The Leadership Compliment I Hid in My Heart
My wife hands out compliments sparingly, so when she gives me one, I treasure it. It’s her style of love: genuine, authentic, sure. Years ago, in a passing conversation, she said something that stayed with me: “You’re not a micromanager. You’re a MACRO manager.”
That simple statement lodged deep in my heart—and over time, I’ve realized just how vital it is for leadership.
Everyone hates a micromanager. Employees dread working under leaders who scrutinize every detail, second-guess every move, and stifle creativity under the pretense of control. Micromanagement isn’t leadership; it’s suffocation.
The best CEOs understand the difference between managing small tasks and managing big outcomes. They MACRO manage. They empower their teams to operate at the highest levels while they themselves stay focused on what matters most.
Here’s where three important layers of leadership come in:
- Strategic: defining the destination, setting the vision, and making the big directional decisions.
- Tactical: planning the routes, deciding how the strategy gets executed across departments or teams.
- Operational: handling the day-to-day work, making sure the gears of the organization keep turning.
Good CEOs focus primarily on the strategic with their leadership teams. Then, they trust their leadership teams to handle the tactical, and they empower operational managers and employees to maintain excellence in the daily work.
The temptation for many leaders is to dip too far into the operational and tactical—because that’s where control feels tangible. But great leadership is about letting go of that need for control and trusting the systems and people you’ve built.
William Oncken, Jr., author of Managing Management Time, offers another helpful framework that separates empowered employees from dependent ones. He describes it in terms of working “Above the Line” versus “Below the Line.”
Above the Line Employees:
- Act on their own, providing only routine reporting.
- Act first, then advise leadership immediately afterward.
- Recommend a course of action, then take resulting action once approved.
_______________
Below the Line Employees:
- Ask what to do.
- Wait until told.
- Wait to be caught.
The best organizations cultivate Above the Line thinking. They train and expect employees to take ownership, solve problems, and think proactively. Leaders who MACRO manage create environments where people naturally operate above the line—because they feel trusted, valued, and empowered.
In the end, leadership is not about tightening your grip. It’s about loosening it in the right places.
It’s about building people who build the organization.
It’s about staying focused on the few strategic things only you can do—and trusting others with the rest.
And sometimes, it’s about hearing a simple compliment—“You’re a MACRO manager”—and realizing that leadership at its best is a gift you give to others: the gift of trust.
Joseph Bartosch, EdD
Certified Professional Business Coach