Do Hands-On Leaders Get Better Results?

2026-02-24

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Think hands-on leadership is a strength? You might just be the problem on your team. What's the one leadership behaviour that makes your team's heart sink when your name pops up in their inbox?The one that kills discretionary effort, drains initiative, and keeps you buried in low-value work?That would be…micromanagement!In this episode, I go deep into the difficult trade-off between getting the job done, and building long term capability; I also give you 6 tips to prevent you from becoming a micromanager.Links mentioned in this episode:HBR a...

Think hands-on leadership is a strength? You might just be the problem on your team.

What's the one leadership behaviour that makes your team's heart sink when your name pops up in their inbox?

The one that kills discretionary effort, drains initiative, and keeps you buried in low-value work?

That would be…micromanagement!

In this episode, I go deep into the difficult trade-off between getting the job done, and building long term capability; I also give you 6 tips to prevent you from becoming a micromanager.

Links mentioned in this episode:

HBR article:

The Surprising Success of Hands-On Leaders

Wikipedia links:

Elliott Jacques

Stratified Systems Theory

Kaizen

LBT link:

Leadership Beyond the Theory

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