I remember a job I had years ago where one of the decision-makers led by trying to make us fearful. In fact, one day he came to me and said, “If you will help me get rid of the main guy, I will make sure you get to be his replacement.” To a young guy wanting to lead from the front, this sounded great. However, to someone with character this sounded terrible. My response was, “I will not help you do such a thing.” He replied, “Well then, I will come after you next.” And so he did. His style was constantly making you fearful of what he would do and how he would do it. For this man, it was all about power.
I recall reading what Major Dick Winters, from the Band of Brothers, wrote in his memoir:
Sobel led us by putting fear into us.
Winters was referring to Herbert Sobel, who was initially the commanding officer in Company “E” in the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne. Sobel was the company’s leader beginning at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. He was quickly disliked by the men for his extreme strictness and often abusive nature towards them. Their distaste for him grew as he demonstrated poor combat training and map reading. His leadership style and his low capacity in battle generated no trust if they were forced to follow him into battle.
I find Sobel to be insecure, lonely, and misguided. These elements obviously contributed to his dominating leadership style.
Sobel’s default modus operandi was putting fear into his men. Perhaps this would cause them to respect him, follow him, and also provide a sense of power for himself. His efforts to be respected came up empty.
This approach proved destructive because a small group of men from Easy Company united to “overthrow” their leader. This controversial move could have had every man shot by a firing squad. The end result was Sobel being removed as Easy Company’s leader.
Is this leadership style common? Leaders that use fear is more common than one might imagine.
Dr. Ivan Kos lays out three types of fears. In fact, these fears can potentially build on one another.
- real fear – if someone has hurt you, you have a reason to fear it in the future
- possible fear – based in reality that causes a person to avoid a threat in the first place
- emotional fear – recalling past fears or occurrences and injecting them into a current situation
My friend, Jeremie Kubicek, adds that leadership, or influence, is most effective when used in a liberating way versus being driven as a dominating force. I find many employees in churches and businesses following a leader that puts fear into them. The result: an unhealthy environment which contributes to an unhealthy work culture.
Do we lead by putting fear into our team? If so, we will not gain long-term loyalty, respect, sacrifice, reputable character, relationships, trust. BTW-if you are happy void of these characteristics then by all means continue using fear to lead your people. Your time is short.
It’s NOT about power. It is about stewarding what has been entrusted to us and to create a healthy influence.
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true jay. good word dude.
I think this same premise could be applied to parenting. Especially the part about unhealthy environments leading to an unhealthy [family] culture.