Break Free From Your Micromanaging Ways

Micromanaging is a common problem among leaders. While you might not consider yourself a micromanager, it isn’t as clear cut as you might think. While some leaders are bona fide micromanagers at the extreme end, most leaders cling to control in a few areas. Where might you need to release a bit of control?

When leaders are described by their people as being a micromanager, it’s rarely seen as positive. The term “micromanage” gets tossed around quite a bit, but what does it actually mean?

Defining Micromanaging

Dictionary.com defines it this way:

“To manage or control with excessive attention to minor details.”

Curious what micromanaging looks like? Well, here are a few examples:

• A leader, boss, or manager jumping in and getting involved in the minute details of a person’s work.
• Going beyond setting expectations and going into significant detail on how a task is to be done.
• Hovering and pointing out the obvious as a person tries to complete their work.
• Demanding frequent updates.
• Discouraging decision making and/or requiring permission before moving forward on even small steps.
• Jumping in and starting and/or finishing a task.
• Requiring overly detailed reports.
• Hyper focusing on the details while losing sight of the big picture.
• Setting unrealistic expectations and/or deadlines.
• Frequently stepping in and doing the job for someone else.
• Always seeing what needs to be done better and rarely seeing the good or the ways people have grown.
• Not being open to new ideas or ways of doing something. Their way is always best!
• Rarely delegating or developing those they lead.

If you’ve worked for a micromanager, you know the toll it takes on your motivation, confidence, morale, and more! It’s difficult to learn, grow, or do your best work under that kind of scrutiny.

Bottom Line

There are a number of reasons leaders struggle to relinquish control, but no matter the reason, it ultimately erodes trust. Without trust, it’s next to impossible to lead well!

Have you ever stopped to think about what the opposite of trust is? Words like distrust or mistrust might spring to mind, but in reality, the opposite of trust is control. At the very heart of trust is the ability to let go and take risks. It is the responsibility of the leader to demonstrate trust first.

The Roots

Let’s explore what causes a leader to micromanage. It may be one or a combination of these factors that results in an overly hands-on and difficult to work for leader:

1. Misconceptions Around Leadership

Leadership often gets a bad rap! Many have worked for truly awful leaders and haven’t had an example worth following.

Others have some funky ideas around leadership like believing you have to know everything, be able to outperform everyone, or they have to be large and in charge. Sadly, it’s that kind of thinking that that gets them too caught up in the details instead of focusing on the big picture and setting vision and direction.

Your job as a leader it to set vision, provide clear expectations, and trust that your people have what they need to get the job done. That’s doesn’t mean you don’t periodically follow up, but it’s how you follow up that makes the difference.

The truth is your time and energy as the leader is to oversee what’s happening at a high level, inspire your people, and develop them in ways that ensure they are up to the task. None of those activities involve stepping in and involving yourself with the details.

2. Expertise Combined with A Lack of Leadership Skills

I’ve seen it numerous times over the years in my role as a coach. An individual excels at being an individual contributor and as a result of that they are moved into a leadership role. While they may have been the very best at the tasks they previously did, they literally have no idea how to be a leader. Without sufficient training, the tendency is to jump back in and get involved in the very tasks they were so skilled at because after all, that’s their comfort zone. Leading on the other hand is new territory and not one they are prepared for.

Some in this position, if given the chance, are capable of stepping up, learning, and growing. However, if that individual is the least bit resistant to change, they are going to have a hard time resisting the chance to jump in and do what they are good at.

Another factor that contributes to micromanaging in this situation is if a person is conflict avoidant or lacks the skills to delegate well. Rather than dealing with the issues, it feels much safer to just do the job,

3. Fear

Leading is not for the faint of heart! It requires a level of strength and confidence that is developed over time by successfully facing challenges. However, if you are overcome with the fear of failure or making a mistake you will be held back as a leader and tempted to step in to ensure things go right. It makes logical sense, but there are a few things about fear you must understand. First, when you are operating out of fear, it naturally triggers the fears of those you interact with. When “fears” clash, it doesn’t go well!

There are multiple ways fear might be playing out. It may be your good old Fear Monster at work. It might also be the fear of failure, conflict, or the fear of emotions – after all, you wouldn’t want anyone to get upset, angry, or break down!

4. Confusion Around What’s Helpful

Some leaders honestly believe they are being helpful, but are actually quite confused about what their people actually need. Being overly helpful and stepping in suggests to the person you are “helping” that they are not up to the task. Keep this up and over time you train your people that they don’t have to worry about certain tasks because you will do it anyway. Eventually your own responsibilities as a leader get neglected and that rarely fairs well for you.

5. Personality Challenges

Certain personalities have a strong need to be in control (D) and/or seek perfection (C). If that describes you, it’s helpful to be aware of that tendency and take steps to ensure that aspect of your personality is not hindering you as a leader.

While not the focus today, every personality has an area they need to keep in check! When your natural inclinations go wild, it has a way of leading to more challenges!

6. Insecurity and/or Self Doubt

Individuals who feel insecure or doubt their abilities as a leader, often resort to micromanaging as a way to compensate. Imposter syndrome is a closer cousin where a leader struggles to fully step into their leadership shoes which causes them to either meddle more (micromanage) or hesitate to hold people accountable, both of which undermine them as leaders.

7. Impatience

Leadership requires a great deal of patience! Those lacking patience often want to speed up the process, but that only hurts them in the long run and has a negative impact on the team. Pretty soon they expect you to take over at some point and are less motivated to accomplish their work.

8. Trust Issues

We are whole people and leaders are not exempt. If your experiences in life growing up or in previous situations have nibbled away at your ability to trust, it will have an impact on you as a leader. When you lack trust, you also are more likely to get involved where you shouldn’t and you are more prone to doubting what your people are capable of. Rather than be let down or look bad, you will intervene to save the day.

9. Underdeveloped Leadership Skills

All too often leaders are moved into a leadership role without much training, guidance, or direction. And without examples of great leaders, it sets one up for failure. Sometimes that failure looks like micromanaging.

Some helpful areas for new leaders to have some basic knowledge are delegation, communication, expectations/feedback, conflict resolution, leading via coaching, and more.

10. Lack of EQ

Sometimes it’s a lack of Emotional Intelligence that leads to micromanaging – difficulty trusting, connecting with their team, tapping into the emotions of those they lead, empathizing, or dealing with their own anxious feelings, for starters. When you aren’t tuned in to how your actions are impacting the people around you, your potential to micromanage increases.

Now that you’ve read through this list, perhaps you have insight into what’s behind your micromanaging ways! That awareness is gold! It sheds light on which areas you need to grow to lead successfully.

Need a little help? Let’s chat and work through those issues together so that you are an example of a great leader!