Are you becoming a micromanager?

Early in my leadership, I thought I needed to be involved in everything.

Every decision.
Every update.
Every detail.

I told myself it was because I cared.

That was partially true.

But it was also fear.

Fear that things would fall apart without me.
Fear that I'd be blamed if they did.

What I didn't see at the time?

I was the problem.
I wasn't just a bottleneck.
I had become the thing I like least in a leader.

A micromanager.

I know my micromanager well now.

She shows up when I'm stressed.
Under a deadline.
Convinced that no one else can do it right.

And here's what's hard to admit:
In those moments, it feels like accountability.

It feels like leadership.
But it's not.
Micromanaging comes from fear.

Accountability comes from clarity.

Micromanaging says: I don't trust you to get this right.
Accountability says: I trust you, and I want us both to be clear on what success looks like.

The two can feel identical from the inside.
That's what makes it so easy to miss.

Knowing the difference changed how I lead.

So if you're in a season of pressure right now.
Before you step back in.
Before you take it back over.

Pause and ask yourself:
Which one is showing up here?