Running a business, or being in any leadership position, for that matter, is a lot like riding a horse. A horse is bigger than you are. If you are leading fifty people, they are bigger than you are. It is possible to handle a horse with force, fear, and intimidation, but eventually one of two things will happen. Either the horse will shut down and not perform, or he will buck you off. The same thing would happen if you are leading people. If you continually tried to bully them, they would stop working for you, or they will buck you off and find another leader.   When I was just beginning learning to work with horses, I was often unintentionally unfair to them. One example was when I trying to teach my horse, Baby, to cross water.

It was a shallow ditch no more than a foot deep, and only about ten feet across. Baby was refusing to go into the water. I was getting more insistent. My strategy was to apply more pressure by swinging my rope toward her when she moved away from the water, and taking it off when she moved toward it. I figured I was offering her a pretty good deal. Do what I ask, or you get popped by the end of my rope.  

I actually had no idea how unfair I was being to Baby. First, because a horse's eyes are on the sides of her head, she has very poor depth perception, especially with things that are close to her. She could not tell the water was shallow. It could have been ten feet deep for all she knew. Second, when she stepped into the mud, the softness and squishiness were very uncomfortable and scary. What I perceived as lack of respect for my authority was actually fear. And when horses are afraid, they aren't afraid they will get hurt. They are afraid they will die. It's part of their prey animal instincts.  

When Baby finally got tired of my nagging and insistence, rather go into the water, she decided to try to go over it. And for some reason, when she jumped, I was afraid she was "getting away." She was finally doing what I asked, and I grabbed as hard as I could on the rope. Within seconds after the rope zipped through my hands, the learn burn blister were forming on my palms and fingers.  

What I have learned in the years since then is that if a horse is refusing to do something, it's not because she is impertinent. It's because she is afraid or believes she can't do it. Now when I teach a horse to cross water, I use approach and retreat. We get close to the water, then back off. We'll circle back around and come a little bit closer each time. I'll let the horse stop and sniff the water. We'll take all the time it takes to make sure she is comfortable, and eventually, she'll step into the water calmly like it's not big deal, and it was her idea.  

The same strategies work with people. It's possible to get results by yelling a people or threatening to fire them. But those leadership tactics create resentment in addition to the fear. Under those circumstances, people will learn to be subversive and quietly resist. If things get really bad, they will revolt. They will buck off the boss, so to speak.   It's much better to find out how to motivate followers by using respect and understanding. Not only will they appreciate the understanding, but if they believe they are safe, they will walk through the water willingly.