Therefore, bossing employees around is about as courageous as a high school bully going to an elementary school to pick on other kids. The bottom line is that the human need for self-worth is either fulfilled or neglected depending on the way a task is communicated. Directly telling an employee to do a task is a very condescending act. People do not feel uplifted when they are bossed around. To the contrary, a manager takes away self-worth from employees when this method is utilized.
Employees feel patronized and belittled.
By giving employees respect, the message being sent is that you hold them in high esteem which in turn has a positive effect on their self-worth. Managers should realize that not bossing employees around does not mean that you become a pushover. When managers ask employees to do tasks in a polite manner, the employees will usually respond positively to this gesture of respect. However, in some cases, employees will interpret this politeness as a sign of weakness and ignore the instruction. Employees will most likely do this during the initial stages of employment to test the managers.