It’s been almost a year since the larger corporate workforce transitioned into isolation. Adaptations have been tough, technical bandwidth had to be enhanced and those of us who depend on social interaction were forced to pivot. Eventually, we all figured it out. While there cannot be a silver lining in a time of such tragedy, the way in which we lead may have been altered for good.
Time and time again, I’ve written about the harm micro-management brings to those we intend to motivate. I also espouse carrots over sticks when it comes to driving business results. Where micro-management has often been ascribed to outdated management styles or to those under-qualified to lead; no one expected it to miraculously vanish. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic jump-started a few key events that have an effect one’s intent to micro-manage:
- Without a hand on one’s shoulder or an eye on their cubicle a monolith called trust has washed over the workforce.
- The aforementioned under-qualified have been forced to relinquish control.
Control…. there are many in management positions who sought out a climb of the corporate ladder to attain it. Whether lack of self worth, a miserable home life or a lack of social grace all together; a great many people got into management so that work would be the one place where they could tell others what to do. If we are being honest, those who seek to control simply do so because the concept of trust is not something they are confident enough to exercise.
Micro-management is an affect of insecurity not confidence. It is easy to implement because there is no grey area: the rules are the rules and they are there to be followed. Everything has a process and negotiation isn’t an option.
How We’ve Always Done It Around Here
I’ve had 10 bosses in my 20 years in Corporate America, six have been good and four have been bad. Of the four bad bosses, two were really bad. These were people who were not only disinterested in my success but they genuinely disliked me. In fairness, I was unmanageable at a certain point in my career, but that doesn’t validate the baseless bullying I faced on a daily basis.
The characteristics of a bad boss:
- Inability to admit fault
- Inflexible in process
- The same template for every conversation
- Too busy to genuinely invest in interpersonal connection
- Subtle approach to wanting credit for the success of others
- Manage by a task list simply for the sake of delivering orders
The aforementioned faults have not disappeared during the work-from-home transition but the ability to apply them sure has. Today, one who seeks to bully others into results lacks the non-verbal tactics that serve to intimidate. Micro-Managers cannot burn precious working hours in repetition of process that only seeks to program people to follow structure. The uncertainty that a micro-manager feels when others are not under their nose is simply out of one’s control when their employees work from home.
Even the most-controlling of leaders has had to accept that trusting their under-studies to perform is now permanently part of the process.
Keep The Change
We all are aware that teaching an old dog new tricks can be difficult. How many times have you heard, “that’s just the way Jim does things”. The ongoing saga of protecting poor behavior that continues a vicious cycle: protect the ineffective as the superstars of tomorrow hop off the talent merry-go-round. What a shame. To uphold tradition to the extent that you’d risk shutting your doors a decade hence.
Everyone is capable of adjusting their leadership style and the work-from-home transition might just be the cause-and-effect to inspire such change.
Characteristics of a confident leader:
- Allow people to try, fail and learn
- Ability to relinquish control
- Seek to question and listen (as opposed to instructing)
- Work to adapt before asking others to do so
- Support by example
- Learn confidence through experience
The characteristics of confident leaders seem so much easier to control and implement than those traits of bad bosses. Why then do so many people fail to embrace what will assuredly make their job easier?
Trust involves faith. Faith is the ability to give power to the unknown. When we leave our need to control process an element of hope is necessary. As the worst boss I’ve ever had would often iterate: Hope is not a strategy. I completely disagree with that sentiment. If we don’t walk into the (virtual) office every day with a sense of hope then what are we fighting for?
If your employees dislike you, you have a problem (if you are unaware that you are unpopular, we’ve got a bigger problem). You don’t have to be your employee’s best friend nor do you have to be an a-hole to get things done. Be a person that people admire.
5 years from now, no one will care if you won Manager of the Year. 10 years from now, no one will care that you had the best results of any team in the organization. But, everyone will remember the way you treated them on a personal level…. and the people you see on the way up, you’ll see on the way back down. Spending your career bullying others into results ends in one of two ways:
- An empty room at your retirement party.
- You calling your former employee to introduce them to a pyramid scheme that you’ll milk for the final 10 years of your “career”.
Wouldn’t you rather make a difference in people’s lives so that the skills you teach can be carried on for generations to come? Would you rather be remembered as a person who built a legacy of success or to be pitied as the worst boss ever? People don’t forget: good for good and bad for bad.
You can decide right now to embrace the future and change the world.
Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way!
- Dave Kovacovich
