When it comes to leadership, coercion is the first refuge of the lazy.

Last week’s column put forth this modest little aphorism, and its proof:

• In healthy organizations, excellent employees, individually and working in teams, presented with a terrific idea and a well-thought-out plan for implementing it, will want to make it real and will work hard to do so.
• Therefore, in healthy organizations, coercion, threats, and punishments are, at best, superfluous.
• Therefore, if employees who are presented with an idea and a plan don’t want to make it real and/or aren’t willing to work hard to do so … if, in other words, coercion, threats, and punishments are necessary … then the organization is unhealthy in one or more of these respects:

Ever since Samuel Johnson famously proposed that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” last-refuge quotes, such as Isaac Asimov’s “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent,” have been popular.

I have to follow Ambrose Bierce’s lead on this subject, though: In both cases, far from being the last refuges, they are the first.

Which leads to this week’s attempt at aphoristic immortality: “Coercion is the first refuge of the lazy.” (Yes, I do recognize that Freecell is the real first refuge. Chalk it up to artistic license.)