Theodore Roosevelt once said, as quoted by White (2010), “the best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” This great wisdom is too frequently ignored, and at great cost to morale and productivity. In essence, Roosevelt was describing the leader’s fundamental role, leverage the strengths of the team, facilitate their success, and get out of the way of their productivity. Unfortunately in my experience, I have seen several young professional leaders who, due to insecurity in their leadership abilities, or simply inexperience, develop into micromanagers.
Today, taking the advice of a later mentor of mine, I count myself lucky to have been subjected to a severe micromanager; in so much as it has given me perspective on the issue, and has allowed me to avoid projecting the same behavior onto my team. “Micromanagement usually refers to inappropriately close observation and control of a subordinate's work by a manager” (Davenport, 2010). And so, detail by detail, my micromanager would comb over my work; eager, it seemed, to find the minutest infraction. To this day I don’t know for sure why he behaved that way, but it had the common effect of dampening my productivity and lowering my morale. I became disenfranchised with my organization due to the constant scrutiny and negative feedback, and consequently, my expectations of promotion diminished. I knew I would be continue to be unsuccessful; I was miserable and wanted nothing more than to resign from an organization that just a few months ago I dreamed of running. While my supervisor might have thought he was being meticulous and thorough, “subordinate staff ...
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...kind of mentoring relationship that I, and my team, benefit from today.
Works Cited
Davenport, T. O. (2010). Who Says Micromanagement Is Bad?. Businessweek.com, 8. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jul2010/ca2010072_957042.htm.
Madlock, P. E. & Kennedy-Lightsey, C. (2010). The effects of supervisors’ verbal aggressiveness and mentoring on their subordinates. Journal of Business Communication, 47(1), 42-62.
Manthey, G. (2001). When leadership gets lonely, find a friend. Leadership, 30(5), 11.
Presutti, M. (2006). Is micromanagement killing your staff?. Nursing Homes: Long Term Care Management, 55(2), 34-38.
Weyand, J. (1996). Micromanagement: Outmoded or Alive and Well?. Management Review, 85(11), 62.
White, R. D. (2010). The Micromanagement Disease: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Cure. Public Personnel Management, 39(1), 71-76.
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Huber, D. (2010). Leadership and Nursing Care Management (4th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
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Riggio, R. E. (2009, Oct. 29). Four things you can do to become a better leader. Psychology Today. Retrieved from