269. The Macro Blind Spot Of A Micromanager

I never particularly liked chemistry. It felt too confining.
It is scientifically claustrophobic

I love physics.
Physics has breadth.

Whereas chemistry is about studying how infinitesimally small molecules interact when under a microscope, physics focuses on finding the elegant answers to the entire universe and everything in it.

I’m pretty much a big-picture type of guy.

This is why I was shocked when one of my first company’s employees complained that I was micromanaging them.

Moi?
A micromanager?
Surely, you jest.

Micromanaging is for small thinkers. It’s for people who like looking through microscopes, proverbial or not.

Isn’t it?

The Two Types of Micromanagers

As an executive coach, I work with a lot of experienced leaders. They oversee teams at multi-million to Fortune 500 organizations. They’ve spent years growing into their position.

They may be just like you. Or like your boss. Or like both of you.

When I’ve asked them if they think they are micromanagers, they’ve each replied with an emphatic “hell no.”

Inevitably, though, when I ask their subordinates to describe the leader, they often call them a micromanager.

How could there possibly be such a huge disconnect?

The answer is pretty simple: there are two types of micromanagers and most people have a complete blind spot for the second type.

If you haven’t picked up on this yet, what I’m saying is that you might be a micromanager and not even be aware of it.

But we’re going to find out about that in a minute.

The Stereotypical Micromanager

The stereotypical micromanager is a leader that is always looking over your shoulder. No matter what you do, they have commentary about the minuscule.

They say things like:
“Don’t do it that way…”
or
“Do this instead..”

When you copy them on an email, the micromanager will oftentimes respond with ways you should change your communication in the future.
It was too long or too short.
You sent it too early or too late.
Maybe you need to use a different font or stop already with the Oxford comma.

It’s like you’re constantly working under the microscope. It can feel suffocating.

Being micromanaged is like a magic vacuum that sucks all the enjoyment out of a job.

Here’s the thing I’ve discovered: the leaders who act this way usually recognize that they are micromanaging.

Most often, they do not have a blind spot for their behavior. They just don’t understand – or care about – the impact their behavior has on employees.

But there’s another type of micromanager. One that is harder for a leader to recognize in themselves.

That is a behavior I call MACROmanagement.

The Macro Behavior of a Micromanager

Whereas the standard issue micromanager keeps employee behavior under a microscope, the macromanager maintains greater distance in their controlling behavior.

The offending behavior is based on continually shifting and redefining employee priorities.

There is some nuance to this because, yes, it is the leaders’ job to define the priorities. The difference with macromanagement is that the high priorities continually change. The leader always has a new idea that they want to push through.

The barrage of priorities derails the employees from what they are supposed to be doing.

The complaints from macromanaged employees are the same as those from the micromanaged:

“Everything changes all the time. I am not trusted to do my job the way I know how.”

Most every leader who macromanages has no clue that they are doing it. They’ve got a blind spot. They don’t see how their behavior is wrong and how it has a belittling effect on their employees.

And therein lies the problem: by the time you find out you are macromanaging is when the employee is in their exit interview with both feet out the door to a new job

[Editor’s Note: Of course, you can hire an executive coach to help you. There’s a great one here]

As a macromanaging boss, I was lucky. I had an employee who had the guts to tell me to back the heck off. On top of that, I had the self-awareness to consider the feedback and adjust my behavior.

Most employees aren’t so open. After all, there’s an Iceberg Of Ignorance sitting right smack in the middle of your company.

The Macro Micromanager In You

Now is that point where you should be looking at your own behavior.

How much are you trusting and empowering your employees?
How often are you changing priorities on them?
Maybe it’s time for a little adjustment, eh?

After all, leadership is an ever-evolving science that is best done without the microscope of a chemist or the physicist’s answers to everything. All you need to do is empower your people and guide them towards a place of productive harmony.

It doesn’t take an Einstein brain to make that happen.