Change is always difficult because the fear of the unknown, uncertainty, and doubt of outcomes is a hard wired trait of humans. If people were trusting there would be no conservative party, the republicans would not exist, and likely chaos would reign.
One way humans try on concepts they fear is making stuff up. Rumor is actually a way humans try on ideas and concepts in guessing the outcome of the future. Far from mere gossip which is talking about the past. Rumors are guessing the future.
What are the likely actions that may impact me?
How will I survive?
What’s the fastest way out of the hotel?
These are things people engage in based on fear. At a healthy level this is basically due diligence. What happens during times of change, strife, or the unknown is fear leaps forward into the emotional response.
This can be difficult for leaders to conceptualize, understand, and empathize with. Especially if the emotional capacity of the leaders isn’t up to that level of introspection. Without a clear, concise, and reinforced many many times vision that fear will manifest itself in people acting out. When you combine that with executives during a time of wholesale change scrambling for stability, you can without reflection end up with less than stellar outcomes.
Of course, the answer to this is principle centered leadership. Easy to say but more difficult to understand. Principle centered leadership requires reflection, shared cultural expectations, and most important of all. Empathy. Steven Covey laid this out in his book focusing on half a dozen or so traits that make up a leader who would not use fear as a tool.
Some see fear as a tool. Fear is a perceived power motivator. The perception of power results in fear to motivate and change the actions of individuals. In a moderately free labor economy simply quitting removes that perception of power and degrades or destroys mission capability. The use of fear puts a business, investment, activity, or task at risk.
What then beyond fear? Loyalty is an impact power motivator. Loyalty the result of trust. The realization of loyalty in a constituency will outlast employers, marriages, familial institutions and the results can change the world. Loyalty is given by individuals. Some might say it is bestowed on a leader. Where as fear is imposed by leaders on their subordinates.
The functions of these two paradigms are rarely a spectrum which is contrary to most leadership books. You can’t have truthful loyalty if you ever engage in fear motivation. To gain loyalty to must be truthful, empathetic, authentic and moderating.
You have to be able to talk about bad outcomes without making them prophetic. Fear of a consequence is diligence. Fear of a leader is a diagnostic of tyranny. The goal of a positive organization is outcomes and planning to build past issues that we fear. Leaders need their subordinates to trust and that is a trait earned through actions and history. For new leaders they should have no expectation of trust. Only good intentions.
I guess you could say.. You can be fearful of an adversary, but you should never be fearful of your leadership. The first case is good sense, and the second case is a requirement to get stuff done.