---
title: Ban letters of warning. Yes, ban them....
description: Fear does not create commitment. If your default response to underperformance is a formal warning, you are managing from weakness. Here is a better way.
image: https://yvonnejohnston.co.za/hubfs/Article%2011%20controversial.jpg
---
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# Ban letters of warning. Yes, ban them....
April 05, 2026
Yes, ban them. Stop using letters of warning in your company.
I am on a mission to end what I believe is an ineffective, outdated, and ultimately weak way of managing people. Ask yourself honestly: would *you* feel motivated to work harder, smarter, or better after receiving a letter of warning? Of course not. Fear does not create commitment. It creates compliance at best, and disengagement, resentment, or quiet sabotage at worst.
No one does their best work with an axe hanging over their neck. Fear erodes trust, initiative, and ownership. If you want people to care, threatening them is the least effective strategy you could choose.
So how do we change this deeply entrenched habit?
It starts with hiring. Most organisations dramatically underestimate how strategic hiring needs to be. Too often, CVs are filtered mechanically, shortlists are rushed, and the assumption is that *someone* must be hired. Stop. Have you truly considered the attitude, capability, values, and cultural fit required? When someone is hired, are expectations of delivery, and consequences for non-delivery, absolutely clear from day one?
Issuing a letter of warning is often a symptom, not a solution. It usually signals a failure earlier in the process, unclear expectations, insufficient support, poor leadership, or avoidance of difficult conversations. Before reaching for a formal warning, ask: does this person need clarity, training, feedback, or guidance? And perhaps more uncomfortably, who are *you* being as a leader that people are not delivering?
I challenge leaders at every level to rethink this impersonal, sometimes cruel, and often lazy approach to people management. You are dealing with lives and livelihoods. Leadership carries responsibility. Your primary role is not control, it is growth. Are you creating an environment where people can succeed?
And yes, sometimes people do not rise to the challenge. That is their responsibility, and there is a fair and respectful process for exit. But most people want to contribute. Most people want to do good work. It is the leader’s job to create the conditions that make that possible.
Questions:
When someone isn’t delivering, do I default to control, or do I first examine clarity, support, and my own leadership behaviour?
What systems or habits in my organisation quietly replace conversation with compliance,and what is that costing us in engagement and trust?
If my role as a leader were measured solely by the growth of my people, what would need to change in how I lead tomorrow?
Yvonne Johnston
Leadership & Self-Mastery Coach
Yvonne Johnston is a Master Coach, former CEO of Brand South Africa, and Harvard speaker with over 40 years of leadership experience. She works with senior executives and individuals ready to get clear and make change that sticks.
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