Earlier this week, in my blog post titled Perfectionists are micro-managers (and lousy leaders), I offered up a couple of ideas on what micro-managers could do to cease and desist, and thus build a better working relationship with their teams. In today’s post I thought I’d add a couple of ideas along the same theme, but this time on what not to do.
- Don’t tell your reports you trust them, only to yank back control the moment you see something going in a direction different than you expected. When you jump in and take over, all you’re really doing is telling them that you don’t have confidence in their business judgement, or their ability to get things done. Far better to let them work through the issue, and then, in the final analysis, use the situation as an opportunity to coach and learn.
- Don’t knee-jerk. If things don’t go exactly as you’d like them to, or begin to escalate to a critical level, then take a breath and figure out, together, a way to correct the problem. And take great caution here; only do this if it’s truly necessary. Perfectionists tend to treat every variation as a catastrophe; not every unexpected event leads to disaster or ruin!
So, what you do you have to add in terms of any more “don’ts”? What else should micro-managers NOT do (or STOP doing) to create more positive and productive work teams? Please add your Comments below.