When our “good(s)” is(are) unappreciated.

Some of you replied to my last email asking how micro-managing can be good.
I’ll answer in a roundabout way.

My clients aspire to do good as leaders.
Good to employees, customers,…
It’s like wanting to be good parents.
Who can argue with that?

The irony is that trying to do good has not made an impact or made things worse.
This is one reason why realizing empathy is so critical.

We have an image of what “good” looks like.
But that’s what we think.
Doesn’t mean others will also appreciate the image as “good.”

I owe one of my most amazing growth experience to being micro-managed.

To be empathic is to be context-sensitive.
Our “good(s)” are unappreciated? We’ve misunderstood the context.

A Matter of When Not Whether

We often think micro-management entails meddling with every little detail from the moment we delegate work to another person.

Actually, there is another form of micro-management.

This is where we give someone the autonomy to do whatever they want, only to meddle with every little detail once they bring back the fruit of their autonomous labor.

The only difference here is when we micro-manage, not whether we micro-manage.