Management By Intimidation

A manager - proudly announce that he manages his team by intimidation because, he said, it was the only way he could get things done. So, as you can imagine, I gave some considerable thought to the comment. Managing by intimidation is a management strategy for controlling people through the use of direct or implied threats that are dependent upon an individual’s inherent anxiety about his or her job.

Some people are more vulnerable to such threatening behaviour than others and much may depend on individual self-esteem and inner strength that have been either strengthened or weakened by previous personal experiences.

We each carry with us the knowledge or practical wisdom gained from past encounters and observations of how we have managed, or failed to manage, previous uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune. Managing by intimidation is a classic way of invoking fear in the individual concerned and relies on the perpetrator using the psychology of power to invoke, in the subject, a distressing emotion aroused by impending loss, danger or pain. Whether or not the threat is real or imagined, it nevertheless will arouse a condition of apprehension or insecurity.

If you were to ask your employees as to how they would describe the corporate culture within their organisation, would some describe it as intimidating? Or would the majority define it as a culture that encourages all staff and employees, on all levels, to be contributing members of a corporate family that operates for the benefit of everyone within a group that shares common attitudes, interests and goals?

Those who work within a culture that is intimidating will never give of their best. They will be less creative and less committed and overall will feel disempowered with an experience of lost personal self-esteem. Some companies and organisations still operate on a strictly hierarchal, ‘top-down’ system of management that allows no comment or criticism; that accept no suggestion for improvement or modernization from staff, and which, inevitably, eventually leads to falling behind more forward-looking competitors.

Competitive advantage attained through a satisfied, enthusiastic staff is an imperative in today’s fast-moving, commercial world. Intimidation at any level can completely destroy that advantage, over time.