Build Trust and Lead without Micromanaging

Micromanagement frustrates your team and burns you out, too.

In this episode, we unpack why micromanagement happens, how it shows up in day-to-day business, and what to do instead if you want to build an empowered, capable, and motivated team. Letting go of control isn’t easy, but it’s essential if you want your business to grow without depending on you for every single decision.

We cover:

• Why micromanagement usually comes from fear, ego, or perfectionism
• How to delegate by explaining the “why” behind the work, not just the “what”
• The difference between stepping in during a crisis and chronic micromanaging
• How giving (and receiving) feedback builds trust and reduces oversight
• Practical ways to replace micromanagement with accountability and ownership

If you’ve ever caught yourself hovering over your team or holding back from delegating because you’re afraid of losing control, this conversation will help you step into true leadership and create the trust your business needs to thrive.

Ready to step into leadership without micromanaging? Our Empower360 Leadership Coaching will help you build the skills and systems to lead with trust, clarity, and confidence.

“When you explain the why, you build ownership. When you only give the what, you create dependency.” – Jores Minasvand

Transcript for “How to Avoid Becoming a Micromanager”

The transcript below was automatically generated. Please ignore any errors or inconsistencies in the text.

Anna Angelova   0:06
This is more than just task management. Hello, I am Anna Angelova, a business coach and consultant and a co-host of this awesome daily podcast where we help you build a thriving business. And I have my co-host Joris Minosan here with me. Hey, Joris. Happy Tuesday.
Happy Tuesday.

Jores Minasvand   0:26
Anna, happy Tuesday. How is everything?

Anna Angelova   0:31
Everything is very good. Like we started the week with talking about technology and dashboards and we’re both really, really big on data and doing seeing these kind of things. And when we were talking about this yesterday, I was just picturing all those different KPIs on dashboard, so.
It was really cool. And today we have another awesome topic. My favorite thing. I love a lot of things about building a business, but when it comes to people and talking about leadership, this is one of my favorites. So I’m excited about today’s topic.
Which is ultimately how to avoid becoming a micromanager.

Jores Minasvand   1:15
You’re the expert in this area. My patience is very limited in this area. I know I I like working with people, but then people happen. So you know it becomes too peopley and then I have to walk away. So I’ll let you get started and then I’ll.
I mean, I have, you know, I’m like a I’ve proven that I’m OK doing this, but yeah, I wish I had more patience like you did.

Anna Angelova   1:48
Don’t put yourself down because the way you empower people and the way you lead your teams, it’s amazing and such a great example. But this is a conversation for another day. Now when it comes to managing people, right, especially.
If it’s the first time you’re starting to like either hire or outsource some of your work you’re doing, it can be hard. It can be hard because you as the business owner, you started a business like you build everything up from the ground and you’re doing everything.
And getting to have someone to do the work for you without you micromanaging can be challenging. And it’s normal. It’s normal because we do get attached to what we do. We get attached to like, it’s our baby. This business is our baby and we.
You want to make sure that everything is OK and if you are worried that you might be micromanaging people, awesome because like it shows that you have a lot of self-awareness and this is a good step, the first step to any kind of change and any kind of growth.
So you as the leader, ultimately.
You don’t know until you get into that situation. You don’t know how you’ll show up as a manager. You don’t know how you’ll show up as a leader. And we’ve talked about delegation before. So learning more about delegation and you can listen to the the the conversation we had about delegation, which was probably a few months ago.
Delegating properly is one of the first things you want to do, making sure that you delegate not just the what needs to be done, but why it needs to be done, what’s the reason behind it and trusting people, trusting people. What I actually want to focus in today’s conversation.
And where I want to start actually today’s conversation is that, as I said, until you are put into the situation, you don’t know, you don’t know how to show up as a manager and as a leader, so.
The fact that you’re starting to run a-team now, whether you hire people or you outsource work, you need a-team now is amazing. You’ve done great job. So one of the best things you could do is.
Approach this with a learning attitude that this is something new. You are doing this for the first time and chances are that you might actually micromanage it from time to time and that’s OK, so.
Get feedback from your people. Get feedback. This is one of the places where being a little bit vulnerable, we take you’re my first hire. It’s the first time I’m hiring someone and we are building this business together now.
And I will provide feedback for you as as you do the work and I also would appreciate your feedback to me. If you catch me micromanaging you, let me know. Let me know in the moment because the best feedback we get and the best feedback we can give.
Is as close to to the moment when it happens as possible. So this is one thing that for you to not become a micromanager like yes, it’s OK like you might micromanage at moments.
And this is a natural tendency and something that naturally can happen. But for you to not become a micromanager, to kick this habit out, not make it a habit, ultimately not make it a habit, getting feedback.
Empowering your employees, your team to get back to you and tell you in that situation over there, this was micromanaging. It can allow you to see how can you do differently, what can you do in a different way? So it’s not, it’s not micromanaging.
It’s not telling people do this and being behind their back all the time and monitoring what’s going on and all these kind of things. And ultimately, when I think about it, the whole thing starts with mindset. And that’s why I said that the best way you can approach this new journey is with the mindset of a learner, mindset of a beginner.
Are a beginner manager, a beginner leader, and starting with that mindset, mindset of getting better every day and learning from, let’s call it mistakes, is one of the best ways you can approach this. And I know, Joris, you have a lot to share on the topic as well, so I will give you the mic now and hear your.
Dots.

Jores Minasvand   6:41
Well, there are a few things that also play a role in in someone becoming a micromanager. The hardest one to let go is I built this business on my own. It’s my baby. I can’t let it go.
If I let it go, somebody will kill my baby. I’ll lose control. So I think we keep talking about it. There are ways for you to monitor the health of your business without being a micromanager, without breathing down people’s necks and, you know, every minute asking them the other.
That I believe plays in is the I think they’re the same ego is pretty big and also the perfectionism where we have had say a few sessions about this where not everything has to be perfect for it to go live, not everything has to be done perfect.
Perfectly. So if you are the type that has an ego that says I want things perfect and I’m the only one who can do it, you will be limited to the number of hours a week that you can work and the number of dollars that you can bring in. You will never become a manager. Even market managed people and and people will leave.
I am the worst person to micromanage. Literally. I’ve had to turn around to people and say in the beginning of my career, I had to turn around and tell the person that if you keep watching me, I will stop working because I cannot work while somebody’s watching me.
It’s just the way up. So there are different ways to peel an apple. Your way may be good, the good way, but there may be four different other good ways. So for you to have that ego and say no, not only you’re going to do it, but you’re going to do it my way. Well done. Why you hired me to do it so.
Let go of the ego. Let go of the perfectionism. Trust people like we said, but don’t lose control. Monitor what they do. If they prove to you that they can’t, then these are the people who have to be micromanaged. You got to hire someone to micromanage them or remove them from that position.
Whatever it will be. But you have to let things go. You have to trust people that they cannot. And there’s a reason you hire people, right? A lot of companies, they hire people and tell them what to do. Well, why did you hire me if you’re going to tell me what to do? And I’ve had this conversation with a lot of companies that they hired me as a contractor.
First or the second day. By the end of the week I was gone. I I I stopped. There’s no point. I won’t be valuable. If you hire, want to hire a drone, why are you paying me? Go pay. Get someone who knows how to mimic what you want. Much cheaper, the 10th of my cost.
And get them doing to do it. So learn how to the delegate and let go, but keep monitoring, jump in when needed. But again, when you jump in when needed, doesn’t really have to be micromanagement.
Like today I had a session where one of my guys worked with one of the developers. They created something that I already asked them. It was 1617 pages of technical detail on how something was done the wrong way and how it needed to be done the right way.
I explained to to him that this is fantastic. This is what should have the analysis that should have been done. Now create one page summary where you talk about item number one done this way. Why should it be done this way? What are the caveats dot dot dot. Send me that summary.
That was it. I didn’t tell him, oh, use this, use this and that was it. Within 8 minutes we were off the call. He is now working on it. He will come back and then he I will take what he’s done. I will convert it into what my vision is and I will show it to him.
Over time, I see that he’s starting to understand what I’m, you know, what’s unapplied about, which I cannot micromanage 60 people needs. So eventually your people will give you what you want. But yeah, for you to grow, you can only put a liter of water in in a in a.
In a pint of glass, right? Or is it a pint or a liter? Doesn’t matter. That’s another joke. But for you to get to have 3 liters or three pints of water, you need 3 glasses. So it’s very simple. You have to let go or.
The people will leave your company. I’ve seen people leaving because of being micromanaged. I mean, so yeah, it’s it’s really hard, but you need to get out of it, trust your baby with someone else, and if they hurt your baby, then you deal with it.

Anna Angelova   11:28
What came to my mind as you were sharing this is 11 phrase that is inspect what you expect, especially in the beginning, but as well as things start working constantly. Like you said, you don’t, you never remove the you’re always in control.
Because like you are always the the the owner, like you always need to pay attention to what’s going on and just to summarize like the conversation we’ve had so far.
If you’re worried about becoming a micromanager or you see that you might even have gone in that direction, first and foremost your own mindset, getting out of that ego, you phrased it so well, George, like the ego is such a that my my way is the right way.
Kind of thing. Being open to learn and grow that you might not be doing something the right way. And now what we’re talking about as well, the other thing, the another key component. So what your mindset is the first key component.
A mindset of empowering people, a mindset of continuous growth and learning. The other key component that is kind of underlying in our conversation today is getting the right people. It’s so, so key and that’s why we’ve had these conversations before where we talk about how.
How to find, how to hire, how to onboard people, getting the right person, because when you have the right person, you don’t need to micromanage them. So having the right person is a very, very key component as well.
Or not just the right person, the right people, an A team. When you have an A team, you don’t need to micromanage them. You barely need to manage them. You just need to lead them and show them the way and empower them to succeed together with you. And of course the thing that we mentioned as well.
Uh.
Learning how to delegate properly, how to give the work properly, provide the feedback, like monitor what’s going on, in fact what you expect and that continuous learning. It goes both ways for you as the leader and the manager now and also for for your team.
You said with time people learn, they learn that all this is what’s expected here. This is when I prepare something for the owner, this is this is the level of detail I need to provide. But if I prepare something for the person sitting next to me, this is the type of.
These are the details I need to put in. So people learn as long as you have the right people with the right attitude, the right skill set, all these kind of things, and you have the mindset to empower yourself and them, the things will be very, very good.

Jores Minasvand   14:31
And you need to add this to your hiring. We talked about a few weeks ago, we talked about what you need to include in your hiring, right? When you are interviewing people, you need to ask yourself as you speak, you listen to the person.
Handle themselves and answer questions and say it and present themselves. Is this someone I can trust or is this someone I’m going to micromanage? Should I hire this person? What role am I hiring this person? Maybe if you’re adding a sixth person to a team of five that has the manager, you won’t worry about that, but if you’re hiring a manager.
That reports directly to you or a director or a CFO or whatever. You need to ask you those, ask those questions at the time or before you hire them, re or or test them, even ask them questions.
One of the biggest problems I have had where, and I’ve instilled this into my team, it took a little while, but it worked was the opposite of micromanagement where they were so trying to be so independent they were failing.
And I had to step in and say you’re failing because you’re not asking me for help, because you’re not asking me to jump in at the right time. That in in a in a cyclical way.
Forced me to manage. So for six weeks I jumped on every call and I said you guys need help, you guys need help, you guys need help, you guys need help, you guys need help. Do you see what you’re doing to me? You’re wasting my time. I have to not jump and ask you because I can’t trust you asking me for help.
on your own so these are but eventually they realize and now they do they do they they know when to ask questions so these are things that it’s also the culture and so include that in your culture include that in your hiring and
Have people you can trust and you don’t have to micromanage anyone.

Anna Angelova   16:35
And what you were saying is another example that it’s all learning process and people, you mentioned culture, people who come into your company, they come from other places, they come from outside and a lot of them might be used to being micromanaged, they might not even be.
Thinking in ways that I own this, this is my responsibility and accountability. And then when there’s something I can reach out to you and ask for help. So it takes time. It takes time for people to get used to your culture. It takes time for people to get used to your way of working.
And the business, your business and bring the best out of themselves. But again, it all starts with you as the business owner, with your mindset, with you stepping up into the leader you are and you can possibly be and the fact that you’re listening to this conversation today and taking steps.
To ensure that you don’t become a micromanager. Yes, from time to time you might micromanage. And actually the thing is that in some situations you might need to micromanage. You might need to tell people do this, do this, do this. In some situations this might be required.

Jores Minasvand   17:49
Mm.

Anna Angelova   17:55
In urgent, urgent situations, this might be where like you, you’re like you do this, you do this, you do this, and that’s perfectly OK. It doesn’t mean you’re becoming a micromanager, it’s just that you are facing a situation that requires you to to.

Jores Minasvand   18:01
Yep.

Anna Angelova   18:11
Use micromanaging as a tool and it’s completely different thing like when you use something as a tool versus this thing using you and and like you don’t even realize. So anyway, I know we’ve talked quite a lot and I think you have something else to share.

Jores Minasvand   18:24
Yeah.
Yeah, the about the culture. Interestingly, the the people that I I I had in my team, I dug in, dug in, dug in and I found out that they came from a culture where if you ask for help, you get fired.
People, actually there are companies out there who fire people for asking for help, which is like again, I think I mentioned this in one of our podcasts before since 1995 that I’ve been, I’ve been in IT and business and data and analytics.
Career I’ve had, I’ve seen and had to dealt with two good managers, real managers. The rest were just.
Might have. They wouldn’t probably be able to manage a barn full of cows. We forget about people and and oh, I forgot about something else I wanted to say. Are they asking for help? And yeah, I I lost the chain of my thought, but there was something else I wanted to say. But yeah.
It’s.
Oh yeah, I remembered. When you jump in and you say you do this, you do this, you do this, you do this. That’s a one time thing. That’s not micromanagement. That’s jumping into help. Micromanagement is chronic.
Micro management is every minute of every hour of every day that somebody comes to work and you breathe over on on on their neck behind their screen and say, did you do this? Did you do it this way? Did you do it the right way? Where is it? No, no, this is not right. You send it back. No, this is not right. Send it back. That’s just.
Rather than you sit them down and say this is my vision, this is what I think, what I want.
The result, how you do it, how long you take to do it, that’s up to you. The deadline is 2-3 days from now. Go do it and and if you need help, ask for help. That’s not micromanagement. Markromanagement is something that’s chronic and it’s very stressful.

Anna Angelova   20:28
Yeah, when it’s chronic and this is what we’re talking about that not becoming a micro manager like someone who does this chronically and and continuously and drive people away because at some points you might tell people what to do and how to do it. And these are those urgent situations where you are facing a.
Crisis and and in that in that situation you ultimately need to act in this way. But anyway, fantastic conversation, Joris. Your passion showed up so much in this conversation and you brought so many.
Again, stories and examples, and it’s always such a pleasure listening to this and hearing what you bring to the table. Thank you. Thank you so much and.
If you are listening to our podcast today, to this episode today, and it made you think about you as the leader, how you’re showing up and how can you become a better leader? Fantastic. I will add the link to our Empower 360 leadership coaching.
So you can check it out and empower yourself to become the best possible leader you can be.
Fantastic. Happy.

Jores Minasvand   21:44
Fantastic. Happy to share.

Anna Angelova   21:46
Thanks, Yoris. See you tomorrow when we’ll be talking about the processes that you should never delegate as a founder. So it’s interesting how we have this today. Yep.

Jores Minasvand   21:49
Thank you. Bye.
The opposite of will tell you how to micromanage. No, no, that again, there’s a difference between management and micromanagement. You can manage without being even present.

Anna Angelova   22:10
Yes, you have.

Jores Minasvand   22:10
If you have given your people the right culture, the right instructions, the right enable them properly, you can manage without being there.

Anna Angelova   22:22
We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

Jores Minasvand   22:22
So we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

Anna Angelova   22:25
Yep, exactly. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. So enjoy your Tuesday. I would challenge you to do one thing that makes you a better leader and manager today. One thing, like one thing, whatever it is, I’ll let you choose. It might be something that came up based on the conversation we had.

Jores Minasvand   22:57
Look forward to it.