How To Stop Being A Control Freak In Leadership

“If you want to do something right, you might as well do it yourself” is the classic phrase of someone suffering from control-itis.

It’s someone who is fearful, anxious about feeling “out of control,” or has the deep desire to feel needed. I’ve coached members of my leadership team who have and still struggle with control-itis.

Over controlling leads to burnout, stress, and moodiness.

The first step to managing your control is by making hard decisions.

You must fire anybody who is not committed to the companies BIG objective and works against the team.

Control should not be required in low-risk environments. If needed, you either have an overbearing leader or someone who can’t do their job.

To combat your control urge, do some control calculus and ask yourself,

• How big are the consequences of the task/project?
• Is the task/project known, or is it a new field to figure out?
• How capable is the person with this task/project/responsibility?
• What is the right level of autonomy for this team member on this responsibility?

Second, know your information needs.

Anxiety comes from now knowing where you stand on something.

When working with your team, establish your information needs,

• What to report…
• Frequency of report…
• How to report…

For example, “Nate, please send me the status of project X every Friday by 3pm via email. Do you have any questions?”

Call the Doctor and manage your control-itis.

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