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Embracing Good Enough 75

where all efforts seem futile. It’s not the formula for attracting and
retaining the best and the brightest!
One more point: Micro-managers are seldom as good at delegating
as they think they are. It’s hard to retain the control that a microman-
ager needs and still give the other person the authority they need to be
empowered, accountable, and focused. Without some sense of auton-
omy and responsibility, employees don’t grow. They feel stifled, start to
doubt their capability, and probably see a lot of turnover around them.
Even if they stick around, they are likely to have low morale.
So, yes, if you are a micromanager, peers and bosses might appre-
ciate that you always have an answer for them right away or that you
catch something that wasn’t quite right that one time it really mat-
tered, but all in all, micromanaging is not good for you and it’s not
good for others. Following is a quick quiz to help you recognize the
impact your micromanaging tendencies might be having on those
around you.

Measuring Negative Impact

Consider whether you’ve gotten any of the following feedback either
formally or informally from your peers, staff, or bosses. If you
haven’t, maybe it’s because you’ve been too mired in details to notice.
Has anyone suggested that you . . .

____ Seem too mired in the details and have lost sight of the big
picture?

____ Are a doer (left unsaid: You aren’t a leader)?

____ Have a limited capacity for how much work you can
handle? (This can limit people’s confidence in your ability to
take on broader roles and bigger projects.)