Managing people and micro-managing

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How can you motivate kids and people to work?  I was reading this morning in this book “Confidence” of how ABC network has been losing against NBC because of the different ways in which the managements of these two companies work.  ABC has a very micromanaging top management – specially with the coming of Disney – while NBC’s GE management basically simply wanted the results to be right.. meaning the GE companies should be #1 or #2 in their industry.  Beyond that, it was upto the company on how to do that.  So, it has done far better!

In my life, I have seen that when I was told on what to do and how to do, I would not perform as well as when I was motivated to work because of certain results I had to achieve!  So, what is the best strategy to lead?  Is it by micromanaging or by giving people enough space?

In my experience as a leader, I have seen that when I gave enough space to people to do their thing – while mentioning the goals I expected of them, the results were spectacular!  I never missed on timelines or the deliverables!  One of the reasons why this may happen is because when the locus of responsibility is kept within the performer then there is a personal accountability.  But when the manager intends to tell his subordinate on exactly how to do things and not do, then the sense of responsibility is far less.  The results of anyone are directly related to focus which comes from this sense of responsibility.  That is where the rub is.

What has been your experience with leadership and level of management of people?