005: Avoid These 5 Signs of Micromanagement At All Costs (I Learnt It The Hard Way)

Read Time: 7 Minutes

If you've ever been in a startup or a corporate world, chances are you've worked with a micromanager.

Over the last 20 years of my professional existence, I have met hundreds of so-called managers that believe they are leaders, but they are bosses put in a position of authority and power. Bosses that, despite their title, pay, and position, are filled with insecurities to the extent that they love to micromanage the heck out of their teams.

They believe they are being productive. They believe they are helping their team. They believe they are a true leader, while all this time they are just a boss with a bunch of people reporting to them, who almost certainly don't feel motivated, engaged or productive. That's one of the biggest factors of burnout. Burnout doesn't happen when you are working a lot of hours. It happens when you work towards a goal you don't get, a vision you don't believe in, with a bunch of people that are toxic or a boss that's a micromanager. I've been in those toxic employments. I've worked for micromanagers. I can tell you, in those moments, I've dreaded work every day.

Micromanagement is the biggest killer of productivity.

I decided to quit toxic employers and bosses and become the leader I never had and a leader my team and my people needed. It's not enough to not be a bad leader.

Backstory

Last autumn, I went off-grid for two weeks with no access to mail. I delegated responsibility, appointed someone from my team as deputy and put them in charge. I told them I'll be offline from office mail and chat, however, in case of an emergency, they could reach me.

In my absence:

• My team did amazingly well at keeping the organization running.

• They followed protocol, but also approved exceptions when needed

• They had a mandate, and they had been given room for making decisions.

Most leaders would be scared to know that their team functions without them. Most managers would be scared, even more so, to know that their team functions well without them.

I couldn't be more proud of my team.

The reality is:

Micromanagers are never leaders.

Signs of a Micromanager vs. a Leader

The greatest mark of a true leader is in empowering your people to do well, both in your presence and especially in your absence.

Micromanagers are not leaders.

But how do you know if you are a micromanager or if you're under micromanagement?

Here are 7 simple questions you can ask:

1. Do you or does your manager get nervous leaving the team for a short period because you/they wonder things might fall apart?

2. Do you or does your manager have trouble delegating because you/they feel that the quality or efficiency of the work won't be on par?

3. Do you or does your manager feel the need to constantly have check-ins with your/their employees on what they are doing and what's the status of work?

4. Do you or does your manager believe your/their team needs to earn your/their trust?

5. Do you or does your manager resist allowing employees to exercise their own judgment and make decisions?

6. Do you or does your manager focus excessively on small, trivial aspects rather than the big picture?

7. Do you or does your manager feel compelled to retain authority and oversight over every aspect of a task?

If you answered yes to any one or more of the above, you may be a micromanager, even if unintentionally or you may be working for one.

Now that you know that, you know you want to do things better. How can you do that?

Five Ways to Go From a Micromanager to a True Leader

Here are five things I have done to grow as a leader and embody the identity of a true leader, making both myself and my team proud. Here are 5 ways you can go from micromanager to a true leader. I learn them the hard way, you can do them the right way:

1. Start With Trust

It's complete bullshit when managers begin with "You need to earn my trust". Leaders start with a place of 100% trust. Surely, it can disintegrate or break, if someone keeps on doing things to destroy your trust over time. However, I've seen and experienced that a lack of implicit trust breaks teams from the get-go. If you don't trust someone, don't hire them. If you have someone already in your team, trust them a hundred percent to begin with. If you start with a lack of trust, in either direction, it's bound to break. It's like Murphy's law.

Leaders start with a place of 100% trust.

This is even more important in the field of cybersecurity and AI. As a security leader, you can't succeed without trust within your team and your organization. There is no getting trust without giving trust.

In my CISO jobs, I have always managed to build some key principles about security culture. One of them is around treating employees with trust and integrity. Now, it may be shocking for you to hear this, especially when all we talk about is zero trust. But it's because of these principles that employees have directly contacted me or my security teams, after they clicked a phishing link and even put in their credentials. If you want a strong culture, you need to start from the place of trust and communicate it effectively. If you want to be an effective security leader, you need to embody great leadership. I show you how, among other security leadership traits, in my upcoming masterclass.

2. Take Input First, Delegate Later

I have made this mistake, I must admit. I have never been a believer in micromanagement, so I've delegated tasks easily. However, in those delegations, I used to make a huge mistake. I forgot to consider their input. The moment I changed it, my team started to be even more productive and engaged.

We were looking for someone to take over internal auditing. I asked around, and found someone in my team, extremely motivated to do that. Not just that, they want to grow in that space. Nothing says growth better than learning by doing. So I asked for their input. I asked them how they wanted to approach it. I aligned expectations before delegating the responsibility with the remark: "I am always here to support you.". Then, I got the hell out of their way. Delegate. But, do so after getting their input. Align their needs and motivations with your expectations. Then it's a win/win. Before you delegate, ask:

1. Is it something that motivates them?

2. Is this an area that they've wanted to grow in?

3. Is this something that challenges them to improve?

Don't delegate for the sake of delegating. Get input first, delegate later.

3. Be Clear With Your Expectations

Security leadership is about 90% expectations management and negotiation. Leadership is a lot about expectations management. Highest performing teams are the ones that:

1. Believe in the vision.

2. Excited to work together towards a common goal.

3. Get the room and space for failure and improvement.

As a leader, your job is to set the vision. You must share it over and over so you get strong buy-in. You must tell the story well, repeat it, and set clear expectations to execute it. Followers don't follow bosses or managers. They follow leaders.

Great leaders are visionaries and some of the best storytellers.

With the vision and storytelling, it's critical to set expectations. Be open to feedback in both directions. Adjust along the way to reach the common goal. With that framework in place, you'll rarely have time or feel the need to micromanage.

4. Give Them The Platform and Opportunity to Come To You

I stopped doing 1-1s with my team with the intention of getting a status report. I do have 1-1s with my entire team, but the first thing I tell them is that this 1-1 is for you, not for me. It's not for me to decide how we do it. It's for you.

- You decide when you want it.
- You decide how long you want it.
- You decide how often you want it.
- You decide in what format you want it.
- You decide what you want to talk about.

Your 1-1s are not for you. They are for your team.

Give them the platform and space to come to you. My 1-1s with each of my team members have been wildly different. Some want it every week, some want it every other week. Some need just 30 minutes, some need a whole hour. It's my job as a leader to shut up and let them talk. Don't answer until they ask you to. Listen to hear.

5. Share The Outcome You Expect and Get The Heck Out of Their Way

I don't care where you work from. I don't care which hours of the day you work (of course within a window of reasonable availability). I don't care what your style of working is. I don't care when you take breaks. All I care about is you deliver your best work. And, you do this while growing, enjoying your work, and treating others kindly.

I care more about the value you provide than the hours you clock in. Surely, every day will be slightly different from the others. Your best will look different every day, and that's OK.

A leader's job isn't to put fear in their team. A leader's job is to inspire them to want to deliver their best value.

Motivation through fear is only temporary. It's motivation through inspiration that lasts for a lifetime.

Talk to your team about the common goals and outcomes you wish to achieve. Align expectations, values, and outcomes. Surely, you need a feedback look in both directions. But then get the heck out of their way.

Here are three things I've done with my teams to inspire them and move them towards our common vision:

1. Show them how things can be done, but give them the space to decide for themselves.

2. Give them the space to create, fail, reiterate, and improve.

3. Celebrate their successes and growths.

Great leadership is about striking a balance between guidance and autonomy. So, let them take the reins, but be there to catch them if they fall, without the blame.

***

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***

–– Monica

Monica Verma

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