If I don't do it myself, it won't be right.

If I don't do it myself, it won't be right.

Every micromanager's prayer. Every team's slow death.

Agnieszka (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥), spent her weekend rewriting a report that was already 80% perfect.

Her crime? Building a team of watchers instead of owners.

Here's what actually happened:

I asked Agnieszka to track how often she "just fixed things."

She remembered 10 such stories just from the past week...

Her team wasn't bad. They learned to stop trying because she would fix it anyway.

The moment everything shifted:

Agniszka is about to hijack another presentation. We had a session and I asked her: "What happens if you let them explain their thinking?"

And so she did. Her team started explaining the logic. Others jumped in with ideas.

Pure shock.

Agnieszka told me afterwards:  "I have been solving problems my team didn't even know they were allowed to have."

The truth perfectionism hides:

↳ It's not about quality. It's about control. 

↳ It's not about rules and standards. It's about fear. 

↳ It's not protecting the work. It's protecting your relevance.

The paradox: The biggest micromanagers often have the best people - they just won't let them shine.

Three weeks later, Agnieszka texts me: "My team just solved a problem I didn't even know existed."

That's not delegation. That's liberation.

What are you fixing that isn't yours to fix?

#change #coaching #executivecoaching #leadership #perfectionism

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