Feared or Not to Be Feared

This age-old question of whether, in a leadership position, it is better to be feared, respected, or liked has plagued leaders of every position throughout history. The consensus behind being feared as a leader promotes employees to respect the position's authority and do their best work in fear of getting punished or fired. It is seen as a motivator to follow the rules and be at the top of their performance. However, doing this strains the relationship with the person in the leadership position. It could create a trust issue that will eventually ruin a company, and it is not a good way to influence your employees.

Being respected, on the other hand, comes with some benefits and consequences as well. Being respected will help with effective communication. Employees won't fear to ask you for feedback and help. You will also have committed employees. Of course, this relies on the relationship that you have with the employee, but ultimately, you won't have to micromanagement them and have them be under constant supervision. This can really increase morale, and your employees or team will thrive. Having satisfied employees is important to the overall performance of a company.

Being respected also can have some negative impacts as well. For example, there could be more conflict which could lead to more disagreements. Since you have open communication with your team, you are bound to expect diverse and contradictory opinions. This opens the doors to different beliefs than you or your company, and you want everyone on the same page. You will also have to live up to certain expectations, which means they expect you to lead by example. Your employees will constantly be watching you, and this can cause some criticism in your leadership, and you will have to go to great lengths to avoid such criticism. The last issue you will face is you might have to sacrifice time for other responsibilities. Communication takes time, energy, and focus. Most of the time, leaders find themselves on a time budget, but since your employees can reach you by phone when you are away from the office, that gives you the chance to solve everyone's problem instead of figuring out the best solution for themselves. This could lead to becoming drained, and you could struggle to maintain that work-life balance.

As managers or supervisors, it is our responsibility to lead the areas we have been given authority over. Instead of really asking is it better to be feared or respected, we should be asking, "How can I balance the two to achieve successful results?" Respect doesn't always guarantee a leader's success, and fear is a harsh tool to ensure success, and you hold all the power, which could lead to oppression and resentment. As leaders, we need to find out when to use communication and empathy and drop to an employee's level effectively but understand that you are still the boss. The smallest tweak can lead to the biggest outcomes. There is always room for improvement.