Don't be that kind of leader!

You know the one who hovers and micromanages his people, fails to delegate or does the work himself when he receives pushback or suspects it won't be done the way he wants. I get it, there is a lot at stake and you don't want to screw things up. Let me ask you though - is this sustainable, is this what you and your employees truly want?

So what is the downside of continuing to behave like a helicopter boss? For one, if you continue to spend too much time on the tasks that are meant for your team, your work will be multiplied by the number of people in whom you have so little faith. It won't take long for you to fizzle and slowly burn out. Secondly, aren't there other things you are supposed to be doing with your time? Like market research, planning product and business strategy, spending time with customers, focusing on executive and external communications, improving organizational processes, networking for resources etc. And, lest you forget, creating a high performance team! When you operate in this way you are not fully leveraging your resources, so the team's overall output and performance is way below its potential.

Here are possible reasons why you may find yourself doing this:

Staying in your Comfort Zone: Maybe you are really good at the job of a product manager, and you don't want to give it up. Getting hands on with the product, coming up with stellar designs, hashing it out with developers, is where you shine, and no one can do it as well as you. People have noticed and rewarded you for these skills, and it's probably why you got promoted in the first place. Perhaps, like many other people, you are staying in your comfort zone, where you feel safe and content. But like the quote says, "if you are not living on the edge, you will never see the view." It's at the edge - when you are feeling a bit off-kilter, slightly queasy or uneasy, observing the vastness and possibilities in front of you - that's where you will begin to experience your greatest growth. When you feel yourself sliding back into your comfort zone, take a deep breath, move one step forward and get closer to the edge.

Fear: Perhaps you remain controlling, simply out of fear. Fear of what will happen if you take your fingers off the remote. Acknowledge and recognize this fear for what it is - a normal, natural and not unexpected response to the critical responsibilities that you own. However if you as the leader are operating out of fear, chances are you are propagating a fear-based culture to others on your team. This affects psychological safety, stifles creativity and can be a huge performance detractor, so it is certainly not the best approach. Seek to change your perspective, stop focusing on everything that can go wrong, and instead imagine a wildly successful present in which everything is going right. Paint a vision of where you want to go, filled with the incredible possibilities that you see, and use that to inspire and motivate your team.

Lack of Trust: Can you imagine how it must feel to be an employee that the manager doesn't trust. Very uncomfortable and demotivating for sure. First ask yourself, is your concern about their performance, abilities or motives warranted? Is this an issue with you - perfectionism, unfair expectations, lack of understanding of their situation etc. - or is this truly an issue with them? Face the challenge head on, discuss or analyze potential solutions, make a decision and take action. Communicate with your employee in an empathetic and productive way. Recommend training or learning opportunities to deal with performance challenges; suggest activities or roles that play to their strengths; or if necessary take decisive action to allow them to move on. The key is not to let this situation drag on too long, as personnel challenges will impact performance and affect how others perceive you and your team.

Inexperienced Employees: Perhaps your employees are fairly green and still require a lot of hand holding. Your natural inclination may be to spend a lot of time with them to help them get their work done. This may be ok initially, but if you are following a training approach similar to "show me, help me, let me" then you need to quickly move past the "show me" and "help me" stages to letting them get the work done themselves. Provide small tasks for them to complete immediately within a few days or a week. Keep building on this and expanding the scope to propel them in the right direction while allowing them to achieve a sense of accomplishment.

New to Management: Perhaps you are new to your role as a people leader. You mean well but haven't figured out the right balance of delegation and support. Your job is to provide clear direction on the expectations including the desired outcomes, timeline and key measures of success. You should also point them to relevant resources and schedule reviews. When you check in on progress, listen, ask questions, help them identify areas of importance that they may have missed, make suggestions when needed, but let them continue to own the task. Remember, your success is very much dependent on the success of your people, so do whatever you can to help them quickly learn and grow.

Insecurity and/or Desire to Please: Perhaps you were their peer before you became their manager, and you are hesitant to assign them responsibilities as you're not sure how they will respond. They may not think you deserve the promotion or are wondering what they could possibly learn from you. Perhaps they even said as much directly to your face. But don't let this get to you. You got the promotion because you deserve it. Be confident, be bold and embrace your role as the leader. Invite them to lunch or arrange a catch up meeting on zoom. Share what you've learned about the organizational objectives, and let them know that you would like to collaborate with them on how best to achieve these goals. Explain how their experience, skills or knowledge in a certain area is going to be very valuable and integral to the success of the group. Spend time to understand their career aspirations and work with them to map out a realistic career plan. Earn their respect by honoring your commitments to them, and continue to keep them high on your priority list. If you stay consistent, you will have new allies who are excited to be part of your team.

Nelson Mandela once said "There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." This could be applied not just to your life purpose or mission, but to how you conduct yourself at work. If you see the world as filled with problems and threats, rather than with possibilities and opportunities, you are limiting your power and the degree of impact that you can make. Trust yourself and your team to do great things, and you will discover what I already have - that great leaders bring out the best in their people, and that your team will rise to the occasion, and exceed your expectations when you give them the chance.