Many business owners believe that the best way to get things done is by becoming enfants terribles who can scare and intimidate their employees into doing what they have to do.

After all, isn’t that what Steve Jobs (Apple) and Ken Lay (Enron… before they crashed) and a host of other CEOs of successful firms do? Namely, launch verbal tirades at people who don’t do what they are expected to do, thus humiliating them into doing their jobs right?

True. And boy, it can really be effective. The premise for this strategy is that many employees simply have no idea about what they are capable of accomplishing, so sometimes a little drill camp Sargeantry can go a long way in making them perform beyond their normal limits.

Here’s the catch: “Drill Camp” management works when the company is worth fighting and staying for–despite the verbal “abuse.” This is why people who were made to feel like worms under Ken Lay’s management still chose to stay on at Enron… because the perks were just too attractive (again, until they blew up).

Ditto with Apple. Despite the verbal tirades of a young Steve Jobs, Apple employees stuck it out. Because, heck, it was such an honor to be working for a company like Apple. And the creative environment helped too.

The problem comes in when a managerial tyro starts throwing his or her weight around… and the employees feel that there is nothing else in the company that’s worth staying for anyway. THAT’s when Drill Camp management becomes a problem. Especially when the people get tired of living in fear and start marching off one by one, even in the midst of crucial projects.

The moral of this story? If you plan to subject your organization to a pressure-cooker of emotions, then first make sure that the company is worth staying for in the first place.

And if your business has nothing exceptional to offer your employees in terms of compensation or working environment, then it’s best to just bite the bullet and try to be a pleasant but firm manager in order to keep them there.