Micromanaging Leaders; a Deflation of Trust and How to Prevent it From Taking Over

Have you ever been micromanaged? Did it make you question your abilities and trust in your performance?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the micromanagement means: "to control every part of a situation, even small details."

This does not sound too bad at first, but if we dig deeper, we will see the potential problems with this approach.

Table of contents

1. What is micromanagement?

2. Why do leaders micromanage?

   - Their character and personality

   - Position effect

   - Lack of understanding of the position.

   - Lack of expertise

   - Lack of support

   - Toxic culture

   - Negative experience

3. How does it affect our employees?

   - Triggers insecurity

   - Creates confusion

   - Creates frustration

   - Diminishes trust

   - Creates division

   - Creates favoritism

   - Employees drift away from the company's mission

   - Destroys motivation

4. How does it affect the company?

   - Loss of ingenuity

   - Staggering results

   - Toxic culture

5. How can this be prevented?

   - Create a company culture

   - Create standards

   - Create a compliance process

   - Create a tailored hiring process

   - Create a performance review process

   - Create a recognition process

What is micromanagement?

To answer this, we need first to understand what management is. It is a process of organizing and utilizing available resources to achieve set goals in line with the company's mission and vision. This also involves human resources as the main drive of the process.

The issue might arise when humans are perceived as a resource and nothing more. We need to understand the complexity of a human being to be able to elevate their enthusiasm and motivation and drive their focus in the desired direction without negatively affecting them. That is the responsibility of a leader.

We need to reject the desire to control every aspect of the employee's engagement as it will result in an undesired management approach, such as micromanagement.

Micromanagement is the process of controlling every aspect of the operation, even those that are the responsibility of other employees, to minor details in pursuit of the desired result. It is an unhealthy and undesired approach to leadership and management displayed by insecure and power-driven individuals.

Why do leaders micromanage?

There could be a pallet of reasons for the leaders to adopt this leadership style. Some might be triggered by their personal or professional development, previous employments and experiences, or the company culture and lack of clarity and support.

• Their character and personality dictate that they try to control every aspect of their lives, which then reflects their leadership style with little or no consideration for the employees.

  
  

• The position effect creates pressure to excel in every aspect to justify the employment, which pivots the leader toward the undesirable leadership style.

  
  

• Lack of understanding of the position. The leader is not fully clear about the job description and responsibility, perhaps due to ambiguous company policies and the hiring process. This can result in a "blanket approach" where the leader tries to cover every possible angle to avoid being called out for it.

  
  

• Lack of expertise. The leader is not up to the task and compensates for the shortcomings by micromanaging every aspect, in the hope nothing gets back to haunt.

  
  

• Lack of support from the company and upper management. This could make the leader feel like an island and trigger a self-preservation response in the form of micromanagement.

  
  

• Toxic culture could also trigger this kind of leadership style in leaders in an effort to protect themselves from exposure to scrutiny in case of a failure.

  
  

• Negative experiences could be the cause of a leadership style shift towards micromanagement in fear of repetition and a desire to protect themselves from it.

How does it affect our employees?

Micromanagement is a toxic trait that negatively affects the team, as it creates an uncomfortable working environment that does not foster teamwork and destroys trust.

• Triggers insecurity even in the most resilient employees if exposed to it for prolonged periods of time, as there is no set standard to adhere to.

  
  

• Creates confusion, as it is a behavior that removes ingenuity and collaboration, as the only measure of success is the personal opinion of a micromanager. This approach is more suitable for treating toddlers than adults.

  
  

• Creates frustration as the resolution is within reach but not accepted by the micromanager, who either does not recognize it or does not understand it.

  
  

• Diminishes trust, as every relationship, including professional, is built on trust. Trust in employees' abilities to deliver results and leaders' abilities to communicate expectations. Employees will begin to perceive the micromanager as not flexible, untrustworthy, suspicious, and uncooperative, as their performance abilities are not trusted and they are not allowed to express themselves.

  
  

• Creates division as employees will react differently to it, depending on their personality and character. Some might even adopt it, which might be appreciated and awarded by the micromanager but not by the rest of the team members.

  
  

• Creates favoritism as employees adopting this approach will be favored over employees challenging it, further widening the division.

  
  

• Employees drift away from the company's mission, as micromanagement can be perceived as welcomed and desirable by the company, destroying enthusiasm and desire to develop within.

  
  

• Destroys motivation as the employees are treated like toddlers, with no opportunity to showcase their skills and ability to decide on the right approach to complete the set task. This does not provide enough incentive to keep the employees motivated and subsequently results in separation from the company's mission and the company.

How does it affect the company?

Although it might not make a huge impact in the short run, it has the potential to destroy our company culture in the long run. This is an undesirable leadership style, as it destroys every aspect of good leadership, resulting in a good ground for an undesirable and toxic culture.

Loss of ingenuity as the lack of trust and independence in performance is forcing able and capable employees to search for an environment that supports their professional development and growth and provides opportunities to showcase their abilities.

Staggering results as the leading performers have left the company, leaving the underperformers and obedient followers behind, who are not able or capable of delivering exceptional results.

A Toxic culture can develop since the like-minded, obedient employees, who are driven by the need for recognition and approval from the micromanager, will all try to secure their position with their leader. That is learned behavior as a result of micromanagement, since obedience has been rewarded, unlike the desire to speak up and challenge the status quo.

How can this be prevented?

We need to establish this from the beginning to create an environment that cherishes ingenuity and allows for early detection of deviations threatening to destroy it.

Create a company culture built on ingenuity and trust would be the first step. We need to create a company culture where employees can show their abilities and discover new potential by exposing themselves to various new challenges.

Create standards to avoid misinterpretation and provisional interpretation of desired procedures and processes in the delivery of favorable results.

Create a compliance process to monitor and assure everyone is adhering to the set standards in everyday operation, preventing deviation and not allowing for micromanagement to take place.

Create a tailored hiring process with a clear job description and required skill sets for each position to avoid employing people lacking the required qualifications, experience, or background needed to lead the team up to the set standard.

Create a performance review process that allows for two-way communication and an opportunity for the employees to express their concerns with the undesirable leadership style.

Create a recognition process to highlight and reward exceptional performance. To build trust and teamwork while boosting ingenuity.

Hire professionals and let them do their job. Have trust in their abilities and provide guidance to direct them in the desired direction towards the clear and unambiguous goal while respecting diverse approaches to achieving it. Everyone reasons differently and has different intellectual potential, directing them towards different paths in pursuit of results.

#leadership

#management

#communication