Coaching for Excellence – Issue ⁰12

Coaching tips from issue 12 of the Coaching for Excellence newsletter.

Micromanagement + Leadership

There have been numerous posts about micromanagement in the workplace in my LinkedIn feed. I’m sharing my response with you.

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Instead of telling micromanagers to “chill out” it could be more helpful to understand what’s driving their behavior.

Managers are encouraged to understand employee’s behavior, but who is doing this for managers? Often they’re sandwiched in the middle with pressure from both sides or at the top where it’s more difficult to get helpful + candid feedback (power dynamics).

Here are questions to consider for this type of behavior:

💙 Do they even realize they’re doing this?

💙 What drives them to micromanage and trust their team less?

💙 What previous experiences led them to this behavior?

💙 What pressure (external + internal) are they feeling that makes them behave this way? How can that pressure be alleviated or reframed?

💙 What conversations do they need to have with team members to build the trust?

💙 What milestones can be put in place to strengthen trust?

💙 What support do they need to improve their leadership abilities?

If we want leadership to improve, we need to see them as a person who struggles too. Growth is a process for all of us.