Jordan Peace is Co-Founder & CEO of Fringe, the first lifestyle benefits marketplace, and Greenhouse Money, financial services.
An oft-quoted maxim of the last 500 years comes from 16th-century political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli. In his work, The Prince, Machiavelli says, “It is better to be feared than loved.” To be fair to Machiavelli, the following line is, “If one cannot have both,” though this portion is often omitted.
While we may appreciate the sentiment, there is a good reason why “Machiavellianism” is now attributed to people who emphasize interpersonal manipulation as a means to justify the ends. Machiavellians use conscious calculation instead of morality and virtue to persuade and control others. So perhaps, and I hope Niccolo’s fans can forgive me, we ought to take his words with a sizable grain of salt.
Fear and love are the camps in which you’ll find nearly every leader. What may be more difficult to flesh out is what the impact of each strategy is. Let’s start with the “iron fist” leaders and explore what follows from their Machiavellian approach.
When I meet a new employee at Fringe, I can tell within one conversation which type of leader they were previously working for. One of the stated values of my company is: “We act with courage—we will not win without losing. We got here by taking chances, failing boldly, and trying relentlessly again and again. So let’s try stuff. Take chances. Lose and learn from it. And may we never succumb to fear.”
By far and without fail, when asked which of our five values is hardest to rally around or is most intimidating, new recruits select acting with courage. They all communicate some variation of the following: “I’ve never been encouraged to take chances or told that failure is OK and part of the path to success.” This tells me that these employees were likely been ruled by fear in their previous jobs.
Fear is useful in the short term. The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for our perception of fear. Fear makes us aware of dangers; it keeps us alive. It also controls emotions such as anxiety. It’s no secret that cases of anxiety have skyrocketed in recent years. Acutely, the first year of the Covid-19 epidemic yielded a 25% worldwide increase in reported anxiety, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, in particular, anxiety rates have increased from 5.12% in 2008 to 6.68% in 2018. At the same time, 18- to 25-year-old rates have exploded from 7.97% to a staggering 14.66%.
Unsurprisingly, strategies for “treating” the overworked amygdala, such as yoga, meditation, emotional support animals, etc., have trended up vigorously in the last two decades. We live in a society where fear and anxiety are rampant. It would take a dozen articles to explore in-depth why this is the case, but the evidence is clear that we are a stressed-out, anxious, fearful culture, hellbent on productivity, efficiency and getting it done. Or, at least, it appears the vast majority of company leaders fit this description.
It’s no wonder these types of people rise to the top. Determined, productive, aggressive people tend to make a company a lot of money. They kick down walls, overwork, have a plan and are able and willing to do anything their boss asks them to do. Their goal is to get promoted, and it’s likely that they do. The problem arises when they get to the top. When the extreme expectations they place on themselves are finally turned outward toward others, their employees either rise to the occasion or quit. Or they rise to the occasion and then quit when they realize that meeting the expectation of a fear-based leader is not sustainable. They are too afraid to admit they don’t have the level of drive and aggression as their leader, and if they do admit this, they are met with disappointment and the loss of their leader’s respect.
Let’s contrast this with the leader who leads from a place of love. What do I mean by love? I mean a leader who truly cares about the people who work for them. A leader who, while wanting to drive successful business outcomes, only wants to win if their people can also flourish. A leader who genuinely cares for their people will add PTO, wellness days, mental health resources, etc., not because the proverbial Joneses are doing it, but because it’s the right thing to do to facilitate an environment where people can thrive.
This type of leader, rather than manipulating with fear and incentives, is banking on the hope that people will respond to care, compassion and respect with hard work, loyalty and dedication to the job. A love-based leader believes that people will work hard and speak well of their company because they actually love their job, their leaders and their company culture and know how fortunate they are to be a part of something that’s emotionally healthy for them. A workplace full of psychological safety isn’t even something most American workers believe is possible, but I’m here to tell you it is, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Leaders, I know it’s scary and vulnerable to consider putting people first and work second. It seems antithetical to what you have been assigned to do—get production out of your people. The problem is that you are working with human beings with needs, emotions, pain and baggage that they bring to work daily. If you inspire them with care, you’ll get far more out of them in the long run and you’ll get to watch your fellow human beings thrive and enjoy their work.
I’m sorry Mr. Machiavelli, but I disagree wholeheartedly. I’ll take love and a healthy respect for authority over fear and quiet loathing any day of the week.
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