Empowering Progress: How Owners Can Advance by Trusting Their Teams

One of the most challenging aspects of being a leader who is also an owner is learning to step back and rely on your team. It's easy to fall into the trap of micromanagement, thinking that being overly involved will lead to better results. Particularly since research shows that this approach can harm employee morale and productivity.

With the unique power to shape your company's culture and direction, you hire people to run the business effectively, and it's important to have confidence in their abilities to do so. While being available when needed is valuable, constantly intervening can undermine your team's confidence and autonomy.

Giving your team the freedom to take initiative and make decisions demonstrates faith in their abilities, leading to increased motivation and a sense of responsibility for their work. Micromanagement, on the other hand, can create bottlenecks, slowing progress and stifling innovation.

The key is to strike a balance between providing support and guidance when needed and stepping back to let your team take the lead. This means being accessible to offer guidance, help resolve crises, and share insights to prevent potential issues, while also allowing your direct reports to manage daily operations and make decisions independently.

Ensure your door remains open, but be mindful not to interrupt or impede your team's work. Stay alert and listen to their concerns, but give them space to problem-solve and innovate on their own. This balance allows you to maintain oversight without suffocating your team's creativity and initiative.

Initially, people may expect you to provide all the answers and directions. Creating an environment that encourages independent thinking and problem-solving will lead to exponential growth in creative output. When you transition to this leadership style, your team will realize their capability to tackle challenges on their own, leading to remarkable accomplishments.

Invest time early on to ensure that everyone is trained and capable. Remember that jobs are an ever-learning situation, and you don't hire people just for what they know but for what they can achieve. Investing in people and providing them with opportunities to grow reveals amazing accomplishments.

Research supports the idea that this leadership approach is healthy for overall company culture. Studies have found that employees who feel valued by their managers are more likely to be engaged, satisfied, and committed to their work, and that empowering leadership styles are associated with higher levels of creativity, innovation, and job performance.

By stepping back and allowing your team to take the lead, you create an environment where people feel valued, respected, and motivated to do their best work. This benefits individual employees and contributes to a more agile, adaptable, and successful organization as a whole.