The motivational micromanager

Abstract

Micromanagement is a well-known phenomenon in the modern workplace. However, there’s a new subtype of micromanager: the motivational micromanager. This type of manager is showing up more and more in offices around the globe, and they can be as dangerous to innovation and team motivation as traditional micromanagers. The objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of the motivational micromanager, a leader who believes that when they give advice and detailed instructions, often with a smile and great enthusiasm, they are motivating their employees to succeed. Micromanagement is seen by many as even dangerous to organizational success and employees who work for motivational micromanagers are also at risk for burnout and quiet quitting because they, too, feel the strain of following detailed instructions, respecting a rigid regime, and avoiding mistakes at all costs. We discuss how motivational managers can shake free of the delusion that they are serving their employees. They need training and support to learn how to encourage others to come up with their own solutions, to create positive work cultures where innovation flows, to give and receive feedback without fear of retaliation, and to accept that mistakes are part of the learning process. The motivational micromanager borrows from two leadership constructs of empowerment and micromanagement. On the one side leaders wish to empower others with the best intentions and a motivational approach, on the other hand however the reality of the execution indicates a new sub-form of micromanagement. The distinctive contribution of this paper is to firstly label and uncover motivational micromanagement and raise awareness that this new species of managers exists and secondly to provide practical implications for MBA students, Executive Education programs and managers to move out of the micromanagement and into a truly empowering mode of leadership.