COULD YOUR PERFECTIONISM BE HOLDING OTHERS BACK?
Are you micromanaging?
As a leadership coach for executive women, I often see this pattern emerge from a place of excellence and high standards. You’ve built your career on attention to detail and consistent delivery. Now, as a leader, those same qualities might be holding both you and your team back.
Signs you might be micromanaging?
🤚 You feel anxious when not copied on every email
✋🏿 You find yourself redoing your team’s work to match your preferred style
🤚🏽 You’ve heard phrases from your team such as “I wanted to check with you before proceeding”
✋🏾 You’re constantly ‘checking in’ with your team members in advance of agreed deadlines
🤚🏻 Your calendar is packed with status update meetings
Here’s what’s really happening.
Your perfectionism isn’t just about the work — it’s about control. Often, it’s masking a deeper fear of failure or judgment that many executive women experience. And understandably so, given the often impossible double standards and unreasonable expectations we’ve all encountered on our journeys to executive leadership.
Problem is, even with the best intentions, micromanaging is a surefire pathway to burnout, for yourself AND your teams.
It destroys trust and aggravates stress.
It prevents your team members taking responsibility for their own performance and diminishes their buy-in towards agreed objectives.
It creates a vicious cycle of reduced confidence, indecisiveness and upward delegation, with more and more of the ‘doing’ on your own schedule when your most important work is leading.
The way forward?
Start by asking yourself: “What am I afraid will happen if I step back?”
Your answer might surprise you.
Remember: Your role as executive leader isn’t to be the best ‘doer’ any more. It’s to create an environment in which others can do their best work and fulfil their own highest potential. Relax the reins and let them shine as they support you in accomplishing your vision. There’s truly nothing more satisfying than watching your teams perform beyond their own expectations.
If this is something you know you struggle with and could use some support addressing, let’s make time for a chat.
