Agreed, I am completely uncomfortable with that. Once you indicate to someone that you do not trust them, why should they trust you?
The sad thing is that he is actually sounding reasonable to himself (and to others I am sure), because he is advocating against an even worse behaviour (like yelling at people).
Also, how to deal with children is not a good framework for how to deal with adults
Agreed, but it's not like his childrearing advice is that great either. Yeah, you can threaten to take the lego away from two fighting children, but it's better to teach them the skills to negotiate possession.
I agree with you on this but I see a distinction between being 'cold and distant' vs 'not chummy'. The latter seems appropriate but the former seems counter productive (at least it would be with me).
My impression is that you mean the latter but I can see how the original post might be read as meaning the former.
Also, how do deal with children is not a good framework for how to deal with slightly older children.
These people who treat high-school children (ie, teenagers) like elementary school children are just insane. They’re not, and it hurts everyone.
So his expected and desired situation outcome was different from the actual outcome and he's disappointed, or angry, or whatever. Why does that give him the right to 'punish' someone else? His inaccurate mental model (based on a poor understanding of his employee) -> his problem.
What if his 'punishment' doesn't work because the employee isn't "crushed", what if the employee is indifferent to being shouted at or distanced?
The only thing which matters is how to alter things so it's better next time That's it. That might mean process changes, or not giving that responsibility to that employee, or replacing that employee. Anything else is railing against the unchangable past.
(Also, how to deal with children is not a good framework for how to deal with adults).