It’s an incredible paradox isn’t it? Someone up the ladder sees you getting results and they decide they want more of that. Then, when you try to show them what it takes to get more of “that”, they look at you like you have two heads. In my case I got sick of being told I needed to constantly micro-manage my people. I told my boss something to the effect of, “we pay grown-ass adults to do their job like adults. If you think I can’t walk away for two seconds and trust that they’re still going to be doing their job when I’m gone, then you need to fire them and hire someone who will.”
He turned white as a ghost. He knew damn well I was right, he just didn’t want to have to tell his boss (the Chief Micromanagement Officer) that. Good leadership isn’t that complicated. Empower people to do their job and feel like they own it and they will do it a hell of a lot better than if you’re standing over their shoulder all the time.