The Instinct to Micromanage: Leanne Bridges on Why ‘Just Let Go’ Isn’t Enough

In a recent LinkedIn post, Leanne Bridges delves into the common leadership struggle of micromanagement, even among leaders who genuinely trust their teams. Bridges uses the case of a Managing Director (MD) to illustrate how deeply ingrained instincts can override conscious decisions to delegate.

The MD in question, Bridges recounts, would readily state his trust in his team. However, his actions told a different story. He continued to sign off on all pricing for tenders, attend meetings that didn’t require his presence, and approve decisions that should have been made by his subordinates. Bridges highlights the apparent contradiction: trust versus control.

“He did trust them. He’d tell you so. And he meant it. But still digned off the pricing on every tender that went out.”

The Personal Cost of Control

Bridges unpacks the root cause behind the MD’s behavior, revealing it wasn’t a lack of faith in his employees, but a personal fear of consequences. As Leanne Bridges explains, the MD’s instinct was driven by the understanding that if something went wrong, he would be the one to face the fallout. This led him to retain oversight on an unmanageable amount of work.

“If he handed something over and it went wrong, he was the one picking up the pieces. If he kept an eye on all of it, he’d make sure it was fine,” Bridges writes, articulating the internal logic that perpetuated the cycle of over-involvement.

Beyond Delegation: Addressing the Root Instinct

The challenge, as Leanne Bridges points out, is that this behavior had become an ingrained reflex, particularly for the MD who had scaled the business from a smaller size where his direct involvement was a viable strategy. The advice to “just let go” often falls short because it doesn’t address the underlying, almost subconscious, belief that one’s own hands are the safest for critical tasks. Bridges emphasizes that this is not a simple decision that can be changed with logic alone.

The Ineffectiveness of Surface-Level Solutions

Leanne Bridges notes that the MD had tried to combat this by consciously attempting to delegate more, but these efforts were hampered because the core issue was instinctual, not a matter of poor delegation strategy. “Knowing it never changed anything. Because this wasn’t a decision he was making fresh each time. It had become an instinct: the belief that the safest pair of hands is yours,” she observes.

Shifting the Paradigm: Finding a New Way Forward

The breakthrough came when the focus shifted from trying to delegate more to understanding and addressing the instinct itself. Bridges describes the process as working on a level the MD hadn’t initially considered. The result was a tangible shift in the business dynamic.

“A few weeks on, a tender went out priced and signed off without him. He found out afterwards. It was the right call.”

This outcome, Bridges concludes, demonstrated the team’s capability and the MD’s potential for growth. The leader had finally found a way to enable his team to operate effectively, freeing him to focus on work that would truly drive business expansion. As Leanne Bridges highlights, the key was not simply to let go, but to fundamentally alter the ingrained instinct that prevented him from doing so effectively.