Why Is My Boss Breathing Down My Neck?

(No, this is not a case of sexual harassment, merely a common problem of micro-management.)

We’ve all been there, haven't we? We think we’re doing well in our work but our boss just won’t let us get on with things. He or she is always double-checking everything, questioning our decisions, even trying to take work away from us. What’s going on?

In my White Paper “Who Is My Real Boss?” (Go to www.requisite-development.co.uk/contact/index.htm to register for free downloads of all my articles) I talk about the problems which arise when people are mismatched to their roles and how to resolve them. Quite often the root cause is that the boss’s Current Level of Cognitive Capability is lower than that required by their role (my White Paper on Capability explains this point and all the terminology in more detail). For example, if someone is working in a role which requires Level 4 (Parallel Processing) but their Current Level of Capability is Level 3 (Serial Processing), or even lower, then they will struggle. Their instinctive reaction is to try to bring the work down to a lower level of complexity. Not only does this mean that they are not adding value to their own role but also that they are, in effect, bumping against their subordinates whose own role requires Level 3. Hence there are clashes between them. The subordinates feel suffocated. It feels as if their boss doesn’t trust them. Such clashes may be termed as personality differences or power struggles but the cause is more likely to be systemic. If we create organizations with too many layers we inhibit the flow of work, creativity and decision-making. If we then populate the roles with the wrong people we multiply the intensity of the problem.

It’s so unfair when good people feel undervalued and are restricted in this way. We may lose their talent to other organizations or, if they stay, experience their de-motivation through underperformance and interpersonal tensions.

The good news is that it’s easy to identify the problem’s causes. It’s also avoidable. If we design our organizations well and identify, manage and develop our talent pool these problems won’t occur. The best news is that you can learn how to do all this for yourself in a relatively short period of time through intensive coaching sessions.