A concerning new study reveals that a significant number of workplace leaders are inadvertently fostering an environment of fear, resulting in a toxic culture, reduced productivity, and stunted growth. This trend is costing the UK economy an estimated £2.2 billion annually in lost performance and productivity.
Conducted by Margot Faraci, a seasoned executive leader, author, speaker, and leadership coach, the global study examined the behaviours of 2,500 emerging leaders in corporate settings. Of these, 1,000 participants were based in the UK. The findings indicate that nearly a quarter (23%) of UK leaders are unconsciously creating a fear-based environment for their direct reports. On a global scale, this figure increases to 30%, highlighting a worrying trend in leadership practices worldwide.
Fearful leadership, whether conscious or unconscious, has profound implications for team morale and organisational well-being. Leaders who operate under fear often suffer from past experiences, perpetuating a cycle of anxiety, micromanagement, imposter syndrome, and reluctance to provide or receive feedback. Faraci’s study highlights that fear-based leaders lose an average of 10 hours of productivity per week, costing companies approximately £9,545 per leader annually.
Faraci, who has dedicated two decades to leadership roles at some of the world’s largest banks, is on a mission to eradicate fearful leadership. She collaborates with organisations across the UK, US, and Australia, advocating for love-driven leadership as a means to foster high performance and empowerment among emerging managers and leaders.
The Alarming Findings
The study delved into the behaviours and experiences of leaders to uncover the prevalence of unconscious fear. The results are stark:
- 88% of leaders consistently fear being wrong or making mistakes.
- 82% feel high pressure to demonstrate their value.
- 67% are hesitant to voice their own opinions.
- 45% are unwilling to give feedback to their direct reports or managers.
- 33% regularly engage in or experience micromanagement.
- 15% frequently feel anxiety or nerves surrounding their work.
- 9% regularly experience anger or frustration.
Faraci comments, “This reflects what I’ve seen and experienced for decades in leadership: our fear of failure, our fear of being wrong or being outdone has devastating consequences for us personally and for our business performance. Fear shows up in various ways in leadership: being aggressive, avoiding difficult conversations, undermining others or staying small to be safe. All of these behaviours are damaging to the system and ourselves.”
Impact on Team Performance
Fearful leadership not only affects leaders themselves but also has significant repercussions for their teams. The study found that:
- 33% of fearful leaders regularly witness declines in employee and team performance.
- 38% acknowledge a decrease in team morale.
- 21% suffer from strained relationships within their teams.
- 21% say their ability to be creative is hindered.
Faraci adds, “Fear is not the way to lead for performance and engagement. Fear makes leaders work harder than they would otherwise need to, and it has the same effect on everyone around them. Coming to work and performing sustainably is almost impossible in a fearful system.
“Fearful leaders often overcompensate by seeking to over-index compassion and sensitivity, thinking that will increase productivity. But, they don’t actually demonstrate compassionate or sensitive behaviours, instead ramping up either micromanagement, or hands-off management.
“To break this cycle requires self-awareness that defaulting to micromanagement and hands-off management squashes compassion and loses the benefits that true compassion can deliver. My question to fearful leaders is: do you love yourself enough to acknowledge your own fear and deal with it?”
Root Causes of Fearful Leadership
The study identifies several key factors contributing to the prevalence of fearful leadership:
- 36% of leaders cite a lack of communication in the workplace.
- 33% point to a lack of experience.
- 45% blame existing work culture.
- 23% fear displeasing their teams or higher-ups.
- 25% feel they are not key decision-makers.
- 12% express a sense of hopelessness.
Fear-based leaders often draw from past experiences with poor managers to justify their actions, perpetuating a cycle of fear within business leadership. Many emerging leaders have struggled with micromanagement and a lack of trust from their own superiors.
Margot Faraci concludes, “Love leadership is the foundation of high performance and success. Loyalty, growth, and love should be at the heart of every decision in business. Fearful leaders identify the biggest impacts on their leadership ability as being poor communication, inexperience, low confidence and not being a decision maker.”
Faraci’s approach, which centres on replacing fear with love, aims to transform leadership practices and unlock the full potential of both leaders and their teams.