Time to Inspire

When I was a first-time manager, I had several people on my team and yet, I felt totally burnt out. I sketched a doodle of how I was managing some very tightly, others with a ton of rope, and one or two who were in the goldilocks center, not too much oversight but also not too little.

What caught my attention immediately was that I was micromanaging the majority of my team. A few I could justify because they were new and needed time and training. A few were feeling my suffocation because they were underperforming. But others, I hate to admit it, I was micromanaging because I missed the work and didn’t want to let go.

I realized then that this little tool could be a great one to help me assess my capacity but also, to customize my approach to leading.

Leadership isn’t about equal treatment — it’s about equitable attention. The best managers calibrate. They know when to step in and when to step back, when to coach and when to trust, when to challenge and when to clear the way.

That realization became one of my favorite frameworks — the Management Continuum — and it’s something I teach in almost every program I run today.

Time to Learn

Meet the Management Continuum:

On one end, you have the Micromanager — overly involved, controlling, and unintentionally disempowering.

On the other end, the Absent Manager — hands-off, disengaged, often over-trusting to the point of invisibility.

And in the middle: the sweet spot — the Thought Partner — where guidance meets autonomy.

Here’s your coaching challenge this week:

1. Plot your team.

   • Write down each person you manage.

   • Place them where you honestly think they sit on the continuum today — Micromanaged, Thought Partnered, or Absent Managed.
     

2. Assess your map.

   • Do you have the capacity to micromanage the people you’re currently hovering over?

   • Is anyone on the far right — a high performer you’ve become absent for because “they’re fine”? Remember: your best people deserve a Right of First Refusal on your time.
     

3. Adjust your balance.

   • Move one person one step closer to the Thought Partner zone this week.

   • Shift your time to match performance and potential, not just problems.

   • Share this with your teams! It’s a great conversation starter that will lead towards greater alignment (“what’s one thing I could do differently to make you feel more like a thought partner?”)

Time to Connect

The biggest trap for growing leaders is assuming management style is a fixed trait. It’s not. It’s a muscle that flexes differently depending on who’s in front of you.

If you’re a CEO, ask your managers to bring their completed continuum maps to your next leadership meeting. You’ll spot gaps in coaching, bandwidth, and trust faster than any engagement survey.

If you’re a manager yourself — make this exercise a ritual. Re-plot your team every quarter. Leadership isn’t static, and neither are your people.

If you want a guided version of this exercise (with reflection prompts and templates), reach out — I’ll send you the worksheet I use with leadership teams.

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My company, ScaleJOY, has grown solely through word of mouth and by delivering quality experiences to the hundreds of clients we have supported. Spread the word by sharing this newsletter or connecting them directly to me for leadership development, coaching or offsite facilitation. Thank you for your continued support!