Don’t be frightened, you’ll only fail (organizational culture of fear of failing)

Citation

Witzel, M. (2010), "Don’t be frightened, you’ll only fail (organizational culture of fear of failing)", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2010.04418bad.005

Don’t be frightened, you’ll only fail (organizational culture of fear of failing)

Article Type: Abstracts From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 18, Issue 2

Witzel M.Financial World (UK), November 2009, Start page: 37, No. of pages: 3

Purpose – Debates whether it is better for leaders to be loved by their subordinates, or to be feared by them. Poses this question both in the context of the existence of successful leaders that have been feared, and those that have failed because of this approach. Discusses the asymmetric nature of reward for success and punishment for failure, in terms of the tendency for failure to be punished more severely than success is rewarded, and the way that this leads to a tendency for individuals to play safe in order not to fail. Illustrates these points with particular reference to three examples of business leaders who instilled fear of failure in their managers (Henry Ford, Thomas Watson (IBM), Harold Geneen (ITT)), all of whom used methods such as demotion, dismissal, and public disgrace to enforce their will, to demonstrate how such an approach tends to be counterproductive. Argues that fear is not the same thing as pressure and all organizations function with some form of pressure, where people are encouraged to succeed and pressed to do so if they appear to be falling behind. Concludes that fear of failure holds people back and makes failure more likely.ISSN: 1360-4295Reference: 39AA553

Keywords: Management styles, Leadership, Employees productivity, Human resource management, Emotional dissonance, Employee attitudes, Organizations