What Steve Jobs Understood about Leadership That Today’s Bosses Forget

Many leadership teams I've coached tend to have a subtle tension beneath the surface. On the one hand, leaders want excellence, accountability and results they can stand behind. On the other hand, they say they want empowered people who take initiative and think for themselves. The problem is that those two outcomes cannot coexist if trust is missing. At some point, a leader has to decide whether they actually believe their people will deliver without constant micromanagement.

The part most leaders skim past in that Jobs quote is "without watching them all the time." That is the dividing line between real teamwork and well-intentioned micromanagement.

Less micromanagement, more trust

Micromanagement is not simply an annoying habit; I believe it leads to a lot of unnecessary suffering. It is also quite a contradiction. When a leader says, "I trust you,” but then rewrites every document, inserts themselves into every meeting and asks for updates that signal control and doubt rather than support and encouragement, the behavior quietly cancels the words. Over time, people stop stretching. They stop making decisions without approval. They stop taking smart risks because they assume the leader will step in anyway. What began as a desire for ownership and creativity slowly turns into a culture of dependency.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Inc.