New England football boss Fabio Capello took charge of his first game this week and apparently he has already laid down the law to his players.
The Italian, who has a won a treasure trove of trophies on the continent, reportedly leads with an iron fist and has made it clear that he doesn't want to be best friends with any of the players.
He looks set to instill a climate of fear among his squad and has already issued players with a list of rules as long as Peter Crouch's lanky frame.
But I wonder whether the idea of motivating people through fear works in the daily grind of the business world.
Many moons ago I had a job in the hospitality sector (Ok..I was a waiter), with a head chef so fearsome he could make Fabio Capello look like Mary Poppins.
A dropped plate or mistaken order would be met with a thunderous tirade of abuse not disimilar to a certain foul-mouthed Scottish culinary celebratory.
And his unorthodox management style did seem to work among most of the kitchen staff. His regime of terror served as a major motivating factor which meant most members of staff raised their game to prove him wrong.
However, at the same time, certain people became alienated and apathy ensued as an attitude of' 'don't talk to me like that' set in.
So what do you think is the best motivator in the work place - the Capello 'fear factor' or the Kevin Keegan 'arm round the shoulder' style of management?
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