Why do we follow leaders who bully?

In my work training and coaching leaders, I have never had one say to me, “My style of leadership is bullying. I use fear to get people to work hard.”

Yet, we have all worked under leaders who intimidate their workers. They make every decision, shut down dissent, and create a culture of fear. Despite the toxicity, some people still follow them. I worked with a leader who used his positional power to bully anyone who disagreed with him. It was his way or the highway. I felt trapped. It was a good-paying job that I needed to take care of my family.

I know I am not alone.

But in many circles, this style of leadership is respected. People are drawn to the bully leader's confidence. They imagine him or her to be a strong leader. For example, Steve Jobs was known for tearing down his management team. He called ideas “stupid,” fired people on the sport, and pushed the teams relentlessly. It was his unwavering confidence that kept people following. I have never worked with Steve Jobs, but I have worked with many leaders like him, and the problem is their inability to listen to others, stopping people from sharing even in crises.

It is simple: fear keeps people in line. I might lose my job, miss out on a promotion, or face peer pressure from other employees. When leading Uber, Travis Kalanick fostered a cutthroat culture where employees feared speaking up. He only resigned from outside pressure from investor groups because of the company’s unethical corporate culture.

Speaking up is hard, but it is a critical part of leadership.

The other part of Bully Leadership is that it seems they are progressing toward an organizational goal. They use intimidation to push people to work harder. In one workplace, we had a boss who drove his team really hard. When I confronted him, he pointed to his success toward the company’s objectives. I pointed to the high level of turnover and its cost to the organization, the reduced productivity from his employees, and how other departments perceived him. It was a wake-up call.

Bully Leadership leads to high turnover, burnout, less innovation, and long-term issues within the organization, such as lack of institutional knowledge, resentment, increased conflict, and a willingness to go outside the line to get things done.

If you want to be respected, you have to earn it. We earn respect by setting high expectations and holding our team accountable, seeking coaching and feedback from everyone around us, and motivating people to perform their best not out of fear but out of a genuine desire to see them succeed.

Bully Leadership is effective in the short term but comes with the cost of disengagement, burnout, and employee turnover. Bullies are looking to control their followers. Great Leaders inspire their people to reach their fullest potential. Only one leaves a lasting impact.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Have you worked under a fear-based leader? How did you handle it? Comment below!

?

John Thalheimer

CEO and Leadeship Coach

True Star Leadership

PS: Are you interested in improving your team's leadership? The True Star Leadership Program provides emerging leaders with actionable steps to improve business outcomes without bullying coworkers. Set-up a meeting here...https://calendly.com/johnthalheimer/chatwithjohn