Some people micromanage because they’ve defined great leadership as preventing every mistake.
If a manager believes their job is to make sure nothing goes wrong, every employee decision becomes a potential threat. Work always gets reviewed before it moves forward, and minor choices require approval.
Employees are expected to use judgment, but only if they reach the same conclusion the manager would have reached, so the team gradually becomes dependent.
Employees stop making decisions because they expect corrections; the manager then sees their hesitation and concludes that closer supervision is necessary.
This is why telling a manager to “delegate more” is unlikely to help as long as the original definition of leadership remains intact. What they really need is help learning that leadership isn’t preventing every mistake.
It’s creating enough clarity, capability, and accountability that the team can handle mistakes without requiring the manager to control every decision.
A better coaching conversation might ask:
What mistakes truly require prevention?
Which mistakes could become useful learning opportunities for employees?
How will you respond when someone makes a reasonable decision you wouldn’t have made?
The manager doesn’t need less commitment to quality. They need to stop viewing errors as proof that they’re a bad leader.
References: Lankton SR. Just do good therapy. In: Brief Therapy: Myths, Methods, and Metaphors. Routledge; 1990:62-77.