LTB #5: Micromanagement is killing YOU more than the company

TL;DR

I experienced severe burnout due to micromanagement, which left me overwhelmed and hindered my company’s growth. I realized that by micromanaging, I was limiting my team’s potential, making all decisions myself, and stifling creativity. Insecurity, control issues, and inexperience were the root causes. To overcome this, I had to reflect on my management style, educate myself, and start trusting my team. When I finally let go and allowed others to take ownership, the company thrived, and I found a healthier work-life balance. My goal in sharing this is to help others avoid the pitfalls of micromanagement.

p.s. There is an audio version if you press Listen Online in upper corner.

Here is what I am covering today:
1. Why am I writing this?
2. What is the problem with micromanagement?
3. What causes us to micromanage?
4. How to deal with micromanagement?
5. Next newsletter

Why am I writing this?

Four years ago, I reached heavy burnout - I could not work more than 4 hours a day, I had to stop doing sports, and a lot of other different impacts it had on me. Long story short - I do not wish anyone to reach that point, which is why I am writing this newsletter. One of the main reasons I reached that point was micromanagement - something I could not see myself doing.

These last years, coming out of burnout had been the most eye-opening years of my life - about me personally, how I was doing business, and all the other pitfalls that took me there. I have learned ten times more in these three years than in the previous eight years of running my business. In the end, this was one of the biggest mental growths I have experienced.

What is the problem with micromanagement?

The most eye-opening view on this topic was from Liz Wiseman’s book Multipliers. When you micromanage, the company starts using only one brain - yours. When you macromanage, you start using as many brains in your company as you have.

When your company switches to one brain, everything becomes centered around you, and that means:

• When a problem needs to be solved, it will always be your decision. No one will try to solve it on their own.

• When you are not present, the company gets paralyzed, so you create a trap where you cannot step back from the company.

• The company can grow only as far as it can handle - once you are overloaded with everything, the company stops growing.

• Creativity in the company is limited only to how creative you are - everyone waits for you on what and how to do next.

• You will have a lot of turnover of employees as no one feels motivated when micromanaged. And that means non-stop onboarding and dealing with “junior” employees all the time.

The strangest thing about this issue is that usually, micromanagers do not see that they micromanage themselves - they feel trapped, they think that business is a burden. There is no way out because no one in the company is taking any responsibility, is smart enough, or that business can sustain without them. It feels like they cannot handle anything.

And that is true - if they are micromanaging.

The way it usually ends is that either the micromanager will reach complete burn-out because of everything he has to handle, manage, and solve, or the company will stagnate at the level it is (until managers will burn out eventually, anyway).

This is my story of how I reached complete burnout. I could not understand why the company was not growing, why I had so much work, why no one was taking the lead in my team, why every task was done to the exact minimum of what I had asked, why every problem was diverted back to me, etc. Now, it seems so obvious, and unfortunately, I see this now in many other companies.

What causes us to micromanage?

Every case is different, but I think there are some common reasons that I also had been guilty of, so here are the main ones:

Insecurity and lack of confidence

I thought a leader should have all the answers to avoid losing authority. If I did not know what and how to do, I thought there was no worth for me as a CEO.

The second one was my inability to deal with people in my team failing and having a hard time - I felt the urge always to jump in, control outputs, and rescue teammates in complicated situations.

In general, all managers should start analyzing their problems firstly from their personal prism of insecurities and beliefs, but that is especially true in micromanagers - 70% of issues and solutions are in you. Only then, the last 30% are education and factors not in your control.

Control issues and perfectionism

Some individuals have a strong need for control in all aspects of their lives, including work and output it produces. They may struggle with delegating tasks or trusting others to perform well. The truth is that it is much better that a task is done with 80% but full ownership of the job, rather than micromanaged and done with 100% perfection.

Once I burned out, I had to let go of control, and oh boy, was I surprised - I thought the company would die, but the opposite happened - I started to see people become responsible for their work, began to see many other ways the same result can be achieved and the company even grew in next year 3x times. Yes, there were some failures, but overall, I could devote 2x less time and get 3x better results - that is something.

Inexperience

Team management, though it may appear simple, can be quite challenging if you lack the necessary skills. In such cases, you often fall back on your personal experiences and examples. If you're fortunate, these might be sufficient. If not, you might find yourself in a self-made trap. This is where the importance of education and experience becomes evident, equipping you with the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of team management.

Sure, there are many more reasons it happens and we are all diffrerent, but these three were my achilees and I have seen at least one in most micromanagers.

How to deal with micromanagement?

1. Notice

The biggest trick with micromanagement is that you will never see it by just stoping and asking your self “Am I micromanaging?” or if you will ask your colleagues the same question.

The best way to notice it is by looking at the outcomes/issues you have in your daily work. Here are some questions to ask:

• Do you feel like you cannot trust the team to do everything on their own?

• Does it feel like team members come to you for answers to every small question?

• Is your company stagnating?

• Are you being CC’d on every e-mail your team sends?

• Are you participating in all the meetings?

• Are you the one who is talking the most in the meetings?

• Are projects piling up and waiting for your approval or feedback?

• No one shares or comes up with new ideas in the team?

• Does it feel like the company will fall apart if you disappear for three or more months?

If there is an answer “yes” to any of those questions, that is a clear sign of you micromanaging your team and it is time to investigate that. Do not start to reason - most likely it is because of your management style, not the “others”.

2. Act

The good news is that it is never too late to act and change how you manage, but it is not always easy.

I believe that the key to overcoming micromanagement is education - in most cases, we just do not know how to act differently, so I recommend starting by reading Multipliers - It is now a philosophical book on leadership, but a rather very practical book with examples and steps to take. This book allowed me to notice patterns in my management style, and I literally took the exercises described in this book and applied them with utmost dedication. (and they worked)

If you can afford it, find a mentor/coach to discuss the challenges you are having, and that should quickly highlight areas of micromanagement. Also, this is the best way to spot where your insecurities start to appear.

Change is awkward in the beginning - the team will not understand what is happening and what to do, but quickly, you will see that some individuals will start to become accountable and will be able to do everything on their own, but the ones that are not ready to adapt to you new leadership style should be changed.

To finish this off

Micromanagement is a silent killer - not only the company but even more importantly - you/founder/manager. The tricky part is to notice it, as we usually see only the manifestations of micromanagement, and we focus on these manifestations to try to solve them somehow, but micromanagement is the route to it. My goal was to share my experience and draw attention to it as this is not only about the team you are managing but also you. Share some ways to notice it and resources to work with it.

Next newsletter

Summer is hitting me hard - weddings, bachelor parties, boat/hiking/business trips, joined a company (will share this in another newsletter) and much more. I like it. Though it has been almost three months since last time I wrote something.

I have not sent any my work/life updates for a while, but honestly, a lot has happened during these months of beeing quiet and I will focus on that in my next newsletter - a lot to catch up.