Leif Babin is a former Navy SEAL officer, co-author of the New York Times best-sellers, “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win” and “The Dichotomy of Leadership.” He is President/Co-founder of Echelon Front, a premier leadership training and education firm.
The Micromanaging Boss. One of the chief complaints we hear at Echelon Front, through our leadership education, training, and consulting work with our clients, regardless of company size, industry, or level of leader, is how to deal with a micromanaging boss. Micromanagement is aggravating, frustrating, prevents swift execution and impacts efficiency. We hear these complaints from leaders in finance, energy, real estate, healthcare, construction, insurance, first responder units, military, manufacturing, education, and non-profit. We hear them from individual contributors, frontline leaders, mid-level managers, and senior executives. Most of the complaints sound like this: “I don’t have time for all these questions and scrutiny. The boss just needs to trust me, get out of my way and let me do my job.”
Recently, Echelon Front launched a leadership assessment survey to over 3000 leaders across a broad spectrum of industries in order to test their knowledge of Extreme Ownership. 97% of participants failed, missing at least one question or more. Overwhelmingly, the most common question missed was about how to deal with a boss who micromanages. Of the over 3000 leaders surveyed, more than 800 of those leaders blamed the boss for being a micromanager.
The question that so many leaders struggled to answer correctly was this:
When You Are Feeling Micromanaged by Your Boss, the Primary Reason is Likely:
a. The boss wants credit for the work you are doing
b. You haven’t pushed enough information and updates to your boss
c. The boss doesn’t trust you to get the job done
d. You simply have a difficult boss and you should endure as best you can
Of the 800 leaders who missed this question, most answered:
a. The boss wants credit for the work you are doing
Who Is Responsible For Dealing with A Micromanaging Boss?
Interestingly, a large number of of the 3000 leaders surveyed were people who have read Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, and are believers and practitioners of this crucial concept. Extreme Ownership means there are no excuses, there is no one else to blame; you must own everything in your world, everything that impacts your mission. So, the results might have been surprising, if we didn’t hear this complaint so often through our leadership training and consulting work with Echelon Front.
So, why are so many of these leaders blaming the boss for being a micromanager? The answer: Extreme Ownership is hard. It’s not a difficult concept to understand. It’s not some complex theory learned in a classroom. Extreme Ownership is simple, straight forward and practical. But it’s extremely difficult to apply—especially where it counts the most, to yourself in real time, when the frustrations, friction points, and stresses are real.
In the multiple-choice answers to the leadership assessment above, you will notice that three of the four answers point toward the boss:
a. The boss wants credit
c. the boss doesn’t trust you
d. you simply have a difficult boss.
While you could make a case for “c. the boss doesn’t trust you,” but that is still putting the blame on the boss. If there is a lack of trust, it stems from the correct answer, which is the most likely scenario:
“b. you haven’t pushed enough information and updates to your boss.“
You might be frustrated with your micromanaging boss. But don’t blame the boss. Instead, blame yourself. It is not on the boss to give you trust. It’s on you to earn the boss’s trust. Blaming the boss is the opposite of Extreme Ownership. If all blame lies with your micromanaging boss, you can’t control the boss, so that leaves you in a hopeless situation—a perpetual state of micromanagement where you have no ability to fix the problem. Your only recourse then is to suffer through it and endure. But if you take Extreme Ownership of the situation and recognize that reason the boss micromanages you (has questions, scrutinizes your plans, and doesn’t trust you to get the job done) is all based on your actions. And since you control your actions, YOU can make the necessary adjustments to push more information and updates to the boss and build trust, which will greatly reduce or even eliminate the micromanagement you are experiencing. Therefore, you can solve the problem.
Through a decade at Echelon Front, we’ve witnessed hundreds of case studies of leaders learning to handle the “micromanaging boss” frustrations in this way, proving and reproving the point. Micromanagement, like every other problem in business or in life, is a leadership problem. Extreme Ownership is the solution.
Leadership Development & Alignment Program | (LDAP)
OVERVIEW: Leadership Development and Alignment Programs are highly interactive engagements that match clients with a dedicated team of Leadership Instructors who work in group settings, small team setting, and one-on-one to identify and address the most pressing leadership challenges facing the organization. Each program is co-created and customized with Echelon Front and the client and built to meet specific needs and objectives. Programs range from 3 months – 24 months and can incorporate training sessions with any and every level of leadership within an organization. LDAP clients have full access to individual and team assessments, workbooks, our web-based training platform, one-on-one coaching and advising, and the EF “Tank” which taps into the collective knowledge of the entire EF team including Jocko.
Programs Are Comprised of Four Phases
RESULTS: A nucleus for building a culture of ownership in your organization. These outcome and metric-based programs provide clients with an extensive knowledge of the principles and application of Extreme Ownership, immense personal and professional growth as leaders, and organizational and individual implementation plans for improvement and sustainment. It’s the most practical leadership training in the market today. We build custom programs that fit each organization’s unique context and learning objectives. These programs transform large groups of leaders, managers, and frontline employees by connecting Extreme Ownership leadership principles to the daily challenges your organization faces. We work with clients by utilizing a variety of building blocks to create the right solutions and ensure lasting impact by helping to tie these solutions to the enduring impact.
Leadership Assessments
EF assesses organizational health and creates alignment around what needs to change to unlock growth. Sound diagnostic expertise – coupled with strong interpersonal coaching – transforms teams, creates a culture of performance, and positions companies for high performance, and positions companies for high achievement. These can be run as organizational, individual, or 360 assessments all centered around the principles of Extreme Ownership.
Instructor-led Training, In-Person or Virtual Options
In-person and virtual training options introduce key leadership principles through an engaging workshops/webinars utilizing practical application exercises, role play scenarios, fire team immediate action drills and open Q&A sessions. Generates excitement and provides a common language to discuss leadership challenges and principles to apply in order to solve problems.
Leadership Sustainment Training
This interactive program is designed to train individuals or small teams through a detailed, multi-tiered certification program. Using the expertise of EF Senior Instructors and the vast resources of EFOnline, leaders can train and certify to facilitate and eventually instruct on the principles taught initially by EF. This critical process is what allows companies to continue a self-sustaining leadership culture long after the engagement with EF has completed.
Web-Based Training – EFOnline.com
A scalable, cost effective model that provides 24-7 access to EF content and leadership instructors. The training includes video lessons, interactive decision-making scenarios, quizzes, self-reflection exercises, downloadable tools among others. The lessons are pragmatic, applicable, and geared toward every level of leadership. When applied, these lessons will actually make your people better leaders and change the culture of your organization.
Co-creation of Leadership Development Programs
We provide thought partnership to integrate Extreme Ownership leadership principles into existing leadership development programs or completely new training programs. Using the framework of EF’s Leadership Development Model, we can support from the instructional design phase through the implementation of these highly transformative programs.
Leadership Coaching and Strategic Advising
Sessions with EF Instructors will enable personalized growth, development and live problem solving of leadership challenges. During our engagements, Executive teams will have access to EF instructors for regular check points. Team-wide advising programs foster seismic shifts for both individuals and organizations.
“Right-up front, let me say that this is the best outside training that I have received in nearly 41 years of my career. I only wish I had another 5-10 years here…to see where we are headed“
