674 | How to Stop Micromanaging and Build a Team You Can Trust

You don't micromanage because you're intense. You micromanage because deep down, you don't trust what's going to happen if you don't step in.

And here's the part most leaders never say out loud. You've been burned before, something went wrong, and now you've decided it's just easier if I do it.

But that decision is quietly keeping your business dependent on you. All of that is coming up next.

Welcome to the Chris LoCurto Show, where we discuss leadership and life and discover that business is what you do, not who you are.

Welcome to the show, folks. I hope you're having a fabulous day wherever you are.

Today, we're talking about micromanagement, but not the surface level version. Not just let go or just trust your team more. No, that's not what we're talking about.

Because if it were that simple, well, then you would have already done it. This is about what's actually driving it. Fear, frustration, unclear expectations.

And by the end of this episode, you'll know how to replace control with clarity so your team can take ownership and you can finally stop carrying everything.

So the shift that we are looking for is to go from control to clarity to ownership. We don't want to have to control it anymore. We want our team to have ownership. And the big connector here is clarity.

If we are clear on what that looks like, we can fix things. We can fix it by leading differently. You don't fix micromanagement by letting go. That never works. It never has.

You already know that. You fix it by leading with clarity.

Stop Calling It Excellence When It’s Actually Fear (00:01:56)

So first thing is, this is a tough one. Stop calling it excellence when it's actually fear. So let's be honest. You're not stepping in because of high standards. I know. That is what we tell ourselves.

That's what we were told by our leaders before us. You know, we're stepping in because it's high standard. I need to make sure that this is done with excellence.

Nope, you're stepping in because you don't want to deal with it being wrong again. You don't want that. You want it to be right. You want it to be solved. You want it to be good. You want clients happy. You want everything to work out.

The problem is that's not excellence. That's avoidance. That's keeping us from leading people to excellence.

So what is the shift? Well, instead of fixing it, define what right actually looks like before they start.

Help them to know. Say things like, hey, here's what success looks like, and fill that in.

If this gets done well and, you know, if it's something you've delegated or something like that, you already know what it looks like. Help them to see what success looks like.

If we are successful, this is what it's going to look like. Here's what great looks like. If we do this incredibly well.

This is what great looks like. Here's what people usually miss when they try to accomplish this, or, you know, here's things that I've messed up in the past or when I've tried to delegate this before.

Here's what, you know, here's what goes wrong. Whatever it is, help them to see the things that they're probably going to miss because this is their first time or so doing this, right?

So set them up for success. So what is a practical move before the next task? Ask what would this look like if it went really well? Ask them, get them to start speaking into it.

Get them to give their opinions, get them to think through. Because there's a really good chance an answer might be, I don't know. I. I've never done this before.

Okay, well, here's what doing the job looks like, or here's what the task looks like, or here's what success.

I've, I've explained these things. So what do you think it would look like if it went really well? Right? Say that to them. Ask that question.

Get them to think through it and make sure they don't just give you the same answer that you've given them. Right? Ask them to process through doing the entire task. And what would it look like if it goes really well?

Because here's leadership truth, folks. If you define excellence too late, then you're always going to end up fixing the problem.

So if you will get it defined and you will get them thinking for themselves and you will get them coming up with what good, great, successful looks like, then they have a target to hit.

They know what they're going after. So focus on that early.

Every Time You Take It Back, You Become the Bottleneck (00:04:56)

Number two, every time you take it back.

Listen to me here. You train dependence. You redo it because it's faster. You take it back because it's faster. But what you're actually doing is training your team.

Don't worry about this. The boss is going to handle it. You know, the owner will hand it, the team leader will handle it. Every time you take it back, what they come to understand is you're probably going to do it again.

So they don't have to take great ownership. They don't have to be phenomenal at it. They don't have to worry about failing because there's a really good chance you're going to come and take it back anyways.

And if it's something that they didn't want on their plate, then by not doing it the way you wanted to, you're going to come and take it back. Folks, that's got to change.

The shift is instead of taking it back, push it forward with perspective gathering. Ask questions wherever it's stuck. At the point that you would take it back or the point that you see that there's problems, lead with perspective gathering.

Hey, what do you think needs to happen here? What do you see? Do you see anything going wrong? What do you think it is? What, what would again, if we go back to what success looks like, are we there?

Is it happening right now? Go through an incredible amount of questions with the purpose of getting them to solve and think for themselves.

If you will do this, if you can get them to come up with great answers, if good answers, any answers, then what happens is you start training them to think, think for themselves instead of just waiting for you to come and solve the problem.

So next time you want to fix something, instead of fixing it, ask, hey, what do you think the next step is here?

Allow them time. If they don't give you a great answer, ask other questions to try and drive them toward the answer that you're looking for. Think about it.

The more that you do that, the more that they will open up their mind and start processing through and thinking through stuff when. Which is exactly what you want.

Another question you can ask is, hey, what would you do if I wasn't here?

Right now you're running into a problem, you have a struggle, you have whatever. What would you do if I wasn't here? Force ownership back on them to get them to think and to own. Right.

Because here's the leadership truth. Every time you take work back, you take growth away.

Every time you take work back, you take growth away. Stop doing that. Continue. Even though it's tough, it's difficult, continue to move forward with growth.

Clarity Removes Most of the Frustration You Feel (00:07:46)

Number three, clarity removes most of your frustration. This one stings a little bit because, you know, you've said before, well, they should just know, right?

But they don't because you never actually defined it. Or if you did define it, sometimes you might say, well, yeah, I totally told them. Did you ever have them repeat back to you exactly what it is that you're saying? Tell me what you're hearing me say.

Tell me what this should look like when I define success. Can you repeat it back to me in your words? You know, what does that look like to execute on that?

If you don't actually define it and make sure that they actually understand it, then the phrase they should just know this is no good, no bueno, that's not going to work.

So what's the shift? Stop assuming. Stop assuming that they understand everything.

That is such the worst direction to go. Instead, focus on making sure that you know that they know. So start by systematizing clarity. Use a. This is a simple framework that you can use.

Again, asking the question, what does success look like? But then asking the question, what does failure look like?

I will tell you that is usually a place that I will start. If I, if it's not the first thing I'm looking at, it's definitely the second thing.

What does failure look like? How could this fail? Right? What would not go right or what would not go well? Because for me, I'm, I'm, I'm a fixer. I'm a logical person. I'm--

I like to know what failure looks like so I can make sure it doesn't happen. That's pretty easy for me. But not a lot of people think that way.

So what does failure look like? And also ask, hey, when should you check in with me on this?

When do you think it would be a good time for you to get with me and just kind of go over and review and walk through all of this, kind of put it back on them.

All of these questions will eliminate most mistakes. If you've done all the other things first, define success. Been clear, all those expectations have been rolled out. Then asking these are going to help a ton of mistakes to get fixed.

So here's the leadership truth. Most frustration isn't a people problem. It's a clarity problem. It's a communication problem. It's an expectation problem.

Trust Requires Risk—But It’s the Only Way to Scale (00:10:25)

So number four, trust requires risk. So this is the one that leaders tend to avoid.

So you're, you're waiting for them to prove themselves. They. But they can't. And if you've never let them own anything fully, how can they?

If you continue to control the outcomes, then you cannot be surprised that they're not doing it.

If you don't help them to control the outcomes, if you don't guide and direct them to controlling the outcomes, then you can't be surprised that they're not doing it.

So if you want to trust them to control the outcomes and come up with good outcomes, it's going to take some risk on your part. What's the shift.

Stop controlling the outcomes. Start coaching through outcomes. This is what I expect, this is what it should look like.

Here's where you should be at this point, this point, this point when you're done, this is what the experience, the key result should look like. The key deliverables.

All of this stuff should be on the other side. So here's where we want to go now.

Let's talk through the strategy of how we're going to get there. If you can do that, then a practical move for you would be let something move forward without you touching it.

If you've had all of this discussion, clarity, expectations, outcomes, then you can take a little bit of a risk so that you can start trusting your team members with the very thing you're trying to move them forward with.

Yes, it's going to be uncomfortable. I can promise you it's going to be uncomfortable. But do it. Let something move forward without you touching it. Then review it if you can.

Now, I want to be very cautious with this.

I think it's a good thing to be reviewing along the way because that gives you so many options to help guide, direct, not through telling, but instead perspective gathering questions, helping them to think, helping them to process on their own.

But if you're able to, if you're able to review it after, it's got to be something that's not that big of a deal.

Then review it after and go through all the things that went wrong, all the things that went right. Start with the things that went right and what they could have done differently.

Don't beat them over the head that they did a terrible job. That's not going to help you grow a team member.

Instead, review it with what could you have done differently? How could this have gone? What percentage success was it when we defined success back in, you know, three months ago? It was this.

What do you think? What do you see here? Go through everything and help teach and train them. If you will do that, then they will be excited to go after the next project.

If all they get is, yeah, you really didn't do this, well, then guess what? The last thing they want is another project.

So here's the leadership truth. You don't build leaders by protecting results.

You just don't. You build leaders by allowing responsibility and then giving them space and then guiding and directing when things don't go well, but not telling.

Help them to learn, help them to grow. Now, if you're hearing this and you're thinking, yeah, that's exactly where I'm stuck, you and about a billion other leaders are in the same spot.

You are definitely not alone. This is one of the biggest ceilings that leaders hit, and it is exactly what we work through at our Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event.

So if you want to stop being the center of everything and help your team to take more control and more ownership and run with stuff and start building a team that actually runs with you, then check out the Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event at chrislocurto.com/liveevents.

I promise you this is exactly what you need for your leadership.

A Challenge For You (00:14:41)

All right, here's the challenge that I have for you this week.

Don't try to fix everything. I just want you to pick one area, one place where you always step in. And I want you to do this. Write out what excellence looks like, what it actually looks like. If it is being excellent. Right.

Number two, communicate it clearly. And number three, let it play out without interfering. I know it sounds tough, but I promise you this is going to be a great lifting moment in you, your leadership, your team member, and your culture.

So write out what excellent actually looks like. Communicate it clearly, let it play out with interfering, and then coach afterwards. Not during. I know. Normally I want you to do it during the whole entire process when you can.

Not micromanaging, but going along and checking in. But pick something that is small this week that you can do this with and then coach afterwards. Yes. It feels uncomfortable, right?

I'm sure it does. Good. That's a. If. If you're like, yes, it feels uncomfortable, good, that's great. That means you're finally leading differently, and that is okay.

So if your business still depends on you, it's not because your team is incapable. It's because your leadership hasn't shifted yet. That's what we solve at the Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event May 5th through the 7th.

We help you build a team that can think, decide, and execute without you caring everything.

So if you're ready for that shift, we'd love to see you there. Well, folks, micromanagement isn't the real issue. Fear is. Lack of clarity is. And leadership habits are.

Change those and you don't just free up your time. You build a business that no longer depends on you. And that is exactly what we should all be looking for. Well, I hope this has helped you today. As always, take this information.

Change your leadership. Change your business, change your life. And join us on the next episode.