Pretend for a moment that you own a lumber yard. You’re experiencing significant delays in inventory, but instead of asking for help from the people you hired to do just that, you take it upon yourself to try and fix it on your own. Suddenly, that $10,000 in missed sales last week turns into $40,000 in lost revenue for the month. Without factoring in the other issues that likely cropped up while you were troubleshooting instead of delegating, you’ve also lost employee trust and likely some of your reputation, too.
There is a hidden cost to being a babysitter rather than a leader, and at its worst, bottlenecked businesses end in total system failure that begins with an overbearing micromanager, which leads to employee frustration, customer distrust and ends with lost revenue.
It’s perfectly normal — and natural — to want to have your hands in everything. As an owner, you are passionate about what you do and want all areas of your business to reflect that passion. But when you’re bottlenecked, it’s time you should get out of your own way and become the leader, not a babysitter.
How Do You Know If You’re Being A Babysitter, Not A Boss?
There will be signs, but you need to know what to look for. You could be in trouble if instead of leading big, hairy, audacious goals (which should be your focus), you’re tracking progress on deadlines, editing marketing copy that doesn’t need editing and overall being an overbearing parent.
Other signs you’re being a babysitter and not a boss:
- You have to sign off on every little detail
- You’re spending more time cleaning up messes and accidents
- Assigning tasks feels like wrangling toddlers, not delegating
- Sales and workflows have slowed down
- Deadlines are being missed and there is no solid long-term vision
Another way we see owners, entrepreneurs and other leaders inadvertently become micromanagers and babysitters rather than visionaries and mentors is because they do not fully trust the people and processes they’ve built. While this isn’t the fault of employees, it will begin to feel like that if you continue to operate in an environment with a low level of trust.
How To Go From Overbearing Babysitter To Awesome Boss
1 – Delegate outcomes rather than tasks
Let your marketing team come up with the Q3 content plan, for example, or motivate sales associates with concrete goals. As a leader, it’s your job to give the team context, goals and a few guardrails. Everything else should be delegated.
Read a recent blog post about Leaders vs. Doers to determine if you have the right people in the right seats.
2 – Prioritize your strategic time
That means, block two hours a day to focus solely on the strategy of your business. These two hours are dedicated to you and you alone and should not include meetings, checking emails, social media or other distractions. During this time every day, work on your company’s vision, leadership development and anything else that is going to build long-term sustainability and value.
3 – Establish and share trust among team members
If you’ve hired well, you have trustworthy people on your team who believe in your business—and you. Be sure that you are sharing your trust in them, not only by expressing your gratitude for their expertise, but by showing them as well.
It’s simple, too. Show team members you trust them by delegating tasks and responsibilities based on individual and team interest and competencies. From there, simply trust them to get your business where it needs to be without having you micromanage every single step along the way.
Your business was meant to grow, backed by a strong team and systems that create loyal customers. The best leaders understand this, and it’s not because you don’t care. It’s because you know that your freedom and scale comes from trust, clarity and ownership—not babysitting.
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Follow Patrick Metzger on LinkedIn.