The Ugly Truth about Coercive Power
- Sarah F. O'Brien, LCSW, LCSW-C, CCATP, CTMH
- Mar 14
- 5 min read
Coercive power. Coercive control. Coercion in the workplace. Workplace intimidation. All interchangeable terms to describe an absolutely toxic way of leading and/or toxic workplace culture.
Definition of Coercion
Most organizations, especially for-profit businesses, operate using a hierarchical structure to leadership and management. Because of this, there are many opportunities for misuse or abuse of power. Workplace coercion, also called workplace intimidation, happens when a person in a position of authority uses their power as leverage. By pulling rank, they influence the behavior of those within their power. And it’s not pretty, and doesn’t benefit anyone.
Solid definition of Coercion
• Occurs when a person in a position of authority uses their power to influence behavior or force compliance.
• Can involve threats, intimidation, or punishment.
• It’s an attempt to control a person’s behavior with force or manipulation.
• Can create an unfavorable work environment and impact employees and organizations.
• Coercive management styles do not allow employees to share in decision-making.
In the workplace, coercion can be used to force employees to behave a certain way or do certain things. It’s an unhealthy workplace dynamic that can have serious negative consequences for an individual’s well-being and mental health. And for the organization as a whole. People in lower-status positions are unlikely to retaliate against coercion. They fear losing their job or receiving negative backlash or a negative performance review. Victims of coercion and intimidation are highly likely to develop anxiety around work. They often seek ways to avoid the workplace as much as possible for fear of mistreatment. Which makes perfect sense! Who wants to go to work when they know they’ll be mistreated and bullied, basically?
If coercive power is being used in a workplace setting, then, by default, that workplace setting is not safe; it’s not psychologically safe, for sure, and it’s not physically safe because so many negative health/body issues can result from high-stress coercive control environments.
This should be a problem for everyone. However, we know that coercive control is used not only in workplaces, but also in government, in healthcare, in the military, and in politics. Even folks that disagree with coercive control will tolerate it and submit to it because 1) they feel like they have no choice 2) it’s like this in many places 3) it has become the accepted norm, especially if you are NOT the person with power, or in a leadership position. This makes me so angry I can’t even describe it! I am not okay with the use of coercive control in the workplace (or anywhere), and at the very least I can write this article highlighting the negative impact of this type of leadership.
Coercive Leadership
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In the workplace, coercive power can be exercised by managers or leaders who use the threat of demotion, dismissal, poor evaluations, or other disciplinary actions to enforce rules or achieve desired behaviors. While it can be effective in the short term, reliance on coercive power can lead to resentment, low morale, and reduced engagement among employees.
Think less “team leader” and more “playground bully with a corner office.”
Coercive leadership has the following traits:
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Types of Coercion
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When Coercive Leadership is Illegal
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Impact of use of coercion in a workplace environment
The negative impact left in the wake of coercive power and control is alarming. People working under this kind of leadership are not well. Folks are anxious, not sleeping, developing health and body issues, have low self-esteem and self-worth, and I can guarantee not performing well at work because of the use of this kind of leadership.
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Examples of Coercive Control at Work
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Both of my examples are most definitely forms of coercive power being used at work by a person in a position of authority and leadership to get me, the person not in power or with any authority, to do something I was not comfortable doing. I have like a million more of these examples from my nearly 9 years working in public mental health agencies. The leadership is abysmal and the coercion runs rampant. The number of times I had to advocate for my own safety or ethical care is actually insane to me. I’m talking about MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE workplaces, y’all. Yet the mental, nor the physical, wellbeing or safety of the worker, the provider, the case manager, the clinician was prioritized or even cared about. (Did I mention I only ever made less than $50k/year at these jobs? Yea. It’s even more egregious that this would be asked of anyone in any workplace for such little pay. Although, it’s still not okay, even if they pay you a lot.).
Types of Coercive Behavior
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Both types of coercion can absolutely blow a crater-sized hole into someone’s self-esteem and mental health. Psychological safety needs to be JUST AS IMPORTANT as physical safety at work. If there is worker’s comp for physical harm and injury on the job, then the same SHOULD BE true for incurring any mental/emotional harm and injury on the job.
Forms of Coercive Power
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Effective Leadership, Good Leadership, Trauma Informed Leadership
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Here’s how your HR department can create a positive work environment:
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Some traits that promote coercive power:
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All of this just screams CHANGE to me. We need change. We need new leadership. We need new systems. We need to actually give a shit about people to improve anything in this world. Even if we can’t change the world all at once, or even right now. We can change workplaces. We can change individual workplace policies. We can change who we promote into positions of leadership. We can change HOW WE TREAT the people that work for us.
Let me ask, would YOU prefer to work in a place that REFUSES to use coercive control?
Yeah. I thought so. Me too.
So, what can YOU do about it from your corner of the world? What can YOU do differently right now? I’ll tell you one extremely helpful thing, even if it doesn’t change systems or leaders. YOU can increase your emotional intelligence which WILL improve interactions and interpersonal relationships. And THAT is important even if it doesn’t feel like enough. It’s not nothing! And something is certainly better than doing nothing, wouldn’t you agree?
Check out some other articles I’ve written about effective leadership and emotional intelligence.
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