05/02/2017

Complacency - The Creation of the Micromanaging Leader

This can impact overall morale and lead to long-term dissatisfaction

Complacency and micromanagement seem to be two diametrically opposed ideas. Yet complacency leads to micromanagement, and micromanagement causes team complacency. They feed off of one another and yet they are mortal enemies.

So why do so many well-meaning leaders create these battles between themselves and their teams? From my experience, it's because that's how they were taught to lead. They were taught to believe that in order to lead others, you need to know your team members' jobs and to be able to do their jobs as well or better than they can. Otherwise how can you possibly lead them? These well-meaning leaders have also been taught that if your team members aren't getting the work done sufficiently, you better jump in and do the work yourself. Every one of those ideas is great on the surface. However, what are their long-term impacts on team productivity and morale, team and individual problem-solving skills, innovation, etc? Negative, negative, negative.

There are numerous issues to address with all of the whys and hows of micromanaging leaders, but in its most basic form, micromanaging leaders micromanage because they don't trust the judgment or work of their team members. The micromanaging leader may know this is true, but the leader doesn't make the connection that that lack of trust is a huge red light that indicates a staff change, staff training, or some other staff action is needed.

To read the complete article from Liz Webber, please click here.