There are bosses who micromanage you and those who empower you. I once briefly worked with a third type who often swinged between the two styles.
In some situations, he would empower you to the extent that you would be scared.
In others, he would go so deep in the trenches with you that you may feel useless.
It was not easy to work with him. In both the situations, his standards were high.
I had almost forgotten him but something triggered memories of his working style this past week.
As I reflected upon some specific instances from my brief time with him, I could see some patterns (more so with the benefit of hindsight and experience):
1. He would mostly micro-manage in high-stakes situations. In hindsight, I realize that in many of those situations, it would have been easier for him to just do the task himself but he would sweat it out together with us. Probably this was deliberate and the learnings for us in the process were immense.
2. He would mostly empower us in low-stakes situations - low stakes for him but still high-stakes for us. And often, he would have smart ways to check with us that we were on the right path and would course correct where needed without getting too involved in it. Probably this was also deliberate and we had a very different kind of learning - almost as immense as in situation #1.
3. In both these situations, he would demonstrate radical accountability and ownership. He would own without any pretense anything that went wrong. This I think is a priceless trait for managers.
I didn't have the wisdom to notice or appreciate these patterns back then.
But today, if I were to guide my younger self, I would happily give an arm and a leg for a manager like this.
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