most people are afraid of the same things: danger, jail, and the loss of liberty, job, or life. It is more difficult for a leader to be adored by everyone than for them to be dreaded. To accomplish their goals, most leaders should move quickly and avoid wasting time seeking to win the support of everyone. In such situations, leaders should learn to use fear rather than love when the former is more easily attained than the latter.
It is easier to be initially feared and later loved than vice versa. Professors may repeatedly make this approach by assigning students lots of homework at the beginning of the semester and then punishing those who do not finish it. Even though these may not be the professors’ personalities, they will be known for the rigorous and intimidating teaching approach (Frazier & Jacezko, 2021). It does not matter how little homework they later give or how slight punishment they mete out; the students will have learned their lesson. The deadlines they set will always be met, no matter how much learners love the tutors.
Anyone may be an effective manager if they can drive their team members to accomplish their best job by inspiring fear and respect in their subordinates while also preventing laziness from creeping in. In such cases, followers never desert the leader and remain steadfastly loyal. The leader attracts the attention of many and is victorious in every endeavor. It is not being disrespectful to their followers when leaders are feared, but rather that they keep their sights fixed on the prize no matter what. Though punishment may be necessary, they use it as a tool to persuade others to do what they believe is best for everyone. Accordingly, a feared leader is more effective than a loved one.
References
Frazier, M. L., & Jacezko, M. C. (2021). Leader Machiavellianism as an antecedent to ethical leadership: The impact on follower psychological empowerment and work outcomes. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 28(2), 154-168. Web.
Genau, H. A., Blickle, G., SchĂĽtte, N., & Meurs, J. A. (2021). Machiavellian leader effectiveness: The moderating role of political skill. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 21(1), 1-10. Web.
Landesz, T. (2018). Authentic leadership and Machiavellianism in young global leadership. The ISM Journal of International Business, 2(2), 39-51.