Big Think video with Alisa Cohn
Fear vs. love. These may seem high-flown concepts for the workplace, but leadership essentially comes down to a choice between these two ways of motivating people. Fear is easy and expedient, and it often gets you rapid compliance. But that coerced compliance is a brittle foundation on which to build a business.
When the ship hits rough seas, you want your crew on your side because they’re loyal and want to see you through safely. That kind of goodwill (or love) is earned, not forced. It comes from listening well, treating your employees with trust and respect, and carefully building a culture of psychological safety. That’s the only reliable way to generate and store social capital.
Don’t motivate by fear
- When you motivate by fear, you succeed in gaining people’s compliance, not their commitment.
- As a leader, your goal is to get people to buy in, which makes them more likely to:
- find creative solutions in difficult times
- expend more effort
- feel personal loyalty to the mission
- Use straight talk. Set boundaries and be transparent about your decision-making. Make sure your team feels listened to.
Build psychological safety
- As a leader, your goal is to create a space where people can make mistakes, recover, learn, and move on.
- Model vulnerability and resilience. Own up to your mistakes.
- Solicit feedback and suggestions. Signal to your team that you’re all developing and learning together.
