I have already answered this question, but my Professor asked it of us. I said in order to be effective as a manager; you need a little bit of both. Your employees will never love you, like a family member, or a cold beer, but they may love your management style; they may love you being their leader; or they may not.

I think their needs to be a dose of fear because without that, you will be walked all over as a leader. You can be a hard-***, and you will still have one or two that will try you. But, if they see you're a candy-***, they will all walk over you, show up late, blow off assignments, talk to you any kind of way, and embarrass you publicly.. If the employee has absolutely no fear that inadequate behavior will result in getting the smack-down laid on them (career wise), then I think the battle is lost.

That said, if your employees like you, and respect you, then you have a far-greater chance of getting work done above and beyond the call; whereas if you manage solely through fear, all you will get is the minimum required for them to stay out of trouble.

My answer is, both. Optimally, your employees need to have respect for you in order to follow your lead; but, they need to have some fear from knowing that failure to follow processes and procedures will result in career-limiting action.

What is your opinion?

 

I've tried both. By far, fear is the greater tool. But I use it sparingly, only by making examples of people who get fired. (and I have only fired like 10 people in 5 years) That tends to have a lasting effect on those who like and want to keep their jobs.

 

i was one at my old shop for awhile

you cant be a "good guy" because in the end nobody pays attention to you anymore

you cant be a "hardass" because in the end nobody pays attention to you anymore...

and you cant possibly boss around good friends that dont like the fact that your the boss and they aint..

you loose friends that way
been there done that




i'm glad i'm not the boss anymore

...zap!

 

I ain't management, but I've never been afraid of any manager I've worked under, regardless of the tactics they used. I never really loved any of them or their management style. A few I've respected though. Fear or love, I think respect takes precedent over them both. But I ain't a manager, so take that for what it's worth.

 

I am the plant supervisor here and have been for 18+ years now. Respect is earned. With that said i have seen many supervisors come and go through the years and most have failed due to not earning respect from their subordinates (i hate that word). I have seen many try the iron fist slap down and have failed miserably at it and they are gone. I have seen the i am your friend approach and they are no longer here as well.
I try to be a fair and easy going supervisor. I show no one person to be above the other but i do know who my best workers are and let them and only them know that their work standards are above average. I never tell them in front of any other tech.
If i need to talk to a technician i bring them here in my office and let them know just what i expect. I can always get more bees with honey and most of the time i just tell my crew whats needs to be done and they do it no questions asked. I do reward my crew with things through the year and i get along well with them all. I get rattled once in a while and when i am rattled they know and go out of there way to do things to make us all look good.

 

"I don't care if you like me, but respect me." Seriously, it’s about results. Depending on your job position/title, the people you manage/lead are the ones who make or break you. In a position of authority, “take care of your people, and they will take care of you.”

 

Back when I was working for the post office, all the hard-*** managers ended up dead. Don't know if that means anything, but you might want to take it into consideration.

Eventually all the managers got shot or quit. They offered me a management position, but I'm a hard-*** by nature, so I passed. I quit and got a much safer job as a CIA mole in the middle east.

 

I come off as a hard-@#$, but those who have worked with me for any legnth of time figure out that if they do their jobs I will do everything in my power to make thier lives comfortable. Many have commented on the fact that I scared the crap out of them the first few times they worked with me. These same people said they realized if anybody ever tried to correct them without me present I would back them and let the offending person know in no uncertain terms the person is my responsibility and they are doing what they were told. Chewing butt is my job and pleasure, as is rewarding good employees.

 

For me, personally, I never really had to be a hard-***, but I didn't take any schidt from my employees. I didn't play favorites, and they knew as long as they did what they were supposed to do, I had their backs; 24 x 7.

I had one I just could not work with. Nothing I did or said, and no matter how I approached this guy, nothing sat right with him, and I got opened doored to my boss, by him thirty-leven times... I think because we were both black, he thought I should cut him some slack on his timeliness, work, attendence, etc... Not gonna happen, home-boy...

He was a scrub, and even though I tried to get him trained (that he said he wasn't learning from) and sent him to more schools trying to get him up to speed. More than any three techs on my team combined; not to mention all the OJT... In the end, we ended up bouncing him; but not until I'd written him up 6-7 times...

 

respect...Fear or love is a emotion, respect is an action...I have been the boss and been the employee, curently I'm the employee cause I don't want the head aches of managing trades and dealing with un happy home owners...My boss will get out of the truck and swing a hammer and dose not arm chair quater back me....

I'm pretty much self direct my own daily work activities.....

20% of people have no clue and just puting in thier time till they quit, 60% of people have a clue and want thier jobs, the othier 20% are in management and hire/fire supervise the othier 80%....

 

I've actually have tried both. Unfortunately, you can't be friends with someone you are trying to manage or supervise. Then they tend to assume they will get special treatment. You could lose friends that way also. Best leaving the lovin' for the bedroom!!!

 

If a supervisor or manager doesn't have a likeable personality they won't be liked in their job which will lead to low morale which many people could care less about. Best managed job I ever worked under and had the best supervision under was the USAF. Brown nosing didn't work there.

 

I agree. You must have a likeable personality to be in that position. But you need to draw the line somewhere too.

 

I'll meet you in Sea Isle City and you can draw the line in the sand for me.

 

Leadership is all about moderation. You have to have charisma and be well liked, but people need to fear you if they disappoint you.