CEOs are Leaders , NOT managers. And least of all, micro managers.

What Makes a True CEO…
Essentially, the CEO is a true leader, influencer, innovator, empoweror and more. And yes, they should be respectfully feared, yet revered and trusted beyond doubt.

The leadership qualities, being comfortable calling the shots, persuading others to see things their way, being accountable for the end results from his decisions, ability to manage crisis & most importantly, trusting his subordinates and empowering them with certain level of decision making are critical success factors. Possessing such qualities not only relieves him of loads of responsibilities but helps to groom the subordinates for greater tasks.

Defining "Micro Managing"
Micro managing takes on the traits of being passive aggressive. It bespeaks of a state of mind which is deep seated and internalized from within. It stems from a deep sense of insecurity, a constant mistrust of subordinates which gives rise to the intense desire to constant manage the lower ranks of the corporate echelons ensure that activities are done the way he, the CEO wants. It is a compulsion which overwhelms the person to the extent that it is difficult to extricate himself from and the desire to micro manage becomes him. And of course, this definition assumes that the company managed by the CEO has competent staff.

How Ugly can Micro Management be to Corporate Business?
Hence, the characteristics of a micro manager conflicts directly with that of a CEO. In addition, by micro managing, the CEO is communicating a sense of distrust with his subordinates, giving rise to morale and job security issues.

Micro managing drastically narrows the depth and breadth of a CEO’s strategic thought perspective, which in turn is detrimental to the growth of the company. Corporate Stakeholders expect CEOs to be progressive, forward looking and thought leading, not regressive and inward looking in perspective.

Not to mention that CEO micro managing causes discord amongst staff as reporting lines become blurred and lack proper assignment of accountability structure. Ignoring the repercussions, the end result is either the CEO or his staff will eventually phase themselves out of the scene.

Internalize Change and Rid that Micro-Manager from Inside You
The first step to liberalizing your staff and Yourself, is to Search your soul & Admit your micromanagement tendencies. Then identify the root cause of your micro management compulsions. Take action to initiate discussion with your personal life coach for guidance to uproot the problem.

For a start, do what is expected of a CEO. Execute Delegation whilst constantly getting feedback and consultation from your personal life coach to progressively phase out your micro management tendencies.

If All Fails ….
If all fails, you could still micro manage and yet succeed. Micro managing is a form of management style well suited to startups where every function of the newly setup entity requires attention, thus fitting the micro management style.

Hence, for as a corporate CEO who cannot resist but to micro manage, do consider joining a startup or start one. And you will still reign…