Fear Has No Place in the Workplace - Careers in Government

Fear Has No Place in the Workplace

S. Chris Edmonds is the founder and CEO of the Purposeful Culture Group, which he launched after a 15-year career leading and managing teams. He’s a speaker, author, and executive consultant who helps senior leaders build and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He also served as a senior consultant with the Ken Blanchard Companies for 24 years. He is the author or co-author of seven books, including Amazon best sellers The Culture Engine and Leading At A Higher Level with Ken Blanchard.

Does fear have a defining presence in your current workplace culture?

Fear in the workplace could result from harassment of many forms or even physical violence in extreme cases, but often it is more so a result of the culture itself and perceived threatening situations. This may be due to tension in relationships and unclear expectations with subsequent harsh consequences or reactions following these.

As for the ramifications of fear, consider that it is an involuntary reaction prompted by a stressful stimulus. When we see a bear up here in our Rocky Mountain neighborhood, our hearts race, our breathing gets faster, and our muscles tense. Our bodies initiate a fight or flight response, trying to ensure our survival.

Fear generates a similar reaction at work.

We tense up
Our hearts race
Our breathing speeds up.

We are in survival mode. We can’t be cooperative, supportive, or creative when we’re certain we are in danger of being ridiculed, blamed, making mistakes, or failing. Fear hampers productivity, decision-making, and critical thinking capacity.

For many leaders around the globe, fear is their primary methodology for getting things done through others.

CHRIS EDMONDS

Garry Ridge, President and CEO of the WD-40 Companies, has figured out the effects of fear in the workplace. When he was promoted to lead the company 20 years ago, he knew that global growth was key to sustaining the business. He and his executive team realized that global growth demanded a work culture based on values, fun, and cooperation across their team.

Garry believes that real traction towards their desired culture didn’t come about until they removed fear from their workplace.

“We had to drive out fear and replace it with learning,” Garry said. At WD-40 Company, people don’t make mistakes – they have learning moments. They define learning as positive or negative outcomes of any situation that need to be openly and freely shared to benefit all.

Garry says, “That’s not fear anymore!” Sharing learning moments is celebrated!

The first thing leaders – or coaches as they’re known in their tribal culture – ask when they hear someone sharing a negative learning moment is “How did you interpret our values that got you to that negative learning moment?” As long as people use our values in their decision-making, the learning moment won’t be catastrophic to the business or the customer.

For many leaders around the globe, fear is their primary methodology for getting things done through others. The bottom line is that fear doesn’t inspire. Learning moments founded on company values inspire. Follow Garry’s lead!