The Idea: Are you a micromanager or just a bit of a control freak? No one ever wants to be considered an oppressive person. Most people who struggle with micromanagement don’t readily admit that they control others. Micromanagement like any other compulsion or addiction is rooted in control, weakness and fear: fear of losing control, fear of looking bad, fear of failure or fear of feeling less than everyone else. An organization strangled by a controlling leader will never realize its full potential. Smothering, controlling leaders limit creativity, self-expression and innovative thinking. Here is a clue. If someone says, “I am not trying to micromanage,” then they probably are.
Have others in your sphere ever told you, you are guilty of:
- Intervening too often,
- Too many tracking forms,
- Too many update meetings,
- Setting way too many objectives,
- An inability to admit mistakes, show weaknesses or receive candid feedback.
- Always having to find miscues, mistakes or errors with others.
Micromanagers suffer from internal fear. Most of the time this behavior is rooted in deep-seeded insecurities. If this is you, you are not alone. But you have to change because you won’t retain talent. You frustrate others and probably blame them instead of looking in the mirror. You may present a Teflon image, but you know the truth.
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. Leaders that thrive with others are very adaptable and they possess multiple communication styles allowing them to optimize their personal and professional associations.
With highly personable people they build relationships to get the best out of the relationship. When they are working with action oriented people they are very concise and to the point. With logical or disciplined mates they are very linear in their communications. And with high vision people they utilize stories and casting vision to optimize the discussion.
They don’t just rely on control to create an outcome. They adapt their personal style to best align and support the needs of the individual based on the person’s preference. They are very flexible or versatile and control is not one of their communication styles.
Great teams are ecosystems: communal, service oriented, inspired by vision, fully empowered and inspired by change.
You can create this type of culture or you can accept a call from your assistant who asks you the following question. “Are you coming to the office tomorrow, or will you be micromanaging from home.”
