CHAPTER 6 Nix Micromanaging and Other Negatives

To persuade is more trouble than to dominate, and the powerful seldom take this trouble if they can avoid it.

—CHARLES HORTON COOLEY, SOCIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR

If leaders' liabilities (negatives) overpower their assets, their team members begin to tune them out—emotionally, if not literally. Yes, they have to respond to texts, emails, or phone calls to keep their jobs. But engagement evaporates.

If you haven't worked for one of these micromanaging, overbearing bosses, you've heard about them. Employees buzz about such bosses over lunch, complain about them around the water cooler, and chew them up at the dinner table with their family. At the least, for the individual reporting to this kind of manager, frustration leads to deep-seated resentment that often triggers a job change or career move. (A Gallup study of 7,272 US adults found that one in two left their job to get away from their manager.)

You, as a leader, want to avoid these negatives to prevent a wall of resentment from building and blocking your communication with staff and peers.

LIABILITY #1: EXPOSING THE HOLE IN THE DONUT—THE MISTAKE, THE MISSTEP, THE MISUNDERSTANDING

Some managers never seem to focus on the perfect circle. Instead, their first comment calls attention to the inconsequential mistake. They ask for trivial backup data that you failed to bring with you to the presentation. They imply that maybe you have misunderstood the politics surrounding the situation and therefore have written the email with a more aggressive tone than appropriate. In a meeting, rather than focusing on the positive result of your project, they zoom in on your mistake: the "gotcha."

These micromanagers may

•Distrust you for any number of reasons

•Fear you and fear losing control if they don't keep close watch on you

•Attempt to boost their self-esteem by lowering yours with tight controls, with threats that instill fear of firing, and with constant put-downs and corrections

They feel frightened, out of control, and frustrated at the increased workload their micromanaging causes.

So if you work for a micromanaging boss, your first two challenges: Develop trust. Help your boss feel secure. Tall order.

If you suspect that you are the micromanager, same answer: Develop trust so you can feel secure yourself. Distrust comes from faulty assumptions about other people's intentions.

Antidote: Practice direct communication. Ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers before you draw conclusions. State directly what you expect, need, or want.

LIABILITY #2: MICROMANAGING THE PROCESS RATHER THAN STATING THE GOAL

Effective leaders assign a project, state the goal, provide the resources, communicate any warnings or safeguards, and state any required check-back points along the way. Then they let you go about your task until it's completed. Less effective managers, however, haven't learned how to delegate. Instead, they assign a project, blindfold team members as to where they're going, and then lead them through the process. Result: A huge waste of time for the manager and frustration for the team.

Antidote: Learn to delegate the goal to a qualified person, provide resources, clarify at what points you'd like him or her to check back with you, and leave the specific process to that person. (For more elaboration on the six steps in delegating effectively, see my earlier book Communicate With Confidence.)

LIABILITY #3: IMPERSONATING A KNOW-IT-ALL

Although great leaders learn to hire people smarter than they are in key disciplines, less confident managers feel out of control around brilliant staff members and colleagues. So they have to keep reminding others that they are the smartest person in the room. They communicate that know-it-all attitude in various ways: by doing all the talking, by refusing to listen to new ideas, by lots of I-told-you-so lines and a plethora of war stories.

Antidote: Force yourself to listen at least 10 minutes or to at least three people—whichever comes first—before you speak up in a meeting.

LIABILITY #4: PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK

The disappearing boss is here today and gone tomorrow. In the office at 10:00. Missing in action at 2:00. Mysteriously back to work at 4:00. Comes in at 11:00 the following day. Ask why, and the explanation makes perfect sense to that person: "I don't owe you an explanation. I can work from anywhere. I've put in 50 hours already this week."

What this disappearing boss doesn't understand is why someone needs to know his or her physical location: to sign documents, to attend an on-site meeting, to meet with a VIP customer, to answer an unexpected question, to make a quick emergency decision. If not in the office, can the boss be interrupted? If so, during what hours? If the CEO or a VIP client calls, when will the boss be able to return the call or answer the email? What should the staff promise callers and visitors? All are legitimate questions.

Being unable to get in touch with a disappearing boss creates frustration—not to mention leaving a bad impression with clients and colleagues. But to the disappearing boss, it's all about power and control.

Antidote: Leave information with someone or in an accessible place about how you can be reached in an emergency. Then define an "emergency," and state when you will again be available.

LIABILITY #5: ANNOUNCING OR CANCELING STAFF MEETINGS AT THE LAST MINUTE

Either action implies that no one's schedule counts but the manager's. Everyone else's productivity plummets as they reshuffle the day's projects—including client commitments. Last-minute or overtime meetings send a strong message to outsiders waiting for attention: "The manager here has decided your customers or colleagues don't matter. Tough luck."

Antidote: As part of your team's ground rules for meetings, agree on what constitutes the basis for an emergency meeting: Input when you're about to lose a big client? Major headquarters announcement? Staff shortages due to an epidemic and the need to reschedule workflow for the day? For all other reasons, agree that meetings will be scheduled with XX hours' lead time.

Leading and communicating with a team of diverse personalities can be a challenging proposition. Why increase the odds for dissension with any of these liabilities that cause people to disengage over work habits that have nothing to do with their actual work?

Strategic decisions about managing time and people quickly become daily routines that communicate far more than words.