My Missteps in Micromanagement Rationalizations

Once upon a time, I believed in the necessity of micromanagement as a leader, especially when dealing with new or struggling employees. My perspective mirrored a traditionalist viewpoint: guiding employees' every move to ensure they successfully accomplished tasks and met the organization's standards. Much of this was because in the early years of the business I had hired wonderful people, but the wrong people who couldn't do the job.

As my understanding and experiences evolved, I've grown to recognize the paradox that micromanagement poses; micromanagement is, in fact, a stark testament to poor leadership, inevitably stressful, does not grow employees, and is a problematic way of retaining underperforming staff. Micromanagement is not loyalty.

This business was more like a complicated job

What initially seemed as hands-on leadership was gradually revealed to be a leadership weakness, a symptom of poor delegation. Micromanagement can indeed produce immediate, short-term results. But constant vigilance and stringent monitoring allow a leader to maintain control and ensure that tasks are performed exactly as desired, which is exhausting and stressful. Micromanagement provided me with a false sense of security and control, shielding me from the risk of error and the fear of failure, and then never provided a stable business. I was not building a business, this was a complicated, stressful job and not worth it.

The long-term implications of this practice were obscured. Micromanagement stymied the growth and development of employees, inhibiting their autonomy and leaving little room for creativity and innovation. By insisting on steering every action and decision, I unknowingly restricted my employees' ability to learn, adapt, and evolve. The unhealthy dependence this created meant they lacked the skills and confidence to make independent decisions, essentially hindering their professional development.

Problems came to me for my experience, but then I became the chokepoint, and my weaknesses pervaded the whole company, masked as competence, installing a glass ceiling on everyone.

Micromanagement inadvertently acted as a safety net for underperforming employees. Rather than making the tough decision to let someone go who was not contributing adequately to the team, I managed their work excessively. This approach was unfair to high-performing, self-sufficient, industrious employees, and micromanagement was an inefficient use of my time and resources as a leader.

Stupid buzzword alert

So, what is the alternative? Empowerment. This principle denotes trust, responsibility, and growth, which is the polar opposite of micromanagement. Empowering employees means giving them the necessary tools, resources, and autonomy to do their jobs effectively. Empowerment means hiring and trusting employees to make decisions, solve problems, and contribute meaningfully to the organization's objectives. Empowerment fosters self-reliance and self-confidence, nurturing an environment of innovation, resilience, and continuous learning.

Basically, hire carefully, invest heavily, and get out of their way. Great employees will crush it. Non-performers must be filtered.

Empowerment is nothing without accountability.

My shift in perspective also highlighted the importance of effective performance management. Employees who are consistently underperforming need to be managed proactively. This involves open and honest communication, feedback, and support to help them improve. If no improvement is noted, a difficult decision to fire them may be required to maintain the overall health and productivity of the team.

Avoiding firing non-performers, masked by micromanagement, is detrimental not just to the team but to the individual employee's growth as well.

Employee non-performance, micromanagement or not, will degrade team pride and effectiveness. Leaders owe it to those who care and can perform to cull those who can't perform.

Takeaways

I've learned that leadership is not about control but enabling employees and filtering out non-performers. It's competently giving away control. The growth of my leadership experience lies in nurturing and fostering the growth of employees, empowering them to become self-sufficient, and making difficult decisions when necessary.

As leaders, our role is not to dictate every move but to build an environment where our employees can thrive, innovate, and contribute to the organization's success. It's a journey of continual learning, and I'm glad I embarked upon it.