How scared are you?

Does it surprise you that sometimes you feel like your manager is inducing fear to get you to do something? Do you think that is a good strategy? Well, not really. The use of fear has been widely considered ineffective. In fact, there is a correlation between fear and punishment. In their article, Fear as a strategy: effects and impact within the organization, Steven Appelbaum, Michael Bregman, and Peter Moroz confirms that many theories and models have been developed in order to explain the relationship between punishment and fear and it has been found these are correlated (Appelbaum, Bregman, & Monoz, (1998).
The use of fear and punishment portrays he work environment more of one of a master and slave than that of one of collaboration and learning. What kind of fear are you experiencing on the job? Is it fear of change or fear of risk-taking (1998)?
Maybe you have to let your boss know if it is the case, that you are more comfortable with doing the right thing rather than doing things to satisfy him or her. If you can be that bold, we’d like to know and tell us how you will approach this.

Reference: Appelbaum, S., Bregman, M., & Moroz, P. (1998, February). Fear as a strategy: effects and impact within the organization. Journal of European Industrial Training, 22(2/3), 113-127. Retrieved October 18, 2008, from Business Source Complete database.