You’re Not a Control Freak if …
You’re not a control freak if you send back a rare steak when you ordered medium.
#1. You’re not a control freak if you have high standards for yourself and others. But you’re a controlling jerk if you expect more from others than you expect from yourself.
#2. You’re not a control freak if you pay attention to details.
7 ways to pay attention to details without driving everyone crazy:
- Set deadlines and ask for reports. Explain why it matters and what you expect.
- Give people a chance to live up to your expectation, even if it means they fail.
- Respond quickly when people don’t live up to their commitments.
- Make room for people to excel after they demonstrate reliability.
- Notice where people tend to stumble. Assign work based on strengths and track-record.
- Reward people who bring up problems and issues before they get out of hand. Correct those who hide problems.
- Escalate your response to patterns of success or failure. Keep giving space as performance trends upward. Intervene more actively when performance trends downward. Think of this as the dance of intervention.
#3. You’re not a control freak if you expect people to perform up to their potential. You’re a bosshole if you nag about past failures.
#4. You’re not a control freak if you bring up awkward issues with kindness and forward-facing curiosity. You’re a jerk-hole if you hold people accountable to fuzzy expectations.
#5. You’re not a control freak if you expect people to correct their own mistakes. Anyone who consistently falls short needs at least one of the following:
- A new job.
- A new job description.
- Training.
- A new manager.
#6. You’re not a control freak if you know how to chill out with your team.
#7. You’re not a control freak when responsible failure is a learning experience. You’re a lousy leader when you tolerate patterns of failure.
How would you complete, “You’re not a control freak if …”?
I needed this today!
That’s great!
Great post Dan (loved “bosshole). Can’t think of much else to add about not being a control freak.
Perfect. Thank you!
You’re not a control freak if you care about the process. But you are if you always dictate the process.
You’re not a control freak if you get people to take true possession of their work …
Just because you are not tolerant of victim mentalities, rationalized excuses, and other forms of bs (necessarily including office & inter-silo politics) doesn’t make you a bad manager, it makes you a (team’s) leader.
Bring me a problem? Then bring me your best resolution with it, and we’ll work it through together. Facts and dialogue are mandatory. Eliminate (cut from the team/project) those that hide and obscure relevant and material issues.
Set the standards for excellence, but don’t expect perfection … expect good progress. Benchmarks and continual dialogue are not optional.
Make different individuals (in concurrence with their relative capacities) the primary lead at different stages of development of an initiative/project … make leadership itself a required skill, no matter the level of involvement … and followership, as well.
Great one Dan, I love #1 it says it all.” Do not expect more of others than you do yourself” that sums it up.
Your not a control freak if you are controlling a process to avoid it going out of control.
Thanks Dan. There is a lot of resistence to leadership in my field. A leader who is out to help those on the team do what they do not naturally want to do so that they become what they really want to become is not a control freak.
Dear Dan,
Quite an interesting post!
I would like to add 4 more points to your list
8. You’re not a control freak if you consult others and take their views before deciding.
9. You’re not a control freak if you do performance appraisal objectively and help the staff to get motivated.
10. You’re not a control freak if you treat a woman employee respectfully without differentiating and assign her challenging tasks to excel and shine.
11. You’re not a control freak when you consider yourself also as an employee and treat the staff as part of one family to achieve common goals.