Presiding over uncertainty: 5 ways to lead in the Trump era

4. Micro-management: the final curse

“In times of uncertainty, many senior leaders have a tendency towards chronic micromanagement, rather than getting out of the way.

“This was clear in the aftermath of the last financial crisis, when many executive leaders began to obsess about the minutiae of everything that crossed their desks. In an extreme example, the CEO of a major accountancy firm slashed discretionary spending authorities: any cost above £500 had to be approved by himself personally.

“In an effort to ‘take control’, he was not alone in trying to ensure everything was done in the right way (a management task) rather than doing the right things (a leadership responsibility). Not only is this a false economy, left unchecked, this behaviour spreads to taking over day to day problem solving from their team to the point of almost doing their job.”