Discipline Is Not Leadership
And It’s Driving People Out of the Military and Emergency Services
If you use the discipline system to manage performance, you are the problem.
Not the staff.
Not the culture.
Not the younger generation.
You.
That sentence will upset some people.
Good. It needs to.
Because across the military and emergency services, discipline systems are being misused as a management shortcut. And the damage is deep, widespread, and accelerating.
Discipline Was Never Meant for This
Discipline systems were designed for serious misconduct.
Dangerous behaviour.
Unethical actions.
Clear breaches of standards.
They were never designed to replace conversations.
They were never designed to manage fatigue, workload, or system failure.
They were never designed to build trust.
Yet that is exactly how they are being used.
Instead of a conversation, there is paperwork.
Instead of coaching, there is a notice.
Instead of leadership, there is fear.
That is not strength.
That is avoidance.
The Moment Trust Breaks
When discipline is used as a performance tool, something fundamental breaks.
Trust goes first.
Once people believe the discipline system will be used against them for everyday performance issues, behaviour changes immediately.
They stop speaking up.
They stop admitting mistakes.
They stop flagging risks.
Not because they don’t care.
But because mistakes now feel dangerous.
And in the military and emergency services, silence kills.
This is not an opinion.
It is a predictable human response to threat.
Most “Performance Issues” Are Not Misconduct
This is the part that gets ignored.
Most performance issues are not about attitude or effort.
They are about:
Fatigue
Chronic short staffing
Unrealistic workloads
Training gaps
Broken systems
Conflicting priorities
Discipline systems do not care about context.
They flatten everything into blame.
So instead of asking,
“What’s making this hard right now?”
Leaders ask,
“How do I protect myself?”
That is where leadership turns inward.
And rotten.
Operational Amnesia Is Everywhere
Many leaders suffer from what can only be described as operational amnesia.
They forget what it was like on the floor.
They forget the pressure.
They forget the pace.
They forget the chaos.
Or worse, they remember it incorrectly.
They say things like:
“We had it worse.”
“It’s how it’s always been”
“That’s just how it is.”
“We survived.”
But the environment has changed.
Today’s workforce is dealing with:
Chronic understaffing
Relentless demand
Endless documentation
Public scrutiny
Media scrutiny
Lack of support from the judicial system
Zero recovery time
The scale and persistence of pressure is different.
Instead of recognising that, pressure is pushed downward.
Not absorbed.
Not buffered.
Just passed on.
This Is How Organisations Eat Their Own
Here is the real pattern.
People are exhausted.
They make errors.
They miss admin steps.
They fall short on minor requirements.
Instead of a conversation, they get discipline.
Instead of support, they get scrutiny.
Instead of coaching, they get fear.
Morale collapses.
Trust disappears.
Good people disengage.
And then leadership acts confused when staff start leaving.
People do not leave because the job is hard.
They leave because the system feels hostile.
They leave because they feel unsupported, unseen, and unsafe.
The Cost Is Not Abstract
Agencies are haemorrhaging staff.
Experience is walking out the door.
Mentors are gone.
Capability is thinning.
And the response is often more control.
More discipline.
More rules.
More compliance.
That does not stabilise a workforce.
It accelerates collapse.
You cannot discipline your way out of a staffing crisis.
What Leadership Actually Looks Like
Good leadership is not complicated.
But it is uncomfortable.
It looks like early conversations.
Private conversations.
Respectful conversations.
It looks like curiosity before judgment.
It looks like asking,
“What’s getting in the way?”
It looks like acknowledging pressure.
It looks like protecting your people upward, not pushing pressure downward.
And it looks like using discipline rarely, carefully, and transparently.
Discipline should end behaviour that is dangerous or unethical.
It should never be used to compensate for poor management.
A Simple Test for Leaders
Before you reach for discipline, ask yourself:
Have I clearly explained expectations?
Have I had a proper conversation?
Have I listened to barriers?
Have I offered support?
Have I followed up?
If the answer is no, discipline is not leadership.
It is avoidance.
The Brutal Truth
If discipline is your first response, you are not managing.
You are controlling.
And control feels safe to insecure leaders.
But control destroys trust.
Trust is operational currency.
Once it is gone, no policy brings it back.
Right now, too many organisations are spending trust like it is unlimited.
It isn’t.
Why This Matters
This is not about being soft.
It is about being effective.
Pressure plus fear creates withdrawal.
Withdrawal creates attrition.
This is biology and psychology, not weakness.
If you are in leadership and this stings, sit with it.
Defensiveness is easy.
Reflection is harder.
And if you are on the floor feeling crushed by this system, you are not imagining it.
The system is failing you.
Final Word
Leadership is not about covering yourself.
It is about carrying responsibility.
If that feels too heavy, leadership might not be the role you should be in.
Because the cost of getting this wrong is not morale.
It is people.
Hear me speak about this, including my own examples
A Healthy Shift Podcast - Episode [341] - Discipline is not Leadership
About Roger Sutherland
As a coach and advocate for shift workers, my goal is to provide practical, evidence-based strategies that empower individuals to thrive in their roles. By understanding and addressing the challenges around shift work, shift workers can achieve better health outcomes and lead more fulfilling lives both on and off the job.
Note:
I also run Shift Work Nutrition, Health & Wellbeing Seminars for 24/7 environments.
