by Timothy Ijala

Created on: June 06, 2008   Last Updated: January 28, 2012

A people person, that is what a modern boss in any office needs to be. Modern bosses should be able to work at the front desk with employees in order to understand what they go through and also learn from them.

However,employees would find it very difficult to work alongside an intimidating boss or even to hold a conversation with him or her. A boss who is intimidating is not a true leader because a true leader does not inspire fear in his or her followers. A boss who inspires fear cannot even be a good manager and is therefore a liability to the organisation.

Also, a boss who is intimidating does not inspire confidence and creativity at work and as a result of that will not get hundred percent commitment from his workers which is bad for the company or business. What that also means is that if a worker has a problem affecting the business he or she will keep quiet and that might affect the business.If a worker has a good idea for the business,may fear to bring it up for fear that the idea may be implemented, fail and because of the failure incur the bosses wrath.

I have heard several people say that when their bosses are away they work better than when their bosses are around which shows that they are working in an environment where there is fear. And when you look at e successful companies like Virgin Atlantic you will find that part of their success is because of the boss's management style. The boss is approachable and his door is always open for anyone who has something to say as long as that something to say is sensible. That is what a true leader is like.

Some bosses are even on first name bases with their employees because of the free working enviroment they are in. That is not possible if the boss is intimidating.

Companies that have bosses who are intimidating may experience a high turnover which means recruiting new staff which may cost the company a lot of money. This may be the case even if the staff are being paid highly. An intimidating boss may make the work environment very difficult such that employees may opt to leave. Such an environment is easy to note if you are a customer in that company. You will notice that staff are not happy and there tension. That can even drive away customers.

An intimidating boss is not also good for the health of the workers because they are always stressed as they are not sure when the boss will come down heavily on them because of a job not well done. A friend told me that at his work place whenever one of them is called by the boss, they panic as they are worried about what wrong they have done. That is what an intimidating boss may do. He or she makes you think of 'what is wrong most of the time. That is a very unpleasant work atmosphere.And all of us know why we go to work and who the boss is. So it is not necessary to be intimidating as a boss in order to prove who is in charge.

Learn more about this author, Timothy Ijala.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.