Intimidating bosses aren’t always the solution. Organizations looking to make their employees more productive and establish workplace discipline often turn to leaders who follow a strong and intimidating approach to managing people. But does destructive leadership always work? It does to an extent. But not with everyone and not in the long term. While it is great to have people with a strong personality to lead an organization and manage people, the concept of having an intimidating boss can often backfire. Toxic leadership not only impacts the morale of the employees, it also harms the market reputation of the organization.
What is workplace intimidation? The best way to answer this question is to ask the employees of an organization about how they feel working under their boss. If they say that they feel frustrated and intimidated, and that they dread going near their boss because of the fear of being humiliated and belittled, they are suffering workplace intimidation. Contrary to popular belief, it can do more harm to employees and organizations than good.
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There are different types of bosses and different leadership styles. There is a leadership style that is completely the opposite of the style that is being discussed here. These bosses are more inclined towards building trust with their team members, giving them a helping hand when they require, and in a way act as their friend. This way, bosses can earn the respect of their subordinates and will have their support whenever they need it. This is the easier and smoother way of getting things done. Bullies can’t help organizations in the long run. Smarter bosses that know the value of two-way communication and mutual respect certainly can.
Should you be intimidated by your boss? It is important for employees to realize that intimidation is a leadership style that some bosses use to establish that they are the ones with all the powers. The ultimate objective, no matter what type of boss you have, is to ensure that the team performs well.
However, there is always a limit to everything. If you think that intimidation is turning abusive and harming your self-esteem, there is no harm in setting silence and verbal limits. So you can remain silent until the things don’t go out of control. This is when you can go to the HR and raise a complaint. Or you can let your boss know, without sounding disrespectful, that you aren’t going to take the abuse anymore. It is sometimes better to communicate what you feel about them is intimidating. Even the slightest realization that they have been doing it all wrong all this while can bring about a positive change. This is one way of handling a toxic boss.
What can organizations do? The first thing that they need to do is realize that intimidating bosses aren’t the answer. After they understand this, they can launch programs that can train their leaders to effectively manage people without abusing and belittling them. If the bosses take these programs seriously, they won’t turn to toxic leadership ways ever again.
Performance and numbers matter a lot for organizations. But there is no set standard to how you can achieve them. So organizations should make sure that they have leaders that can achieve those numbers without harming their people in any way.
Reference: “Intimidating Bosses Can Change — They Just Need a Nudge” | Zhenyu Liao | 31 August 2020
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