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Dear Quota Team, 
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I’ve been in sales since the age of twenty. Since then, I’ve pretty much seen it all and done it all. I’m forty-four now, and am pretty good at dealing with the various ups and downs that come with this business. But there’s something that’s been really bugging me, and I wanted to get an outside opinion on it. 
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My sales manager is about the same age as me. We actually have a pretty similar background in general. He is an OK guy overall, but I wouldn’t consider him a friend or anything like that. 
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The problem I have is that he uses the termination of people’s employment as a threat. For example, during team meetings, if our numbers aren’t great, he’ll say something like, “If we can’t step it up, management is gonna look at cutting some of the sales team.” He says it casually during one on ones too, things like, “If you want to keep this job, you have to produce.” 
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We’ve let some people go before, but I wouldn’t say the turnover here is any higher than anywhere else I’ve worked. It might even be lower. But I’ve worked for probably close to a dozen companies, and not a single sales manager I’ve ever had has used the threat of firing people as frequently as this guy does. Is it just me, or is this really bad management? 
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Confused in Texas  
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Dear Confused, 
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Your twenty-four years in sales have served you well, because it’s not just you, it is really bad management. While what your sales manager is saying might not seem like a big deal to some, let’s call out what he’s actually doing: he is holding your ability to feed yourself and your family over your head in order to get you to do what he wants you to do. 
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Now, it’s impossible to know what’s going on inside his head. He might not be a malicious person, and might just be saying this stuff because he doesn’t know any better. But there’s no doubt that what he’s saying is wrong, immature, and an example of bad leadership. 
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So, now that we agree that what he’s doing is bad, the question becomes: what should you do about it? If it bothers you as much as you say, you could pull him aside the next time he says it and politely explain how you feel (definitely don’t call him out in front of the rest of the sales team). The other option is to just ignore it and chalk it up as the cost of working for your employer. 
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But no matter what you choose to do, you can be sure that your manager is in the wrong. Good leaders inspire, they don’t threaten or blackmail. And if your manager happens to be a subscriber (feel free to send him a link), then maybe you won’t have to worry about this happening ever again.