LEADERSHIP BY CARE OR MANAGEMENT BY FEAR

By Gitte Sparsø

Writing this book has been on my mind for many years.
The book is based on my experience with a particular profile type I call bandits, who are destructive to, among other things, a healthy work environment.
They move freely on land and in cities, in companies and in private life. Despite their destructive behavior towards others, they often manage to fly under the radar, where they create fear, particularly in the workplace, with their manipulative and toxic behavior.
A bandit can be your boss, colleague, or employee who manipulates solely for personal gain, at the expense of others, and can thus break down other people through psychological violence. If fear has already infected your workplace, it often requires great courage and endurance to stand up against the bandit or bandits.
Only through sharing knowledge can we quell the power of taboos. Often, when we have received the necessary knowledge and insight, we are no longer as fearful, and the bandit can no longer spread their poison. As Plato said: "Understanding spreads slowly, but it spreads nonetheless."
As a curiosity, four top executives from Danish business tell their story of encountering a bandit and the ser

• Language: English
• Publisher: Saxo Publish
• Release date: Mar 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9788740402117

Book preview

Leadership by care

or

Management by fear

Leadership by care

or

Management by fear

Gitte Sparsø

Denmark

Author: Gitte Sparsø

© Gitte Sparsø ISBN: 9788740402117

Prologue – The intention of writing this book

Writing this book has been on my mind for many years.

My intention with this book is to focus on a taboo subject that is often kept hidden due to fear.

The title of this book, Leadership by Care or Management by Fear, came to me quite naturally when I finally decided, now is the time for me to write the book that has been on my mind for many years. The book is based on my experience with a certain profile type I call bandits. These are characters who have behavior that the rest of us find out of character, and they destroy, among other things, the healthy working environment at the workplace.

I have my experience with bandits who create fear, chaos, and insecurity in the workplace, partly from my daily work, partly as a coach, and as an employee, where I have had experiences that have made an indelible impression on me.

This book is about when your boss, colleague, or employee has a character deviant behavior and personality that is harmful to the environment. I call people with these traits ‘bandits.’ They spread fear, create chaos, and confusion. This topic is often hidden and taboo, partly because the person or those who are exposed to the bandit's deviant behavior at the workplace may fear, for example, losing their job. Bandits move freely on land and in the city, in companies and in private life, despite their devastatingly destructive behavior towards other people, they often manage to go under the radar, where with their manipulative toxic behavior, they create fear and chaos, among other things in the workplace.

Unfortunately, bandits often get away with the consequences that their behavior and actions have brought about, and they always blame others when something goes badly, goes wrong, gives bad results, or they are actually caught lying. If the bandit is pushed into a corner, where they can in no way escape or blame others, this comment is usual from the bandit: It was a mistake, A mistake was made. You will rarely, if ever, hear the bandit say I was wrong or The mistake is mine. Never.

I find this, among other things, in connection with my work as a management consultant, where I advise managers whose well-being and mental health can be put under severe pressure. This is because they are exposed to, for example, colleagues, employees, and or a boss who creates insecurity and fear through targeted, cunning manipulation and psychological violence. These conditions often create stress for the aggrieved.

There is chaos where there are bandits, and when the bandit is exposed or discovered in, for example, lying, they often fly on to the next business or they live quietly for a while, after which they pop up again and pretend that everything has been forgotten. It amazes me again and again how bandits manage to get employment in other companies or organizations once they are exposed in their previous workplace or position.

But bandits have an excellent ability to be very persuasive and articulate their own abilities and thus seduce another workplace or position.

In this book, I will describe situations that are fictional but inspired by real events. Should you feel hurt, insulted, discriminated against, or similar, that is in no way my intention.

Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity, I have chosen to describe in a gender. If you experience that it hurts you or that you feel violated, discriminated against, or similar, it is in no way my intention.

With this book, it is my intention to give you concrete tools for how you can lay out a strategy so that you escape free and out of the bandit's clutches.

Take care.

Heart, Love, and Light

Gitte Sparsø

Summer 2021

Loving and heartfelt thanks to our two

fantastic and inspiring sons

Philip Sparsø and Martin Sparsø

Thanks

Thank you, dear Helle Demsgård, for your always insightful and enriching presence. Thank you for reading and editing this book.

I extend my gratitude to four top managers in Danish business for sharing your stories. Your narratives can assist other individuals who have experienced or are experiencing similar situations.

And finally, a heartfelt thank you to the talented photographer, Hanne Loop, for your unique sense of authentic photography.

The author

Gitte Sparsø is a prominent pioneer in spiritual and intuitive management in Denmark, boasting a robust background with extensive experience in leadership, business development, strategy, and management at both executive and board levels. Additionally, she serves as a coach and sparring partner.

Gitte also offers individual leadership development courses.

Previously, she held the positions of business manager and day-to-day manager at an office hotel hosting nearly 100 smaller companies.

Gitte is also recognized from appearances on TV, radio, and other media platforms, and she is the author of several books on leadership and personal development.

Chapter 1 – Healthy and unhealthy

A concise overview of stress in Denmark, sourced from www.stressforeningen.dk:

- Every day, 35,000 Danes are on sick leave due to a psychologically poor working environment, leading to conditions such as stress, burnout, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms.

- Approximately 430,000 Danes experience symptoms of severe stress daily.

- In 2010, around 12% of Danes aged 15 and above reported feeling very nervous or stressed, totaling approximately 500,000 individuals.

- Between 250,000 and 300,000 Danes suffer from severe stress.

- About 500,000 Danes feel burnt out at work due to stress.

- Each year, approximately 1,400 Danes die from mental work stress, partly caused by stress.

- There are 30,000 hospitalizations per year due to stress.

- One in every five individuals who become ill from stress risks losing their job.

- Approximately 3,000 people take early retirement each year due to stress.

- Untreated stress contributes to over half of all cases of depression and anxiety disorders.

Financial Costs:

- Stress-related sick leave costs Danish society DKK 27 billion annually.

- There are 1.5 million additional days of absence due to illness each year because of stress.

Source: www.stressforeningen.dk

Unhealthy behavior

I have witnessed how a few individuals in workplaces can inflict significant harm on their surroundings, resorting to tactics such as psychological violence and manipulation.

I am aware of employees who became incapacitated and never reintegrated into the labor market after falling into the grasp of such individuals.

These fearmongers have profound consequences for our society, and at the present moment, despite being an evidence-based society, we unfortunately lack detailed metrics to fully gauge the extent of their impact.

In my experience, a larger portion of the aforementioned 35,000 daily absences or sick reports, related to stress in the Danish labor market, can be attributed, in part, to the repercussions of a working environment burdened by fear and manipulation.

Furthermore, these fearmongers also create stressful situations within their private spheres.

Love or Fear

Allow me to share this ancient tale to remind you never to allow others to instill