If Yelling Is Out at Work, Why Do These Bosses Still Shout?

Cait Brumme, chief executive of the MassChallenge business accelerator, practices a management philosophy that differs from the serenity-now mantras of many peers.

It can be really productive to get mad. Just make sure you mean to.

In Brumme’s international startup program, entrepreneurs (otherwise known as aspiring bosses) hone their products and leadership skills. Even though yelling is mostly passé as a motivational tool, that doesn’t mean supervisors should never raise their voices, she says. Delivered at the right time, in the right way, an occasional outburst can register as passionate and relatable.

“It’s part of the humanity that employees seem to look for today,” Brumme says.

Hollering in the workplace is often inappropriate—and can cross the line into abusive territory—and many companies have sought to eradicate it. As of last fall, toxic work cultures carry an adverse-health warning from the U.S. Surgeon General. Some workers tell me they shut down when a manager turns up the decibels, whether the message is well-intended or not.

But others say they’d rather get a tongue lashing and move on than deal with a boss who is passive aggressive and resurrects previously unmentioned transgressions long after the fact. Like a fiery politician or coach, a manager who yells can appear committed. Executives are often under pressure and, in the eyes of some employees, can be forgiven for losing their cool—especially if their criticisms are valid and they apologize for blowing up. Managers who are usually even-keeled can sometimes use a rare tirade to punctuate a big moment.

“There’s a difference between hollering about something and hollering at someone,” says Meg Pritchard, founder of Create Communications in Philadelphia, a content-marketing agency for law firms. 

She says she’s had managers in previous jobs who ruled by fear, betting that employees would be at their best when trying to dodge personal insults. If the tactic works, its success is short-lived, in Pritchard’s experience, because people tend to quit or mentally check out when constantly under attack.

Loudly exhorting a team to seize an opportunity or work harder to achieve a major goal can be more effective, Pritchard says, though the strategy is hardly foolproof. MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen

Model behavior…or not

Many high-profile leaders are combustible. President Biden’s approval rating ticked up recently following reports that he profanely chews out aides. Some political analysts suggest that a little fury assures voters that the president is engaged. Football coach Bill Belichick, the NFL’s active leader in career wins, has been seen slamming a phone, tablet and headset (not all at once) on the sideline during games.

But corporate leaders and rank-and-file workers alike warn against viewing political or sports figures as models for the business world. 

“You don’t need adrenaline when you’re hitting the spreadsheets,” says Glen Hannibal,

A football player and wrestler in his youth, Hannibal says he responded well to in-your-face coaching. When the task at hand is slamming into another human, being on edge can help. Plus, he says, he trusted that his coaches cared about him.

Throughout his career as a middle manager at several companies, however, he’s found it hard to process information and understand how he can improve when someone is bellowing. 

What works on the field doesn’t necessarily translate to the office, though certain business luminaries were, or are, famously volatile, notes Deborah Gruenfeld, a social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“Steve Jobs is an example, and people talk about Elon Musk in the same way now,” she says. “There’s a tendency to think that yelling has something to do with their success, but that causal reasoning is very flawed.”

It is possible that the likes of Jobs and Musk succeed despite, not because of, their temperaments, Gruenfeld says. After all, Jobs was once fired from Apple, and Musk’s acquisition of Twitter last year prompted an employee exodus. Being a savant with computers or cars can make up for streams of cuss words. Most managers who think they’re in the same class—and behave accordingly—need a reality check, Gruenfeld says, though a few do deserve sympathy.

Today’s trendy, flat organizations can create environments where people feel they need to adopt domineering personas to advance their ideas because there is no clear hierarchy, according to Gruenfeld. Someone who shouts might not be a jerk; they might be undermined by a corporate structure that gives them a title and a demanding workload but little authority to get the job done.

Silence or violence

Neil DiSpirito doesn’t miss getting yelled at per se. He misses candid communication. 

Now a partner in the Washington office of the law firm Brown Rudnick, he recalls some harsh scoldings in the 1980s, when he was a young attorney. The upside was that he knew exactly what managers were feeling and thinking. Problems didn’t fester in pools of politeness. 

“Ten minutes, then it’s over and we’re back to work and nobody’s re-discussing it,” he says.

Contemporary workplaces are generally kinder, more inclusive and better overall, DiSpirito says. But when bosses try too hard to be nice—and avoid being labeled overbearing—they don’t always offer the constructive criticism employees need to grow. So many bosses bottle up frustrations until they explode that the phenomenon, known as “silence or violence,” has spawned a cottage industry of leadership tests that managers can take to assess their style under stress.

Several managers who object to shouting told me that, to their surprise, they’ve calmly delivered negative feedback to subordinates only to be accused of yelling. Therein lies the greatest obstacle to resolving the question of whether yelling is ever appropriate at work.

We can’t even agree on the meaning of the word.

Write to Callum Borchers at [email protected]