And conciliation means weakness every time.

Your lumber-jack likes to be met front to front, one strong man to another.

As you value your authority, the love of your men, and the completion of your work, keep a bluff brow and an unbending singleness of purpose.
Radway's peculiar temperament rendered him liable to just this mistake.
It was so much easier for him to do the thing himself than to be harsh to the point of forcing another to it, that he was inclined to take the line of least resistance when it came to a question of even ordinary diligence.

He sought often in his own mind excuses for dereliction in favor of a man who would not have dreamed of seeking them for himself.

A good many people would call this kindness of heart.