e047 Intolerable Bosses: The Micro Manager

​The Leadership Brothers are back to expose one of the most common types of Intolerable Bosses, the dreaded Micro Manager.  Everyone agrees, Micro Managing is far too common in today’s workplace. It seems like every organization has at least one Micro Manager. 

Exposing the Micro Manager
The Micro Manager is constantly staring over your shoulder, obsessing over every move you’re making, every step you take. They want to know what your going to do before you even do it. They want to now what’s in your calendar, who you are meeting with and when, what’s going to happen as a result of that meeting and what time you will have specific results completed. 

The impact of Micro Management is devastating. This brand of Intolerable Boss has an overpowering compulsion to make it clear to themselves and everybody else that they are in charge. So the first and most obvious impact is that they’re the bosses that rob you of autonomy. 

Another impact that Micro Managers have is that, because they insist on being involved in every detail of your work, and are more concerned about specifics, such as font size, rather than the big picture, they are stealing opportunities for their people to learn, grow and develop new skills. Micro Managers are obsessed with controlling the decisions and the outcomes. They own it, you are nearly their Minions doing the work that they decide is important.

The world revolves around these Intolerable Bosses. While they’re sucking the soul out of the organization’s culture, they are also creating a Blast Radius of demoralized employees all around them. This, in turn, impacts productivity, stifles innovation and it pretty much ensures that every customer is going to become a Demoter, rather than a Promoter. 

How to Survive a Micro Manager
(listen to the show for details on each)
1. Figure out if you ARE Micromanaged

2. Don’t fight

3. Seek To Understand

4. Look In The Mirror 

5. Increase trust

6. Find Out What They Need To Loosen His/Her Grip 

7. Make upfront agreements

8. Keep your boss in the loop

9. Give feedback, only if appropriate


As we’ve said on previous Intolerable Bosses shows, if none of these strategies work, you need to ask yourself if you really want to work there. If your work environment has become toxic, you should consider transferring to another part of the company or finding another job.

Looking for more details? Listen to episode 47 and feel free to contact the Leadership Brothers for support:


Links
Terry Lipovski’s Email: terry@ubiquity.coach
Ubiquity Coaching Website: www.ubiquity.coach
Pat Lipovski’s Email: pat.lipovski@envisiongroup.ca
Envision Group Website: www.envisiongroup.ca


Next Week’s Show:
Leading With EQ with Soul Coach, Renuka Mohan