13 Practices Of Intimidating Leaders

Does everyone walk around on eggshells when it comes to your company’s leadership?  Do you feel stressed out when you see your supervisor’s caller id on your phone?  Does the person you report to have a temper and often shuts down collaboration during meetings with the force of their personality?  Do you and your teammates fear for your jobs?  Are you happy when your supervisor is not in the office?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes”, then you likely work for the San Francisco 49ers or someone else who leads by intimidation.

My basis for this statement is the recent Greg Bedard article entitled The Intimidating Presence (San Francisco) Of 49ers GM Trent Baalke.  Though Baalke is extremely successful, I gleaned several aspects of his approach to leadership which could cause others to stumble.

The following are 13 Practices Of Intimidating Leaders.  Correcting these behaviors will increase the sustainability of your leadership and likelihood of success.  See how many of these describe you.

1. Intimidating Leaders Do Not Allow People To Get To Know Them – 49ers’ team president Paraag Marathe encourages Baalke to attend happy hour events designed solely to build relationships between the football and business elements of the team.  Marathe says, “Not many people know him well.”
2. Intimidating Leaders Are Loners – Baalke would rather be on the road scouting than hanging out in the office.  Baalke admits, “The passion’s in the hunt.”
3. Intimidating Leaders Make Others Uncomfortable – A well-know neat freak, Baalke often organizes reporters’ recorders by size prior to news conferences.
4. Intimidating Leaders Are Very Intense – Writer Greg Bedard notes, “Baalke walks with a purpose, wasting few movements. Even during casual conversations you get the feeling that he’s already moving onto the next thing or the next person. His speech is deliberate, always delivered with a half-hoarse voice. No, he’s not the warmest person you’ll ever come across.”
5. Intimidating Leaders Lack Joy – Intimidating leaders are miserable people to be around.  49ers CEO Jed York says, “When you know Trent—and this isn’t meant to be mean—but he’s just not a happy guy,”
6. Intimidating Leaders Are Uptight – Because intimidating leaders often do not know how to relax, they create unnecessary stress for those they are called to serve.  York continues, “He likes work. He’s so structured and so uptight about getting it right he doesn’t have time to go fraternize, to go out to have a nice dinner.”
7. Intimidating Leaders Are Easily Angered – The difference between anger and danger is a “d”.  York goes on, “The most pissed off he gets is when he’s not working out. If he doesn’t work out and he’s not watching film, he’s even more pissed off than normal.”
8. Intimidating Leaders Have All The Answers – No one likes a know-it-all.  Marathe says, “He comes across as the guy who has all the answers by the way he talks.”
9. Intimidating Leaders Are Often Insecure – Insecure leaders serve themselves rather than others.  Marathe admits, “He’s as insecure as anybody, as all of us are.”
10. Intimidating Leaders Require Patience – Part of leading up is showing grace.  Marathe gives us some insight into all intimidating leaders.  He says, “He’s as easy to get to know as anybody. But it takes one to three times to get there spending time with him.”
11. Intimidating Leaders Often Build Intimidating Organizations – The people are always a picture of the leader.  It is interesting to note the 49ers are a big, strong, physical and intimidating football team…just like Baalke himself.
12. Intimidating Leaders Are Rarely Honored – Head coach Jim Harbaugh makes a profound statement, “He gets a lot out of a day with very little fanfare or taking a deep breath.”  Why does Baalke get such little fanfare?  I suspect it is because of the limited relational connection between Baalke and those he is called to serve.
13. Intimidating Leaders Can Still Build Great Organizations – There is hope.  No leader is perfect and we can still be part of building high-performing teams despite our imperfections.  Harbaugh says, “We have one of the best organizations in the football, if not the very best, because we have two things: infrastructure and people.  He spearheaded both areas.”

After reading this list of 13 Practices Of Intimidating Leaders, do any describe you?  If so, what changes can you make today to reverse this leadership behavior?

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