Micromanagers – The Scourge of Corporate Life

If I was meant to be controlled, I would have come with a remote.

Genereux Philip

I know that all of you working in the corporate world have had at least one (or more) experience with a micromanager – and it’s never positive. At best, the micromanager lightens up a bit over time and the situation becomes tolerable (if they’re paying you enough money). At worst, you keep a letter of resignation in your word document file and every morning you come in, you correct the dates because you never know which day will be the one where you say ENOUGH! and send off the letter to the appropriate parties. Once you have the letter of resignation poised at the ready, it doesn’t matter how much they’re paying you (I can tell you from first hand experience).

The problem is that corporations breed this style of leadership. As you work your way up the corporate ladder you’ll eventually be promoted into a position with direct reports whether or not you have the people skills to be managing living, breathing people whose lives you’re capable of ruining. With no training (or little training after the fact), these new people managers are let loose on the unsuspecting population, wreaking havoc. They have no clue how to manage so instead, they micromanage. Some micromanage because they feel that in order to do their jobs they have to be in total control. Others micromanage because they crave power and micromanaging allows them to exert their power over you. Whatever the reason, the outcome is never good.

The joke in the corporate world is the overuse of employee engagement surveys which allows employees to anonymously express how they feel about their bosses, corporate culture, etc. The well-known micromanagers get abysmal employee engagement scores survey after survey, but nothing’s ever done. Eventually employees go survey blind and the micromanagers continue on as before without missing a beat. Nothing ever changes.

I’ve sadly come across very few good people managers in my long career. The old expression People leave managers, not companies is spot on. In fact according to Gallup polls, a full 50% of employees who quit cite their manager as the reason and 70% of the factors that contribute to your happiness and motivation at work are directly related to your manager.

Interviews are a two way street. Make sure that you have a list of questions prepared for the manager so that you can ascertain whether or not you want to work for them. Jobs are not unicorns. Don’t be afraid to pass on an opportunity where you see warning signs about the manager or culture. As I seek out a new opportunity for myself, I’ll be taking my own advice. 😁

If your job is to tell me how to do my job, you should at least know how to do my job.

Someecards

Make someone smile today.

Geri