| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 7:59:01 PM | Is it better as a manager to have the respect of the people you are managing or fear?
I have a boss who LOVES to be hated...he thinks it is a high time being a jerk. He lies to everyone just for the sake of lying. He exaggerates...and let's not even mention his favorites...they walk all over him and he keeps on acting like everything they suggest is his idea.
If you catch him in one of his lies, he swallows and says he will have to get back with you on it. Even his favorites have no real respect for him. They whine and demand more money and get it, then they come up with ideas of when it is best for them to come in. As soon as he tells us he is bringing someone on board from the previous place he worked, we all start looking to see who is getting the ax so he can put the new person into a good position. I and two others have gone to HR this week with these and many other complaints...so we are just awaitin' for the resuults.
So again - respect or fear?
squeak
(At the last minute Thursday he decided we are "so far behind" there will be mandatory overtime tomorrow for all three shifts...the reason we are so far behind is he and his cronies are running the place into the ground. 6 out of 13 employees have said no way. I was the first to say not happening but the lead (one of his peeps) thought I was just complaining. Weekends are MINE. I am willing to work some overtime during the week but he never asks. I am almost willing to bet his ego won't let him write us all up - how would that look?  Almost half his employees don't show up???) | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 8:38:50 PM |
Is it better as a manager to have the respect of the people you are managing or fear?
Depends on whether the person just wants to be a manager or would he rather be a leader. The difference is that leaders inspire people to follow them. Managers tend to use more forceful means. Besides, who do you know that would willingly follow someone they were afraid of without a bit of force? | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 8:46:29 PM | Unfortunately, his bosses aren't concerned about humane treatment of employees; they're interested in the bottom line. If he's meeting his goals and his quotas, his bosses don't care if he's using whips and chains and torture and replacing the entire workforce every month.
Not the management style I prefer; I think if you give people a sense of empowerment and have clearly defined goals they perform better. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 9:04:35 PM | I used the Reverent Fear aspect as a Non Commissioned Officer in the Army.
(I invented shock and awe.....lol)
US Army definition of Leadership
"The art of influencing and directing people in such a way as
to obtain their lawful and willing obedience."
Army Leadership Principles:
Bearing
Courage
Decisiveness
Dependability
Endurance
Enthusiasm
Initiative
Integrity
Judgement
Justice
Knowledge
Loyalty
Tact
Unselfishness | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 10:39:32 PM | Of course, I always work better with those I respect. I've only really met one person who's tried to go in for the "fear-me-for-i-am-your-superior" approach.
Your manager sounds like a real turd - squeak. He seems like the sort that bad things start to happen to for no apparent reason  . There should be tons of opportunities to make his life miserable while stlil maintaining a professional appearance and keeping your job safe. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/3/2008 10:55:57 PM | | I work as a mechanic, I have enough confidence in my abilities. I respect my boss's position, but I don't fear the boss. Soon as they act like an ass for a prolong period of, it just becomes clear time to move to a new company. I would rather have respect to answer your question, you get more things accomplished vs using fear. Using the fear tactic only makes situations worse, when someone is worried about what they are doing, they are going to make more mistakes because of pressure. In the same sense the employees should respect the company they work, afterall they pay the employee to perform the task at hand. One of the things I would make a major change if I was a boss, is make everyone leave their cell phones in their cars, so call me an ass for it. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 4:20:36 AM | | Go for the fear, keep them on eggshells, break their spirit, erode their confidence, move their desk to the basement, sleep with their sister and demean them at every opportunity. Post pictures of yourself all over the office, monitor the phones and randomly fire two people every Friday...What a... | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 9:44:49 AM | Jansu
We are working on making his life miserable...see, he said it was mandatory to work overtime today...and I and 5 others out of 13 employees stated vehemently we are not gonna be there on a Saturday. We work very hard and because it is his responsibility to make sure the work is scheduled (we print and finish books for a large tractor company), this is actually HIS fault. Then he puts his friends into positions of importance (preflight, leads, etc) and they dawdle over getting it done too. We catch up and can actually be working ahead. But it just doesn't last. I am athinkin' now that 6 people have shown some spine, he might be having a harder time getting his way. (I also burned a black candle with nails pounded into it with his name and his buddies names on it... Pays to be a witch...)
squeak
Thunderstorms - my son is in the Army now...thank you for your time. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 10:04:04 AM | UGH Sorry you have such a crappy boss Squeak.
I've worked for both. Bad bosses who ruled in fear and gret bosses who have actually LEAD people to be outstanding. I prefer and respect the latter of course.
I'm a manager and I always try to remember, even in my most frustrating moments (and there are plenty) that part of being a good leader is in how you handle and overcome the problems.
If the group is "so far behind" that he feels he has to mandate OT --what is HE doing to fix the process that got you behind in the first place? Nothing, I'm sure. And that...is his job.
Keep on standing your ground! | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 5:19:31 PM | I’ve worked for both types.
It’s proven that you get more out of your employees by keeping them happy and treating them well.
In the long run, people who tend to take the fear and intimidation route often look silly and don’t truly get the respect of the coworkers.
I saw the fear and intimidation route type when I was a kid just out of college. It worked for about 5-minutes then I pulled them aside to “express a little personal sentiment”. I commented on how I felt about being spoken to like a dog. He eased up, but other people were still intimidated by him.
These clowns just lack people skills! With a little tact you can say anything to anyone. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 5:20:50 PM | squeek...quit that. No black candles with nails and names...sheesh...trying to get yourself into some major mojo-crap? Use some hairs (easy enough to get from their work areas) and some home made wax figure. If you're going to do it, do it right. Sheesh...you kids....always trying the "short-cuts".... | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 11:03:47 PM | I say respect...it takes more work to attain but gets you farther when dealing with people.
I think there would always be that underlying fear of someone in management because of his/her position/title=power, etc. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/4/2008 11:17:51 PM |
Is it better as a manager to have the respect of the people you are managing or fear?
Fear is rarely a good motivator in a workplace. Respect is better, but not by much. Just because someone respects you doesn't mean they will be productive.
It's best to work on building a team atmosphere where people want to do a good job because they feel included, their opinion matters and they are appreciated. People generally want to do a good job when they buy into the idea that their input matters and they are appreciated. It's very hard to create a perfect work environment, but a more productive environment isn't. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 8:05:14 AM | If you're in a short-term project that's running in "crunch mode", with a tight deadline and too little humanpower (or if the job requires little or no skill and there are lots people vying for work - and if you have little or no human compassion) ... then fear seems to work best because it gets the job done. If you're in a long-term situation and it hurts productivity to retrain new skilled help, and if you hope to hold the appreciation of the citizens in your area, then respect and cooperation work best - managerials actually rolling up their sleeves and leading through inspiration.
Ya needs ta' get ya another job, ya know that. You deserve better. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 10:04:51 AM | | The manager I fear will get a lot more work from me. The one I fear will only THINK he or she is getting a lot of work from me. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 10:45:27 AM | In some ways it is hard to motivate a person with a management style that is vastly different from the one they were raised with. If a person had an authoritarian style parent, then they might not actually "move" on a project untill the volume gets turned up enough to register on their emotional radar. If they were used to an aggressive, harsh approach, the employees might start from day one with the attitude of only "appearing" to work efficiently, unless dealt with in this way. They might think the more inspiring manager "weak," even though that style really takes more effort and self-control.
Fear = consequences. Consequences can be meaningful without being harsh.
Threats, arbitrariness, favoritism, inconsistency, arrogance, lack of planning, and taking "bribes" (brown-nosing) from employees, are going to be returned in kind as the employees learn to do these things themselves. This changes the culture of the work area, and can cause much unnecessary anxiety.
Some employees like drama, and the roller-coaster emotional ride of this kind of style. It energizes them. Some people work better when a deadline is too close, and there is way much more at stake than if the energy level is more low-key. This, however, is a sign of lack of the skills to self-discipline, plan ahead and control without an outside party to "blame" and rally against. Its sometimes fun to have the "evil villain" to rail against and plot against. You can always blame a bad manager to outsiders for almost anything, including your own mistakes (blame the pressure/stress.) Some managers know this, and use their "badness" to get the work group to bond together against a common enemy.
In this case, boredom is really the common enemy, and this can be addressed in other ways.
I prefer "natural" consequences. The manager passes the consequences he faces down to his work group in a planned organized way that doesn't jeapordize the work group in the long run. Then the employees see that naturally the consequence of bad work is bad business and job losses or pay cuts.
Setting higher goals of adding meaning to the work is another way to motivate people besides the evil villain method. You can teach, admonish, model and inspire people to the higher character traits mentioned above in the Army's leadership style. This can work much better in the long run, since many work tasks can appear meaningless and "make-work" to the employees who are far down the line of the sometimes convoluted, political and stockholder-based goals of the higher-ups.
So the rewards are based in self-esteem, morale, and camaraderie, based on values that have no price, so have no direct link to pay, such as; Bearing, Courage, Decisiveness, Dependability, Endurance,Enthusiasm, Initiative, Integrity, Judgement, Justice, Knowledge, Loyalty, Tact , Unselfishness. Witness the reletively low pay and high risk of the military, compared with the effort and loyalty displayed.
This doesn't mean that during boot camp, the aggressive, harsh methods aren't used first.....I guess it makes recruits appreciate more the other leadership methods used later on.
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 12:02:31 PM | | I had a manager at one point who thought the only way to manage a team was to make them fear you. He regularly told us what pieces of crap we were and loved to use the phrase "You are my subordinate, I own you!" He made work hell. He caused our company to lose money, he was an overbearing, abusive arse. When we had good managers in the restaurant who were there to make money and realized that the best way to do that is by having a happy staff...things were great. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 1:35:15 PM | The best boss I ever had used an "open door" policy" with regards to employees: if we had a problem to be solved, his door was usually open and he made sure he was accessible to all. On the rare occasion that his door was closed (which meant he was in a private conference), he had a little sign on the door outside:
"Whatever it takes-
Do it."
I can't recall the number of times I rushed into the office, saw that stupid little sign, and realized I knew exactly what needed to be done. Because of that 3" X 5" sign and the implied permission to act, the sense of empowerment we on the production floor felt had a huge impact in increased productivity.
The big bosses hated him, of course, but couldn't fire him as long as the production numbers were good. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/5/2008 1:42:23 PM | my last boss was a real jerk -he belittled everyone under him.
concidentally on the hottest days of summer -the A/C in his office would fail -hmmmm
dont mess with the building engineers -cuz we know how to get even...  | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/7/2008 1:49:50 AM |
Is it better as a manager to have the respect of the people you are managing or fear?
In today's management schools of thought, apparently neither is acceptable.
You're supposed to be N-u-r-t-uring (in Michael Savage tones) and fa-c-i-l-i-tating.
Mind you this isn't my opinion - just they kind of bunk they teach managers these days. It's no wonder there's so much Customer No-Service out there.
If I need to be running around adjusting all my wet-diapered employees' "binkys" all day long, those are employees I really don't need and cannot use. Those are problems their mommies and daddies should have resolved long ago.
Otherwise, in more conventional "old-fashioned" companies, respect is far better than fear. When you place an employee under duress with fear, you're not going to garner much loyalty. And your customers in turn aren't going to receive much genuine service - if that matters anymore. Disgruntled customers = lack of business.
If your employees respect you (usually because you respect them in turn), they will also respect the company. They will also tend to respect the customers of that company and you'll have far fewer problems. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/7/2008 5:54:51 AM | People who accept a job position are there for one reason only-- to do the job to the best of their ability in a timely fashion. If the position calls for unexpected overtime, then that is simply part of the job. You do it because it is a requirement that it be done. Whether your boss is a jerk or not is irrelevant. What matters most is how well you work with the team of people at your level. Fear of becoming unemployed due to insubordination should be motivation enough (in my world, if you and your cohorts told me you were not going to work, you would find yourselves out of work at that very moment and your replacements would be starting the next day-- it's called job refusal). Are you guys UNION at your facility? If so, then go thru your union rep to file a grievance. If not--suck it up and either enjoy the extra cash or find another job. Respect is earned-- if your boss is not earning your respect, then it is his loss. As long as you are punching the clock and he is in charge, then you are obligated to follow policy and procedure. Until his antics catch up to him, you will simply have to find creative ways to work around his bulls---.
Short answer, tho-- it is BEST to be respected by your workers than feared-- respect means they will bend over backwards for you because you will bend over backwards for them. Fear will only get you so far before YOU become fearful.
Right, wrong or indifferent, doesn't matter. There are always going to be crappy bosses in the world.
cheers~~ | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/7/2008 12:19:10 PM | During my military career, I had numerous occasions to use prison labor. In the Philippines, the prisoners who worked for me enjoyed the duty. They worked in air conditioning, were not belittled, shared our private lounge area in which to eat lunch, coffee was free, background music was played in the work area and a television was in the lounge, etc. Not only were they willing to work hard, they were eager to. Not one of them wanted to be returned to picking up cigarette butts beside the roads, etc. The officer in charge of the prison gave me repeat prisoners as long as they were confined there. He said that they had no trouble from any of them after they began working with me.
In another assignment, I took only the violent criminals for dangerous jobs that had to be done. Those also learned that it was better to keep me happy. When I had good troops (prisoners or regular active duty), I took care of them. You don't want your co-workers and bosses mad at you when even a slight accident can be fatal. We kept photographs of those who had died as part of our safety briefings for newcomers. The more gruesome were the better motivators. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/7/2008 6:30:06 PM | | Having been in the military as well as the civilian world, I've worked for all kinds of supervisors; the true leaders, the born followers, the dictators and the bona fide a**holes. Management styles can be debated until hell freezes over but I for one usually let the situation dictate which style I have used. For the most part, I've had exceptional people work for me and I usually trusted them to get things done with minimal supervision. The results were usually fantastic. Performance reports and decorations were a breeze to write. On the other hand, "problem children" do appear once in awhile. I've seen more of this type as a civilian and have tried to turn them around if possible. If all fails; "see ya". I've never particularly cared for the term "boss" too much. That's because spelled backwards its DOUBLE SOB and that means twice as much. | |
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46mike
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Joined: 1/27/2008
Msg: 24 | |
| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/8/2008 7:47:47 AM | Sounds like you should be updating your resume and finding yourself a positive workplace. You will be happier and feel better about working.
High turnover management styles never work in the long term. Staying in one is your own foolishness. | |
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| Management style: Respect vs Fear
Posted: 10/8/2008 9:50:56 AM | ^^Very true. I've worked in a fearsome work place and I called their approach the "gruel and enemas" style of employee motivation. They used to love to overuse the terms "family" and "team" and I used to say that sometimes the family is dysfunctional and the team has jock itch.
I just doesn't work.  | |
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