Control and Insecurity: The Seeds of Micromanagement

Micromanaging means controlling every aspect of a situation, project, or task with excessive attention to small details and little trust in others. 

Now, for those of you in class today, raise your hand if you like to micromanage?  Now, those who have been micromanaged?  Let’s just giggle thinking about the number of hands raised in each scenario. 😊   

It’s a sad reality that some leaders don’t necessarily like to micromanage as the effort to control every aspect of anything is exhausting.  This points to a leader’s lack of trust in the team and an overall sense of insecurity they carry.  What we need leaders to do is to trust team members until given a reason not to.  

When projects and priorities are sidelined, a leader should ask about timelines, goal achievement, and obstacles to securing a win for the individual, department, or organization.  That is not micromanagement, that is leadership with accountability.  A healthy leader will maintain an appropriate distance so that individuals and groups of team members learn the value of exercising their skill set as professionals.  That protects them from the backlash of a leader's insecurity or micromanaging efforts altogether.   

A leader with micromanaging tendencies can channel those efforts for good to focus on things that truly matter to them leading the organization.  A leader should not task themselves with all levels of the organization as their involvement can stifle innovation, timeliness in completing projects, and the generous creativity of the team.  

As an example, I took a desire to micromanage and focused on three areas. 

- Marketing: I care deeply about the community message, branding, and graphics of the organization.  

- Messaging: I care deeply about what is said and shared with employees and the community. 

- Board Reports: As a CEO, with my boss being the Board of Directors, I deeply care about their meeting preparation, the information provided to each member, and the successful execution of each of their meetings.  

I learned that channeling a desire to be thorough would serve me well when I focused on areas that I could control appropriately.   

Micromanagement needs to be seen for what it is and the negative impact it has on individuals, departments, and organizations.  If you are tired of micromanaging, you have two options: stay exhausted and frustrated at the employee turnover you are causing. Or recognize you are the problem and clearly communicate what you need from those doing the work and stay at a healthy distance, so the team is allowed to succeed.   

I get for some that standing back will be uncomfortable and foreign to understand.  Remember, your leadership is about helping others secure their best.  How is that possible when you are only focused on you, your control, and your insecurity?