The Kindness Gap: How Fear-Based Leadership Blocks Trust, Courage, and Innovation at Work You don’t need a toxic boss to create a culture of fear. In fear-based environments, people learn quickly that honesty has consequences, and silence feels safer. When that happens, creativity shrinks. Meetings get quieter. People start saying what they think leaders want to hear instead of what the organization needs to hear.Over time, truth becomes the biggest casualty of fear, and inno
