Greed & Fear

The interplay of these two emotions is interesting.

The fact about Greed and Fear is that there is no situation where fear exists without Greed or Desire.

Fear of losing out in career exists only bcoz there is greed of making it to the top. Fear of death exist only bcoz there is a desire to live. Fear of losing a loved one exists only bcoz there is desire to receive love.

Mothers have been using this understanding as their ultimate weapon for ages. My nephew likes to play with cars. He very rarely misbehaves with his mother. But whenever he does, reminding him that he may not get his new car is all it takes to set him straight.

If you look into the history, you will find countless examples where few people have successfully played with these basic emotions to their advantage and have created a mass followings.

In corporate world, successful leaders know and use this trick very well. Incentives, bonuses, esops are just ways of instilling fear by showing greed. Some slog coz they need their jobs and fear losing it...some slog coz that year end bonus is too attractive to miss out on.

Whatever instance you take, the trick to instill fear is simple .... "Breed Greed".