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Being a lead, How to keep junior team members in awe?
I mean to make them have feelings of respect and either fear or admiration.

Being a leftist sometimes I easily get friend-zoned by team members which is good in most of the situations, but I need them to follow commands in awe.

Any pointers will be good for me.

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    You can't legislate respect, and a fear-based culture has been routinely proven to be unproductive in office environments. Even military command-and-control is based on earned respect. There's no trick to it; you just need to put in the time and effort to earn it.
    – Todd A. Jacobs ♦
    Commented Oct 31 at 23:13

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"Feelings of respect and either fear or admiration" are not the ingredients for getting teammates to follow commands. This has nothing to do with your political leanings.

Teammates follow commands when:

  • They feel part of a team.
  • They understand what the objectives are, and buy into them.

That's for R&D teams. Probably sports teams, too. If you're running a country and you want to be a dictator, then the rules change.

So, assuming you're in the R&D world, treat your subordinates as members of a team and ensure they understand the goals.

If you then find individuals who are not playing along, talk to them one-on-one and find out what the issue is: do they not feel like they are part of the team or do they not understand or believe in the goals?

Alternatively, you can use awe, fear and threats, but do not be surprised if they plot against you and depose you.

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You earn respect by doing the right things, communicting effectively, and looking after your team. You can't demand respect. You may think you have respect but it is likely to be only to your face, and not true, deep respect. And managing by fear is never a good idea, as people will turn against you and either undermine you, report you for bullying, or walk away.

To communicate effectively you might like to try expressing issues and solutions in a structured way: Step 1 - Explain why the action or activity or change is needed. Step 2 - Paint a vision of where you are trying reach or what you are trying to achieve, and ensure you get buy-in. If you can't get buy-in, go back to step 1. Step 3 - Show that you have the resources and capabilities within the team to achieve the objective. Step 4 - Have a plan and communicate it, even if it is only for the first few steps or at a high level.

And if these don't overcome the objections or negativity, think again about what and how you are communicating, and go through the process again.

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