Micromanaging Happens
Simon Sinek reminds us, “A boss who micromanages is like a coach who wants to get in the game. Leaders guide and support and then sit back to cheer from the sidelines.”
As I sit with these words, I know I haven’t worked with an executive or entrepreneur, yet, who believes micromanaging is a good idea. At the same time, micromanaging happens.
We know it’s ineffective. We can easily look up the “Five Steps to Break Away from Micromanagement.” So, why is it hard for some of us to abandon these ways? And then, when we finally break free, how does it tend to sneak its way back in?
It’s been my experience when we trip into these kinds of controlling modes that there’s something deeper, within the soup of our being, that’s catching us. It may be fear of conflict, fear of flying to new heights, or that stinking fear of failure (that’s the one that catches me.)
I was recently speaking with a relatively new business owner aware of his struggles with micromanagement as he finds himself constantly checking on statuses, over driving goals to the finish line, and adding too much over-the-shoulder value. Starting up a new business can be a financial strain, employees are not always the right fit, and more than anything you want to get the customer experience just right. These kinds of challenges can stir up the reactive tendencies we might be prone to – like the sense of control we feel through micromanaging.
At the same time, I’ve also worked with seasoned executives who were surprised to find themselves falling back into a stance of micromanagement. As I sat with one executive in deeper reflection of what was snagging him, he realized he wanted his senior management team to step into bigger shoes. He and the team were both struggling with handing off ownership for key strategic initiatives which, now that the business was more mature, would have greater impact if they failed to succeed. These were new moves, both for the business owner and his senior team. That familiar clench of control rose.
Reactive tendencies die a slow death – and sometimes never completely go away. When we are pressed up against new challenges – which happens at every turn when growing a business – we can slip into these old familiar patterns. Understandably, this is what we reach for.
And, honestly, micromanagement can feel like it’s working in the short term. And in some ways, it does. Hyper-alertness can ensure details are caught, quality aligns with expectations, and costs are controlled. However, everyone feels the pain of it over the long haul through lack of scalability in the business, stunted employee development, and personal exhaustion for us business owners prone to over vigilance.
Identifying and attending to our deeper level of angst is often a first step in the path to letting go of controlling ways.
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Leadership Development Practices to help you engage with these concepts in your own leadership development journey:
Micromanagement Self-Observation: As you move through your week pay attention to moments when you feel the pull towards micromanagement – where over attention creeps in on tasks owned by or delegated to others. Pause and see if you can name the emotion gripping you in that moment and feel where that pull is showing up in your body.
