Stephanie discussed Frederick the Great and fear. She quoted a line in our book that said; "on page 16, Morgan discusses Frederick the Great's principle that "that the men must be taught to fear their officers more than the enemy."
Stephanie, I was intrigued by your quote regarding people in the military being motivated by fearing their officers more than the enemy. Having spent some time in the military, I feel confident in saying that Frederick the Great's principle is outdated in today's modern military.
One thing I noted when moving from high-school and college athletics to the military was that drill sergeants were out in the midsts of the soldiers far more noticeably than coaches ever were. While in general coaches would sit on the sidelines with a whistle encouraging the players to run faster or perform better, drill sergeants and team leaders were on the range shooting and in the formation running with the troops.
Rather than instilling a sense of fear this style of leadership instills trust. As a soldier I knew my team leaders would be leading the way and fighting by my side. As a team leader I knew my squad leader was going through the door with the squad. And as squad leader I knew my platoon sergeant and platoon leader were able to keep up and lift as much weight and do as much as any other soldier in the platoon because they had done it with us everyday. I think trust in leadership plays a far more important role than fear in today's military.
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