A sort of management philosophy

It is well known that leading men in a battle is a daunting task. What is not so well understood is that commanding a large unit is also a challenging assignment, even during the peace time. 
In 1988, before commanding a base workshop, I went over to Chandigarh, where my brother was commanding a base repair depot of the Air Force. He sat there, completely relaxed. There was no paper in the trays marked "IN" and "OUT". There was a buzz on the intercom. My brother took something which looked like a holy book out of his drawer and peered into it intently. The officer who entered was disposed of in just a couple of minutes, quite satisfied.
We set off for a 'darshan' of the unit. In most cases, he let his officers speak. He would then say just a sentence or two but his tone was different each time. At one workstation, we saw a tall officer, who had lots of charts and diagrams. My brother gave a cold look and said, "the gyro-stabiliser which failed in the flight test last month was overhauled here. If the pilot had not been alert, you would have his blood on your hands!"
At another shop, my brother noticed a junior officer hiding behind a chopper. He gave the meek man a light hug and asked about his ailing wife. When we left, he clicked his heels and produced one of the smartest salutes I have ever seen.
When we returned, I asked him what his job as the Commander was. He thought for a while and then he shared his "Phook Theory" with me.
"This unit is like a vehicle. These officers are the 'wheels'. So when I see someone down and out, I boost his spirit and if I find a brash officer, he filled air in his cheeks and made a hissing sound, 'Phusshh…'The tough part is to keep my own 'phook' at the right level".
Once again, there was a buzz on the intercom. My brother told the PA to ask the officer to wait for a few minutes. He took a sip of water, and again opened his holy book.   When I insisted on seeing it, he took out a mirror. His reply was simple. "My words are less important than the look in my eyes and that can only happen if the look on my face is sanguine and upbeat".
Encouraged by the results, I shared this management philosophy with my friends.  The feedback was positive, and so I began to believe that between me and my brother, we had discovered a new management 'mantra'.
And then one day, the earth began to rumble. A very dear friend, who had taken these dictums as gospel truth, rang up to say that the theory had failed completely. My enquiries revealed that there was a near mutiny in his unit. I requested a colleague to tell me as many details as he could get and then I sent the case study to the author of the theory for advice. The reply came by the return post. In a tersely worded note he wrote:
"Tell your friend to check his pressure gauge. He seems to be deflating people who have nothing left in their lungs and pumping those who were already on the verge of bursting!"