Fear-filled workplace environments could be costing the UK economy £2.2 billion in lost performance, according to a new study.
Experienced executive leadership coach and author Margot Faraci conducted a survey of around 2,500 emerging leaders globally, revealing that almost a quarter (23%) of UK leaders are unconsciously creating an environment of fear.
This is however lower than the global figure, which rises to 30% of leaders sparking fear in their direct reports.
“Fearful leaders”, as she describes them, are creating a crisis of confidence in management. Almost half (48%) of them do not trust their direct reports to handle situations as they arise, the survey found.
The cost to businesses comes from lost hours of productivity – Faraci estimates that such leaders lose 10 hours a week for their companies, equivalent to £9,545 a year per leader, or £2.2 billion annually across UK business.
Almost nine in 10 leaders (88%) are consistently fearful of being wrong or making mistakes, 82% feel pressure to demonstrate value, and two-thirds are hesitant to speak up with their own view.
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Fearful leadership also impacts the way employees are managed, the survey found. Almost half (45%) are unwilling to give feedback to their direct reports or managers, a third regularly deliver or experience micromanagement, and 15% regularly experience anxiety or nerves around work.
Faraci said fear of failure has “devastating consequences” on both a personal and business level.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
A third of ‘fearful’ leaders who responded to the survey said they regularly witness declines in employee and team performance, and two-fifths said they had seen a decrease in employee morale. Many cited strained relationships with colleagues and struggled to be creative.
“Fearful leaders often overcompensate by seeking to over-index compassion and sensitivity, thinking that will increase productivity,” added Faraci.
“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?”
Thirty-six per cent of fearful leaders attribute their behaviour to a lack of communication in the workplace, and a third put it down to lack of experience. Almost half (45%) blame their existing work culture.
Many expressed hopelessness or feeling a lack of influence: 25% felt they were not key decision-makers, and 23% said they did not want to displease their superiors.
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