SmartBrief on Leadership - You might be a micromanager if ...

You may not think you're a micromanager, but executive coach Jim Clemmer writes that even the best leaders may be blind to the symptoms, such as poor coaching or planning skills, giving too much unsolicited advice and the inability to see the connection between declining team performance and your effectiveness. "Major league (highly effective) leaders have a broader view and make more strategic use of their time," Clemmer notes.

Put it into practice: You may think you're being helpful by frequently checking in with your team on their progress, but it can be perceived as micromanaging, Clemmer notes. Focus more on helping your team develop their skills instead of directing them to do tasks as you would like them done.

Stress and burnout are different, but both can be addressed with some of the same tactics. Emotional intelligence is at the heart of it, and using it to combat stress and burnout can improve resilience, writes leadership consultant LaRae Quy.

Put it into practice: To combat burnout, recognize the emotions, label them accurately and prioritize personal goals and values despite obstacles, Quy suggests. You also can reevaluate the situation and change your perspective.

Communicating with "precision and confidence" first requires discovering what about the subject you don't know or that makes you uncomfortable and then learning about it, says BBC journalist Ros Atkins, author of "The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity and Confidence." Whether for emails, articles, TV appearances or project pitches, consider how best to translate what you know in a "contained, clear" way, Atkins says.

Put it into practice: Ask yourself, "What information do I need to use to do that? How do I want to shape that information? Who's the information for? And in what environment is the information being passed on?" Atkins advises. Use words that sound like you to maintain authenticity. Consider the person you will be talking to and what unexpected questions they might have, and then prepare for them.

Nancy Hill, CEO of Marcus Thomas, shares her experience of post-traumatic stress syndrome and urges leaders to create a work environment where people can be open about their mental health and receive support. "People do better work when they feel whole, happy and valued. That's the environment we need to provide," Hill writes.

Haunted houses are a mainstay for Halloween lovers, but those who stage the attractions -- like Blood Manor in New York City -- are paying scary high prices from $25,000 to upwards of a million dollars on everything from high-tech props, actors, sound engineers, security, make-up artists and concessions. Jennifer Thaler, who runs TransWorld, the haunted house industry's biggest trade show, says customers are expecting the best scare for their buck. "You go to a haunted house now and it's an evening, you're not just walking through a haunt. They've turned into three-ring circuses."

As a small spiritual community leader, I was a bit of a micromanager, mainly because of my inability to effectively delegate. I ended up doing a lot of jobs I could have trained others to do. Instead, I ended up with everyone's "screaming monkeys" -- which led to massive burnout.

I've had to step away from my leadership role there because it got overwhelming. I didn't realize how my leadership style of "If you want it done right, do it yourself" alienated much of my volunteer staff.

Do you see yourself in Jim Clemmer's description of micromanagers? If so, now's the time to course correct before all those "screaming monkeys" are on your back.

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