Here's the one big reason why most teams underperform

The recent video of the supervisor hitting an intern in a local SME generated much reactions and responses. For such a thing to happen here in Singapore came as a shock to many. Some of the reactions and responses were quite tempered while the majority were quite emotional. What was your response when you first saw that video? How did you feel? What if you were the one at the receiving end of that abuse? What would you have done?

Fear in the Corporate Environment

It is not uncommon to have colleagues or even bosses who behave badly. I did a straw poll on workers and found that between 5% and 10% have encountered or worked with someone who behaved badly in the office. The situation becomes a lot worse when you have to put up with a boss who behaves terribly.  In fact, this underscores a key reason why many teams and organizations underperform today – Fear.

Why talk about Fear? Why is it important? It is because fear is the one thing that prevents people from reaching their true potential. Fear is a very powerful emotion and it produces two very powerful responses: Fight or Flight. When we fear something, we will either fight our way out of the situation or we will take flight and run away. In most cases, our usual response is to take flight and run.  

The Devastating Effects of Fear

The effects of fear in the corporate environment can be devastating. Fear prevents teams from reaching their full potential. I often hear managers complaining about how their team members sit in silence during team meetings. Even when prompted or asked to voice their opinions, team members choose to remain silent by shrugging their shoulders and saying “no comments”.  Managers also often complain about how their teams are not creative and innovative when it comes to problem solving. These responses and outcomes are usually the direct result of Fear.

Research shows that 88% of teams underperform. That is a lot of underperforming teams! One of the reasons why most teams underperform is because of Fear. You may be thinking: “What has Fear got to do with underperforming teams?”

Referring back to the video of the supervisor hitting the intern, it was reported that the interns and employees at this firm went to work in fear every day! While this may be an extreme example of fear in the corporate environment, do you think the employees in this firm would put their best foot forward and do their best for the company?

Are You Perpetuating Fear?

For those who are team managers, if you wish to unleash the full potential of your team, you need to ask yourselves, “Am I unconsciously perpetuating fear in my team?”

Here are some examples of how you may be perpetuating fear in your organization:

• Do you vent your frustration at your colleagues or on the things around you when you are in a bad mood?
• Do you micromanage your employees?

For instance, I once heard a boss tell his subordinates: “I know who is working and who is not working even when I’m not in the office! I’ve got spies!”

Each of these actions contributes to the level of fear experienced by your team members, and will directly impact how your team operates and performs. In order for teams to perform at their best, you need to build trust in your team. Trust and Fear are diabolically opposed. In other words, they cannot exist together at the same time. High fear means low trust. High trust means low fear.

Conclusion

Fear is a very powerful emotion and it produces very powerful responses. In the corporate environment, fear prevents teams from reaching their full potential because it paralyzes performance. In addition, Leaders unconsciously perpetuate fear through their behaviours leading to an atmosphere of mistrust and distrust.

Therefore if you want your teams to reach their full potential, you need to foster a high trust--low fear environment because people communicate and perform best when they feel safe and trusted around their leaders.