Some leaders think they should lead with fear. They want their employees to fear them somewhat, because that's the most effective way to get things done. Some leaders who do lead with fear deny it even to themselves. They cannot bear to think of themselves as a bad boss that employees fear. They think of their employees as unconfident, incompetent and passive.
Fear is a poor motivator. It motivates people only to avoid mistakes. It teaches people to avoid responsibility and accountability, because the less of these that you have, the smaller the chances of getting blamed. People who operate under fear are not creative or innovative. They do not dare to escalate issues they see for fear of getting penalised. They just want to stay out of trouble.
I have observed one situation of an employee delaying telling their boss problems and waiting until there are several before escalating them all at one go. By then it is already rather late to address some of these problems. The rationale is if I'm going to get scolded by the boss, I'd rather just get scolded once for several things, instead of getting scolded several times separately. This sounds absurd, but this is very real.
Motivate employees by pride in their work, by the drive to provide for their families, or by a sense of belonging. Don't motivate by fear.
