Telltale Signs: Micromanagement Signals Insecurity and Low-levels of Leadership

Abstract

When managers engage in micromanagement, what types of signals do they send about their power and leadership strength? The current research suggests that when managers micromanage their subordinates, they send signals which are at odds with being in a secure, powerful, high-level position of leadership. Across a series of studies, we find that when managers exhibit a managerial philosophy that is consistent with micromanagement (Studies 1 and 2) or display behaviors characteristic of micromanagement (Study 3), people form negative perceptions about their power security and leadership strength. Although these negative perceptions may be mitigated to a certain degree when managers’ detail- oriented tendencies are directed toward being helpful, even this type of detailed approach leads observers to make negative inferences about a person’s position-specific characteristics (Study 3). Ironically, however, people who consider micromanagement from a manager’s perspective expect this form of behavior to be a useful tool to signal a sense of security about one’s power (Study 4), an expectation that is in direct contrast to our findings of observers’ perceptions of those that micromanage.