Is it a good thing to be scared of your supervisor?

In class, we discussed the roles and characteristics of a good leader. On my externship site I was extremely lucky to have an excellent leader as the executive chef. From the accolades alone, you can tell he was doing something right. Everyday, my chef would enter the kitchen and shake hands with every person in our kitchen. Having such a large staff, this took him quite awhile, but he always would make the rounds to ask how everyone’s day was. Even the Dominican dishwashers were included in his morning greetings, where he would say, “hola” and ask them what music was in the headphones they were listening to on their way in. He truly tried to make everyone feel at home. Although, he seemed to be the six-foot four, super hero in whites, everyone does have their flaws. His are still questionable to me.

As welcoming as he was, there was always a sense of urgency to check on your own work when he walked through the door. Whether this was to impress him, I’m not so certain. It almost seemed as though people bustled around to make sure their mis en place wouldn’t get them screamed at and “sent to the corner”. It seemed that chef was not hesitant to embarrass the staff in front of everyone. This brings to my attention the question: is it okay for employees to be slightly nervous around their supervisor? It was beneficial in the sense that everyone was on point while he was there. It brought up standards because you knew anything less than perfect wouldn’t be accepted. However, if something was wrong it was on you to fix it, without help. It also brought a level of anxiety to the kitchen to quickly scrub down, check your work, and perfect every inch of your station and appearance. I am yet to decide on my opinions of this technique in management because both sides seem to have their positives and negatives. Maybe other people can comment or have similar experiences?