29d • General discussion
🚀 Leadership isn’t control — it’s removing friction
High-performance teams don’t need a leader hovering over every task.
They need a leader who sets the conditions… then gets out of the way.
Micromanagement kills speed, ownership, creativity, and trust.
Navy example (real ops)
On watch, once mission intent and roles were clear, my team executed without me narrating every move. We used brief → execute → debrief. Interfering mid-run slowed decisions and increased error risk; autonomy under clear intent increased speed and accuracy.
Tech examples
Amazon — “Two-pizza teams.” Small, owner-led teams ship services end-to-end. Leaders set guardrails (metrics, PR/FAQ) and step back. Result: faster releases and fewer dependency bottlenecks.
Spotify — Squads/Tribes. Product squads own a mission with light leadership touch and strong alignment rituals. Autonomy + shared context → rapid iteration without constant approvals.
Google SRE — Error Budgets. Leadership agrees on a reliability target; within that budget, engineers decide velocity vs. stability. It prevents execs from micromanaging deployment pace while protecting user experience.
Toyota — Andon Cord. Frontline autonomy to stop the line. Leaders don’t hover; they empower. Quality improved because workers could act without waiting for permission.
Shopify — Meeting reset. Thousands of recurring meetings were removed; leaders switched to async updates and decision memos. Engineers reported more flow time and quicker cycle times.
How leaders enable “updates, not interference”
Define outcomes and constraints, not every step.
Replace status meetings with short async updates (dashboards, one-pagers).
Agree on cadence (e.g., weekly outcomes + blockers) and hold post-execution debriefs for learning.
Protect maker time; leaders show up only for decisions, risks, or support.
Coach in the review, not in the middle of the work.
Old leadership: “Show me everything so I feel in control.”
Modern leadership: “Tell me when it’s done, when you’re blocked, and what you learned.”
Let the team build. Let the team own. Your job is to ensure nothing gets in their way.
💬 Where have you seen micromanagement slow execution—or autonomy unlock it?
1
0 comments
🚀 Leadership isn’t control — it’s removing friction
powered by
skool.com/strategiez-7816
A free hub for leaders mastering strategic thinking, executive growth, and trust-based performance. Win smarter. Lead stronger.
Suggested communities
Powered by