The #1 Skill Separating Strong Leaders from Stifling Leaders

Excellent leadership skills are important at every level and position of a successful business. Strong leaders we have the opportunity to direct the team into meeting goals, promoting an encouraging atmosphere, and setting the tone for others with work ethic, time management, and mindset. While a poor leader can drive the business into the ground.

Leadership can make or break the business! So what is the #1 quality that separates a good leader from a bad one?

Too many business leaders micromanage their staff to such a degree that causes even their most valuable staff members to leave the business. When a leader has such a strong desire to control every detail of everything, then no one is ever truly able to take ownership over their delegated task or position. When the leader drags his team on such a strict leash through every step, he begins trying to do everyone else’s job instead of his own job as a leader. And when there’s no true leader, the business crumbles.

The difference between strong leaders and stifling leaders is the difference between their level of macro-managing and micro-managing.

This can be a difficult skill to master for a detail-oriented and controlling personality in a leadership position. The objective with macro-managing is to point someone in the right direction and let them take ownership of their responsibility, like a Shepherd guiding them and not a cattle-prodder poking them through every step.

A good coach points a good athlete in the right direction and the athlete himself is the one who has to complete the task to the best of his ability. If the coach tried to do the athlete’s work and micro-managed all the way through his instruction, it would defeat the purpose of having a coach and the athlete would never have an opportunity to grow with a coach constantly stepping on his toes.

Your job as the leader is to point your staff in a direction within certain parameters, and their job is to complete that task within those parameters to reach the given objective.

Macro-managing your staff enables them to take leadership and show initiative Macro-managing causes leaders to make more leaders. This also allows you to exhort less energy directing people in how to complete the specific task in the way that you would complete it, and rather enables THEM to use THEIR own creativity to accomplish the task. (And often times, their way is better than how you would do it anyway.)

When they complete the task their way, they take ownership over it, and the more confident they will become in their ability to succeed and help the business accomplish its goals.

If you find yourself in a position where you’re constantly micro-managing any staff member, then you’ve possibly made an incorrect hire for that position (unless it is an entry level position where micro-management is somewhat appropriate). Each position on your team should know exactly what their responsibilities are and how to complete them with the parameters provided to them. From there, they can enjoy independence to flourish in their position – and focus on improving that position and its tasks.

Your staff will begin to personalize tasks and demonstrate leadership – and then they will make others into leaders as well.

Their focus will be clearer than yours over their position since they are in the weeds of it everyday, so don’t waste your precious time directing them when you do not have to. This shows them that you don’t trust them, or don’t have the confidence in them to complete the task well…and is the difference between a stifling leader and a strong leader.

Your staff will take ownership when you macro-manage, but they will take offense when you micro-manage. Choose wisely and act accordingly for the benefit of everyone else and your business. When you learn how to maintain a 30-ft view of the positions as you manage them instead of being caught in the weeds with them, you will begin to see new ways to support them that you couldn’t see before.

The more you focus on being a leader to support your staff and guide them well, the more you will naturally macro-manage. The leaders on your team will follow your example, so if you coach your supervisors and team leaders to macro-manage their staff as well, you’ll multiply good leadership in the business.

In doing so, you can help launch your business to the next level!

Don’t forget to click below to subscribe to our weekly newsletter & blog!