“Take This Job And …Well, You Know…”
Are you an entrepreneur?
If so, there’s a very strong chance that one of your drivers was getting away from the many negatives that make up the average work day:
- Getting stuck in traffic
- Having to deal with shifty coworkers
- Sitting through pointless meetings
…and if you’re extra unlucky, you dealt with a micromanager of a boss who magically turns the hair on your head a little whiter each day.
Oh yes, there is nothing quite as motivating to start a business than to deal with an obsessive-compulsive boss who feels he knows how to do everything better than everyone.
There is one caveat, however.
YOU could very well be the Anakin Skywalker to your boss’ Darth Vader.
See, the electrical current that powers micromanagement stems from fear.
Lay a micromanager down on a shrink’s couch and almost all of them will check positive for a fear-based scarcity mindset.
How might you become a micromanager in your own business if you don’t yet have these traits?
Succeeding too fast is a big one.
Are You A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
If your venture starts bringing in more dough and accolades than you’ve ever known, you could possibly start fearing that it will one day be taken away from you.
Truth be told, it could all be taken away from you – competitors are always on the lookout for the next great idea to mimic.
So how does one successfully (and zenfully) manage a business and accept that it very well could come to an end one day and not be a dick about it?
Pro-tip: employee turnover is one of the most harmful elements of business.
A micromanagmer increases turnover, thus fulfilling the boss’ fear that something will go wrong with the company.
You follow the uber-cool teachings of Zappos head-honcho Tony Hsieh.
A lot of people are unaware that Tony launched a venture that he sold for nine figures before getting involved with Zappos.
If you read Delivering Happiness you’re wise to the fact that Tony almost lost that entire sum when building Zappos…and yet, the dude never lost his cool.
Instead, he put even more faith in his team to weather the storm. Tony was rewarded for his cool with an $850 million buyout from Amazon.
You, Dear Micromanager, CAN Escape The Dark Side
People don’t change.
Or is it more like people won’t change?
The older you get, the more you get set in your ways and altering a flaw as severe as a micro-managing mentality does take work, but it can be done.
Your first step is to overcome your fear and the best way to do that is to start journaling.
By honestly jotting down what you’re most afraid of and then reviewing it at the end of the week, you’ll learn a lot about yourself.
Second step – make a list of REAL worst case outcomes if a member of your staff doesn’t carry out a task exactly as you would.
Third step is taking a step back (just a couple of days to start) and seeing what happens when you’re not sniffing around.
If all of the above fails, consider buying a lottery ticket and hoping for the best.
How NOT To Conduct Dating Research
It had all the potential to avail us of our insecurities and provide us great insights on why we aren’t getting as lucky as we should.
The author of the study on relationship difficulties, Menelaos Apostolou, further stokes the flames of promise with the following statement about his work:
“In most cases, these difficulties are not due to something wrong or broken, but due to people living in an environment which is very different from the environment they evolved to function in.”
The train veers off the rails when it’s revealed that the participants of the study are all university students.
Of course you’re going to find a ton of respondents reporting that they feel awkward in the presence of the ladyfolk and not know how to maintain a relationship.
You can read more about it here.
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
– George Bernard Shaw