Micro-managers shut off creativity. The uncertainty of downsizing or outsourcing or other job-threatening actions undermines productivity. Executive bonuses seen as disproportionate to the general employee population generate resentment.

These results happen with almost predictable certainty. But far too many leaders ignore them — they don’t explain huge “retention bonuses,” they hire micro-managers, they take no steps to reduce uncertainty — assuming that employees will “get over it,” or that the consequences won’t last.

But what if these reactions run deeper and more powerfully than we think? Consider this perspective: employee perceptions of social situations — whether, for example, they feel they are being treated unfairly, or micromanaged, or even not fully appreciated — trigger threat or reward responses in their brains. Responses that show up loud and clear on functional MRIs.

The result is that, almost automatically, when leadership actions evoke a “threat,” employees will respond by getting into “fight or flight” mode, or simply shutting down, in effect, disengaging from work. With the attendant disastrous business results: productivity goes down the drain, passive resistance becomes the norm, creativity and innovation come to a dead stop.

On the other hand, if leaders evoke a “reward” response, good things happen in an organization: engagement, productivity, innovation, etc.

David Rock, a consultant, author, and social science “translator” – think of him as the as the Malcolm Gladwell of neuroscience research – builds on a broad spectrum of research to make this case, most popularly in his strategy + business article, “Managing with the Brain in Mind.”

Assuming this perspective to be true, there are at least two implications that immediately come to mind.  First, effective leaders must gauge the “threat or reward” impact of their messages and actions on employee perceptions. It’s a filter that can’t be ignored — doing so can clearly have negative business consequences.

Second, this perspective puts the management of employee perceptions at the heart of leadership effectiveness. Since communication is a primary tool of perception management, it can safely be said that there is no effective leadership without effective communication.