Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive email to staff lacks the emotional intelligence you need for a business to thrive, psychology experts say

In unsealed emails, Mark Zuckerberg wrote a condescending email to his employees. Psychology experts say this is an example of bad business strategy.

• A Meta lawsuit revealed 2016 emails Mark Zuckerberg sent to his employees.
• In one, he sternly told his team to "figure out" how to get past Snapchat's encryption.
• A therapist shared why this tactic lacks emotional intelligence and can backfire.

According to newly unsealed emails in a lawsuit against Meta, Mark Zuckerberg directed Facebook employees to track encrypted user analytics from Snapchat, a competitor.

Beyond the ethically murky request of getting through Snapchat's encryption, Zuckerberg ended his email with a stern, "You should figure out how to do this."

"The tone of this email is all about the task. No niceties," Dr. Ronald Riggio, a professor of leadership and organizational psychology at Claremont McKenna College, told Business Insider. He said this is "not uncommon" in bosses.

According to licensed therapist Annie Wright, empathic managers should know that such a statement "would likely trigger anxiety and nervousness among employees."

Riggio and Wright shared why curt, shame-based tactics can not only negatively impact employees, but prove to backfire on the business in the long run.

Stress is a murky motivator

The reason bosses send urgent, condescending emails is simple: on the outside, it can look like fear is a strong motivator for some people, Wright said.

She said that for people who are prone to hyperarousal of the nervous system when stressed, "an email like this might generate activity, determination, rapid action to soothe and please the boss." A people-pleaser, for example, might leap into action.

It might achieve immediate results, but lead to high employee turnover. Bad bosses are one of the top reasons people leave their jobs.

Additionally, Wright said that some people might react very differently: by shutting down. They experience hypoarousal of their nervous systems, freezing up under pressure.

All an email like that does is increase the chance of them needing therapy to cope with a toxic work environment.

It creates a workplace culture where it's hard to speak up

Riggio said the bigger issue with Zuckerberg's email is his unethical request — something that the tone of his email made it more difficult to say '"no" to.

He said it can be very hard to stand up to somebody who has as much status and power as Zuckerberg does, especially if their boss is entirely task-focused.

"That's why a lot of leaders get into trouble," he said, referencing the recent Boeing controversy. In creating a strict, top-down, non-collaborative culture, "they do things, and the people following them look the other way or just continue."

Good leaders have more empathy

At face value, Riggio said there's nothing wrong with a "you can figure this out" email — depending on what a boss's relationship is with their reports.

"If the relationship has been one where you challenge your employees to take initiative and come up with novel solutions or be creative with how they're doing the task," he said, then a statement like that could signify trust rather than judgment.

Zuckerberg's unearthed 2016 email comes at a time when more companies are looking for emotionally intelligent leaders who can empathize with employees' emotions and make workplaces more unified and successful.

"A good boss, a good leader should do both: they should get things done, but they should also nurture the people who are following them," Riggio said.