why is this presented as good?

In most cases where a boss pressures employees to do painful things that make them cry and throw up, the boss does not brag about it on the front page of the business section.
http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/01/11/reebok-mission-get-its-employees-fit/p5lRtUS69SDAJj41C38PTK/story.html

I've had bosses who pressured me to overcome physical limitations to DO MORE WORK, and sometimes that hurt me a great deal. I've also had bosses pressure me (or my colleagues) to skimp on safety precautions or rest breaks, and I've seen a lot of bullying around physical weaknesses or phobias that appeared to get in the way of the work. Those bosses pretended they weren't trying to pressure anybody...that they were only concerned with getting the job done, that any effect on employees was incidental. At least in public, they didn't say things like "My idea was to find the people least likely to come," and get them in a position where they say, "I still feel sick to my stomach before I come to classes. But I still come."