A Working Definition of Leadership

I define leadership as the act of influencing others toward organizational objectives.

Leadership requires influence.  If you’re managing a project, giving out assignments to team members and coordinating what items can be checked off the list, I’m not sure you’re really leading.  In the true leadership context, the definition of influence is to affect or to sway.  Team members may not be influenced by your direction as much as they are by the fact that they like the work or that there are consequences if they don’t do the work.  So, avoid automatically crediting management experience as leadership experience.

Secondly, leadership is the process of influencing others toward an organizational goal.  Leadership to achieve organizational objectives is necessary because the leader can’t do all the work him/herself.  Believe me, if it were possible, the leader would have done the work him/herself if they could have.  It’s easier than leading others to get the work done. 

Whether it’s the soccer team, a church committee or a manager and his/her employees, the purpose for our influence is to achieve an organizational objective.  Despite our different interests and motivations, the leader’s job is to get his/her followers to accomplish organizational objectives.  Unlike the weight loss class teacher who wants each person to achieve their own goal, true leadership requires pulling different people with different skill sets, diferent experience, different opinions and different motives together to accomplish organizational objectives.

Keep these distinctions in mind as you select and develop leaders in your organization.

Next up:  Successful vs. Effective leadership

Are You The Micromanager Your Employees Are Complaining About?

How would you react if your boss reminded you several times a day how to tie your shoes? Would your reaction be “Stop wasting my time” or “Don’t you have anything else to do?” Ask an employee who works for a micromanager and they will instantly know what that feels like. So, how does a manager become a micromanager? What are the impacts of micromanaging? How can it be fixed? What if the micromanager is you?

To start, let’s define a micromanager. A micromanager is a manager who uses a highly directive management style even when it’s not called for. A highly directive style is perfect in an emergency or when working with people new to a task. But, a highly directive style is not the most effective choice when leading people who perform tasks moderately well or extremely well. Unfortunately for employees, micromanagers believe a highly directive management style is always called for.

So, why does a manager become a micromanager? There are at least four reasons.

• First, their model for what a successful manager looks like may have been a micromanager from their past experience. They saw managers taking control and getting things done so they think they should emulate that successful, but less than effective, manager.
• Second, as I have studied micromanagers over the years, in their defense, they often can’t help it. Micromanagers are often “wired” to be highly directive. The same is true for delegating managers who delegate too much. We each come “wired” by our personalities and previous experience with a primary management style that we use most often. The goal is to make a conscious decision to use the
  most effective management style for each situation.
• Third, micromanagers often believe that only they can do the job right. And, in fact, they may be right. Of course, if the micromanager never allows anyone else to learn and do the job, no one else will ever do it “right.” 
• Finally, micromanagers often develop out of a lack of proper planning and effective management. If tasks are not planned out, assigned and followed up on, then the micromanager often has to do much of the work himself or herself.

The interesting thing about micromanagers is that they are sometimes groups of people.  If the board of directors you sit on approves purchases of office supplies for the organization, the board has become a micromanager of the organization. This is not some way out extreme example. I know of numerous organizations where this level of micromanaging by the board is routine. That’s a topic for another article.

Next, let’s consider the impact that the micromanager has on the organization.

For employees who work for the micromanager, there are two outcomes that result from being micromanaged:

• First, employees develop “learned helplessness.” The micromanager’s style causes an employee over time to give up their ability to take charge and complete tasks. The employee knows that the micromanager will come in and change whatever they did accomplish.  So, the employee mentally “gives up,” resulting in “Learned Helplessness,” a disease that infects organizations. 
• Secondly, employees stop demonstrating passion for their work.  It’s a defense mechanism that causes them to say “If my input will never be considered or if my completed work will always be changed, then why should I bother.” Employees feel like their contributions are not valued or trusted. The result is that you end up with employees who, like prisoners, are serving time instead of serving the needs of the organization.

For managers who have become micromanagers, there are at least two outcomes of their micromanaging style:

• First, micromanagers are racing toward burnout. Micromanagers feel that few tasks in their departments can be carried out without being personally involved. Their burnout may take the form of continued poor productivity, their resignation or even being fired.
• Far more significantly for managers, the major outcome of micromanaging is that, while the manager is mired in the details of  accomplishing other people’s tasks, he or she is missing the big stuff. Big stuff like analyzing sales profitability, performance to budget, industry trends, new products and key contacts that would bring more business. The micromanager is single-handedly limiting the ability of the department or the company from growing beyond their personal ability to manage the details.

So, how can a micromanager be “fixed?” In short, if you work for a micromanager that doesn’t make the changes that need to be made, my only advice to you is to find a new job. Life is too short.

What if the micromanager is you? Simply put, if you keep doing what you have been doing, you’ll continue to get the results you always gotten. Seek out the help of books, a trusted mentor to act as your coach, a management effectiveness workshop or other professional resources that have expertise in helping managers become more effective.

Changing the style that you’ve become accustomed to and found some success with will be difficult. But, with a strong desire to improve your management skills and lots of persistence, you can become a much more effective manager in a relatively short period of time.