GripLessening

Leaders who want to control everything are like a ship trying to move through water while dragging the anchor.

That micromanaging behavior has the following impact on those charged with producing the outcomes:

• Frustration - constant over-the-shoulder critique and nitpicking generates frustration and passive resistance. Not good.
• Distraction - when constantly being pulled from "the work" for less consequential products, attention to pursuit of the big picture outcomes becomes diverted. Not good.
• Oversimplification - when badgered relentlessly over details and minutiae, effort is directed toward trending tangential data upward at the expense of the big picture. Not good.
• Contraction - relentless micromanaging almost always results in systemic self-protection and minimization of effort and innovation. Not good.

Lessening the grip while tightening the vision message is a very nice recipe for more productive troops and better organizational performance.

Leaders who clearly paint and persistently reinforce a noble and worthy vision - the big picture outcome desired - and allow great latitude in the processes of achieving it have the most productive, most energized, and most loyal teams.

Go ahead. Let go!