How Good Managers Become Micromanagers
There are two types of micromanagers out there…
1) Leaders who feel good about micromanaging and actually like to exercise control over others.
Or:
2) Leaders who have developed a micromanagement leadership style due to some factors within their control and some factors outside of their control, such as a distrustful work environment where they are not supported or trusted by their own leadership.
This article is about helping those leaders who fall under #2. There is hope for micromanagers. Leaders can successfully overcome micromanagement and become more confident, trusting leaders.
How Good Managers Become Micromanagers
Not all micromanagers are micromanaging for "bad" reasons. One of the main reasons micromanagement exists is that some leaders are overly invested or feel "too" responsible for their team due to factors outside of their control.
Micromanagers often work in distrustful or toxic work environments where their own leaders put undue pressure on them or altogether don’t trust them. Just like with front line employees, when leaders don't have trusting relationships with their own boss, or they find themselves in a "fire first, ask later" environment, they may develop a micromanagement leadership style as a method to feel more control over their circumstances.
Micromanagers may feel overly responsible for what their employees produce or fearful of the consequences when one of their employees makes a mistake due to the consequences they (the leader) will suffer. Add the characteristic of personal "perfectionism" to the mix and you have a recipe for micromanagement disaster.
(Don't get me wrong- this isn't always the case. As mentioned above, there are still a lot of micromanaging leaders out there who thrive on power and micromanage as a form of intentional control and power over others.)
That being said, distrustful organizational cultures breed micromanagers. People who would not normally micromanage in a trusting environment, find themselves developing overly controlling behaviors when they are in a distrustful environment.
Does this mean the micromanager has no personal responsibility to change? Absolutely not.
As leaders, we all have the responsibility to continuously improve. Employees empower us to lead. And, micromanagers, regardless of reason, do need to start making changes. If they don't, the consequences are at best, stifling team creativity and at worst, employee turnover.
All employees, including employees who report to micromanagers, and micromanagers themselves, deserve to feel trusted and autonomous in their jobs, not overly controlled.
100% leader-blaming or self-blame isn't the answer though and I have yet to come across a solid resource to help micromanagers who want to change.
If you are a micromanager who wants to make proactive change, getting support is critical to your success. Systemically making changes to reduce your controlling tendencies is critical to yours and your employees’ career success.
How do I know so much about micromanagement?
Not only have I seen multiple good-people-turned-micromanagers over the years in my HR and Leadership Coaching work, I have been a micromanager myself. Self-proclaimed recovering micromanager here! In my case it was a combination of my own lack of experience and mistakes, a long history of succeeding in my career by way of perfectionism, and working in a distrustful organization where leader’s mistakes were often used against them to humiliate and backstab.
Leadership Coaching and making the choice to work in healthier environments in my career have helped me to become a recovering micromanager.
What can you do to become a recovering micromanager? Or how can you help a "good" person to transform their micromanagement leadership style?
1) Start with self-awareness. You or someone you know is likely a micromanager if you/they are:
Overly controlling of employee tasks
Constantly fearful of possible mistakes
Hyperaware of what employees are working on
Checking in with employees excessively to remind them of due dates
Uncomfortable and fearful about managing teams
2) Get support and create an action plan for change.
It takes support and expertise to make leadership changes. Leadership coaching is the best way to build your leadership skills because coaching is tailored to your needs and takes place in a safe, confidential environment.
If coaching isn't an option for you, working with a non-micromanaging, trusted peer may be the answer. It is important for the peer to be a leader themselves who is a successful non-micromanager so they can give you real-life tips and ideas for how to treat your employees differently.
The important thing is to not go it alone. Sustained change requires support and accountability.
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