No two people are the same, which is why they might be motivated by very different things. While some are encouraged by nice words, others need tough love to really affect them.

That might be one of the reasons the internet was seemingly split by the sales trainer Andy Elliott and his way of motivating fellow salespeople. In his videos, he shares insight and tips that have no sugar coating, typically causing quite a buzz in the comments. One of them, pointing out that Elliott only hires people with six packs, seems to have really divided the online community into camps about it.

Most workplaces have certain requirements, yet they are rarely related to one’s abs

Image credits: Andre Taissin (not the actual photo)

Sales trainer Andy Elliott went viral for demanding that his employees have six packs

Image source: Andy Elliott

I’m going to tell you this – my entire company, my entire team – if you don’t have a six-pack, you don’t work for us.

Image source: Andy Elliott

No, I know. I know. It’s called a standard. How about we raise them? How about we raise them? How about we raise them? How about you guys quit getting civilized and you guys quit settling?

Image source: Andy Elliott

Image source: Andy Elliott

You know, there’s some people in this room that said, ‘I would sue my company if they told me I had to have a six-pack.’ We know you would. That conversation was for the one-percenters. That wasn’t for you.

Elliott’s video split the internet users into camps

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People have varying opinions about Elliott’s ways of motivating salespeople

The US-based sales trainer Andy Elliott started his career in the field as a car salesman. After reportedly reaching the record of the highest earnings by a car salesman in the country (from 2011 to 2013), he now shares his knowledge and experience training other salespeople. Yet despite a fan base of over 560k followers on Instagram alone, Elliott receives both praise and criticism for his ways of coaching.

Some internet users find the salesman’s ways to be controversial at best, while others applaud his approach to encouraging others to strive for excellence. The latter might consider his methods to be tough love in a way, which balances on a thin line between being motivational or detrimental. Shape suggested that it depends on how tough love is implemented as a motivational tactic.

The CEO of The Beachbody Company, Carl Daikeler, told Shape that tough love can be detrimental when it makes the goal more important than empathy or anything else, for that matter. “That’s when it can be destructive because life is unpredictable and there needs to be room for empathy—tough love without empathy can ultimately crush motivation and do more damage than good,” he pointed out.

Dietitian and nutritionist Rachel Naar emphasized that nowadays, influencers and motivational gurus often promote tough love as a tool to achieve success and personal growth, which might not always be effective. In addition to that, there’s also social pressure and cultural norms, which portray “toughness and firmness as desirable traits and equate them with success and strength”, this way contributing to the widespread belief in the effectiveness of tough love.

Image credits: Victor Freitas (not the actual photo)

Setting a bar that’s difficult to reach can be a major cause of employee stress

“Tough love is particularly destructive when it’s weaponized to criticize a person rather than positively align their actions with their goals,” Daikeler told Shape. “A trainer can think they are giving their client [motivational] tough love, when in fact what they are doing is reinforcing a low self-image.”

In addition to forming a negative image of oneself, motivational tactics similar to Elliott’s idea to only hire people with toned abs can lead to creating unrealistic standards. Even though some people in the comments mocked them—one stating that he only hires people when they have a 10 pack and they’re 260 lbs of muscle, for example—unrealistic standards at work are a major source of employee stress nowadays.

Business News Daily reported that nearly 60% of workers in the US feel stressed, with unrealistic expectations and a lack of work-life balance being the main reasons why. The numbers are far less surprising considering that some people in upper management can be extremely achievement-oriented, which often makes them chronically dissatisfied. Harvard Business Review pointed out that setting a high bar for employees is a good thing; however, setting one so high they can never reach it can result in negative outcomes. According to research, over a third of executives fail because of their tendency towards perfection.

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The extent to which Elliott set the bar for his employees seemingly split the internet users, who shared their opinions in the comments under his video.

Some people supported the trainer’s views

Yet the majority seemed appalled by his ideas

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