Avoiding Micromanagement

Transcript performed by A.I. Please excuse the typos.

00:00
Leadership is the solution to micromanagement. We’re only as effective as we can communicate. And so we want to continue to build those skills. Now, as we get more competent and confident in the skills of delegation, leadership, emotional intelligence, we will employ those more. think the reason one goes to micromanagement or contracts is because I don’t have any other skills. I don’t have any other way that I feel confident in controlling my situation.

00:29
It’s a reactive way of doing it because it gives us a sense of control. What we’re saying to y’all is work on your personal development, work on your leadership and your emotional intelligence. It’s an evolution. Welcome to Dental All-Stars. I’m Alex Nottingham, founder and CEO of All-Star Dental Academy. With me is Larry Gazzardo, head instructor at All-Star Dental Academy. And we’re talking about avoiding micro management. Please welcome Larry. And before you talk, I can ask questions. uh We had another podcast.

00:59
And I just, introduced Larry and he just went on for 15, 20 minutes. It was so good. I wouldn’t dare interrupt because I’m sure my listener would be like, why you interrupt him was so good. So Larry, I’m just going to state out this issue. We’ll talk a little bit about it, but the micromanager, and this is kind of, I’ll have this, this episode dropped after the one about creating your own economy or overcoming uncertainty is that we tend to micromanage when we’re stressed.

01:28
Um, and, and you know, so dentists say they don’t want to micromanage. do it. Uh, give me kind of a sense. Let’s, always like to start with the problem. So like, what is, what is micromanagement defining it? Why does it happen? Who’s doing it? What are the, tell me about how the genesis of this issue can happens. Cause I know everybody has a visceral visceral feeling when I mentioned that word.

01:56
Yeah, yeah. Every time we talk about, well, first of all, we were talking about uncertainty in our last podcast and um how we can control our own economy and the uncertainty creates a lot of anxiety with people. And so I think that’s where a lot of micromanagers pop up because they’re trying to control the situation. And it goes both ways. It’s not always the dentist. Sometimes you can have employees.

02:23
become micromanagers or micro, I call them backseat drivers, you know, when they’re an employee, but when it’s a leader, they’re a micromanager, but when they’re another employee, they’re a backseat driver. But the issue here is it drives everybody nuts, you know, is what it does. And so it’s good to see that managers want to be more involved, you know, in the office than others. And it could be helpful for the team to know that they’re being supported.

02:53
But constant supervision and interference can become overbearing and it could have a negative effect on the practice. I would also say, you know, where you don’t have processes in place, where you don’t have adequate training or you don’t have ongoing training, that’s what creates what I call like these kind of control freaks, you know? But that’s control freaks turn into micromanagers because they got to have their finger on the pulse of everything that’s going on.

03:22
So if maybe you’re listening to this and you’re wondering, well, you know, could they be talking about me right now? um I would say that if you’re obsessing over tiny details of a project, um you’re encroaching on micromanagement. It’s little things like, you you tell somebody to go out and, you know, go buy me a box. So I go out and buy you a box and I bring it back. And then you say, well, why didn’t you get a blue box? And it’s like,

03:52
Well, because you just said, get a box. know, if you said, if you wanted a blue box, why didn’t you tell me that? I would have gotten you one. But you see how that’s the micromanaging. It’s just like, if you’re not going to trust people to handle the job, then you have to be more specific about how you want them to handle it. Because micromanagers tend to avoid delegating tasks because they think the practice is going to fall apart without them. So you see what I’m talking about?

04:19
Sometimes you get a hygienist used that way or a dental assistant. You know what mean? It could be a front office person. not always the doctor, but they think the whole place, you know, isn’t going to work if they’re not there to greet the sun or say goodbye to the moon and things like that. They think that their way of thinking is the only way, you know, that things can be done. um You might run into a doctor who’s always wanting constant updates and detailed data all the time.

04:48
You know I mean? It’s like, me about this, tell me about that. You know, I think you should have planned times when you’re talking about production and collections and treatment acceptance and, you know, new patient phone calls and things like that. So people know when they’re going to be reporting it to you and they’ll bring you the information. A lot of times when people start to get stressed and they encroach on their micromanaging, they lose like any concept of office hours.

05:16
And they think that employees should be available to discuss work by phone or email or text anytime. When people go home, they’ve got families to take care of, but that micromanager isn’t thinking about that. They think it’s okay to interrupt you while you’re having dinner. Well, you know interesting is I was thinking along these terms, like um this psychology of micromanagement. Like today, for example, I did some

05:45
I moved some bigger money around and investing. It’s the same thing, the different stuff. And today as we record this, all the markets didn’t do very well. And I’m looking at these big unrealized losses. But what was more interesting for me today was going to Aldi’s and they had my favorite little ranch dressing and I hid it behind the cantaloupe so nobody can get it so that after I worked out, I can go buy it.

06:15
And to me, right, so like, it’s very interesting. So I’m really interested in this philosophy. So as you’re speaking, I’m talking AI because, you know, that’s kind of micromanaging my life when I have big issues, but yet the little ones are, which is kind of a microcosm that dentists will control or step over dollars to get pennies, right? They’re not seeing the big picture. And here’s what AI said, but I totally agree. Here’s a few things.

06:44
One is control. The small things feel controllable. Big things are overwhelming. So in my case, these are big forces. This is a lot of money. When you save and you invest a lot, you can’t just keep it in cash. You’ve got to have a diversified portfolio. But it doesn’t mean that you have a diversified portfolio, that they don’t all go up and down together sometimes. And so as you develop a certain level of wealth, those can be big numbers, and that can be scary.

07:12
So we go to the small things to feel safer, okay? Anxiety uh avoidance, fixing tiny problems reduces fear of big ones. So often I think that, so we’re getting down to why we micromanage is control, as well as that if I deal with this small issue, it can help me feel with my anxiety. And this is actually not a bad thing. So what I did today was constructive.

07:40
I focused on some sort of uh obsessive thing, but I was having fun because I can control that. Whereas these big forces, I don’t. uh Here’s a few others, ego protection. Big issues require admitting mistakes. Like my practice is not responding well to the economy. Big issue. What do I do? I project to my team member and tell them that they’re not doing the thing. Or I yell at my spouse. Fear of letting go, right?

08:10
uh immediate feedback in this busyness. Somebody said busyness is not production. That was, uh right, you, is not productiveness. So we’re just keeping busy doing things. So you see these dentists that control every detail. We’re picking on dentists, of course. I’m the office manager too, but these owners, we’re picking on every detail. Why? This is the important point, y’all, listening, that you say, yeah, I do that. I obsess about these little things. Why?

08:37
I’m anxious about the big issues. It’s scary, my practice and how I, as I mentioned before, my friend who was a dentist that’s afraid of the economic situations. And so I have to control the little things, admitting that I may be at fault for my practice not being able to handle the situation and be keeping busy as a result. these are some of the things that are going on. And I think that for those that are listening, be able to identify

09:07
why am I doing what I’m doing? Right? Yeah. And so let me ask you this. So, okay, we see, we’re in agreement that this is how the psychology of how micromanagement occurs. What would you advise a dentist who’s doing this? How do they shift it? How do they then go into, now I’m a practice leader and I’m, you know, being more proactive?

09:36
um I think there’s a good way for the micromanager to kind of manage themselves because paying attention to details or wanting to be involved, actually that’s a good thing. And I think it helps other people because it provides them with security, knowing that you’re paying attention to what you’re doing. It’s just that when our behavior becomes obsessive. Obsessive. we have to go neurotic. Yeah. It’s the obsessive side of anything.

10:05
You know, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy nice fashion, but when you become obsessive about it, I can’t go out because I don’t have the right color socks. You know I’m saying? Then that’s when it becomes an issue. I think to manage the manager or the backseat driver, you gotta set boundaries. I like that. You you have to be really clear about your expectations and your limitations. You know, for instance, if you’re the employee and you’re not comfortable taking

10:35
Like calls at after working hours and all that, or if you feel like the, manager is asking for an unrealistic deadline, like I, there’s no way I could get that done in that time. Or you think maybe, cause they like a lot of, you know, a lot of micromanagers like a lot of details and reports and you think that they’re just unnecessary. Then I would say, speak up about it, but speak up about it in a professional way. Not when you get angry, like this is stupid and I don’t even think you look at these reports, you know, but speak up about it.

11:04
What are we doing with these reports? What does this data tell us? Because it’s very time consuming to gather all this information and I don’t know what we’re doing with it. I think it’s also helpful just to ask the other people that you work with, not because you want to gang up on somebody, but if you’re feeling the same way, it would be helpful. So again, just set those, set boundaries, be clear about your expectations and your limitations of what you can do and what you can’t do. I’ve already said,

11:35
You have to be diplomatic. When people get eager or anxious or nervous for whatever reason, sometimes protocol could go out the window, you know, and so we bark out orders or we use a tone that’s not effective with other people. And so, you know, you got to be diplomatic about things. I think if you’re an employee and you’re dealing with a micromanager, you might explain to them that um

12:03
You know, like if you tell them like, you’re micromanaging me. A micromanager tends to micromanage more, because they don’t like to be told that. But you could suggest to them that, hey, you know what? I’m getting this work done. I’d like some more responsibility. You know, I feel like I’ve proven that I can handle it. And I’d like to show you that I could work independently. You know, so. I like that. You gotta be diplomatic. That’s a really good point, because you know, there’s the dentist, but.

12:31
starting with the team member that’s saying, okay, I have a micromanager. I have to disarm their insecurity and their anxiety. So how do I do it? I say, Hey, you can trust me. I’m proactive. I could help you. I can do this for you. Like it’s okay, sweetie. know, so I think like dentists, whenever I say this, I don’t, I haven’t met one, maybe they don’t, they don’t resonate with our message. That’s why I don’t have a net one, but they, I’ve never met a dentist that didn’t say I

13:00
I wouldn’t love my practice or run without me. And I can just do the dentistry. They love that. So we’re talking about delegation, empowerment, leadership, a lot of stuff that we teach ongoing and coaching. And so I like that idea of the team member who is emotionally aware to be able to kind of manipulate in a good way the better qualities of the dentist. And the dentist is again, I like what you said, Larry, it’s realizing our neuroses, realizing that

13:29
that behavior and stopping it and not, the more that we, and where our mind is wired, the more we have a behavior of micromanaging. When we know we’re doing it and we stop or we lessen or we’re at least aware of what we’re doing, we start to break those neuro connections. We build new neural connections. And it is saying, okay, well, hey, I need help. Hi, my name is Alex, you know, welcome. uh And I’m a…

13:56
part of uh micromanagement anonymous, whatever. I’m actually quite the opposite. I delegate too much. the point is, is okay, I have to get better at leadership. We do every year, every January, we do a leadership retreat. In our May event, one of our four pillars is leadership. Leadership is the solution to micromanagement. We’re only as effective as we can communicate. Our president of coaching always talks about. And so we want to continue to build those skills. Now, as we get more competent,

14:26
and confident in the skills of delegation, leadership, emotional intelligence, we will employ those more. I think the reason one goes to micromanagement or contracts is because it’s defense mechanism because I don’t have any other skills. I don’t have any other way that I feel confident in manipulating my, in controlling my situation. It’s a reactive way of doing it because it gives us a sense of control.

14:56
What we’re saying to y’all is work on your personal development, right? Work on your leadership and your emotional intelligence. It’s an evolution. It is, because let’s say you’re an associate in a practice or even just a team member in the practice. I would volunteer to accept new tasks or maybe you can see something that maybe your boss is struggling with and you might say to them, you know, that’s something I think I can take off of your plate. You know what mean?

15:26
And so, because micromanagers tend to be reluctant to delegate tasks because they think the sun rises and the moon sets and all that, you know, by their beck and call and all that. But if you volunteer to accept new tasks, you can prove and create a track record, you know what I mean, that you can get things done successfully, you know, in the way that the manager wants you to do it. So, so that means people do have to step out of their comfort zone because they have to be willing to take initiative, you know.

15:54
And part of that initiative could be, well, if I know Alex is always gonna ask me about X, why don’t I have it ready before he asks for? Or why don’t I take the initiative and say, hey, Alex, is there a time when you’d like to look at this information? Because I could have it ready for you. And so now you can demonstrate to the boss, hey, I’m on track here for success. I’m helping out. um I would also arrange for, we do talk about this,

16:24
in our meeting structure and things like that, but also arrange for regular follow-up dates and times to provide updates. Because let’s say we have an office manager or a micromanager in your area, and they’re always asking for information and all that, and it’s driving you nuts. You might suggest and say, sense that or I see that you want certain information, and I want to have it ready for you, but can we set up a follow-up time?

16:53
whether it be once a day, every other day, once a week, whatever it is, but say, at that time, I will have all this ready for you and we can review it. So that way, if somebody comes up to you before your meeting time, you can confidently say, hey, well, let’s just talk about that at our next appointment. Or if you want to change our appointment time, I’m willing to do that, but I don’t have it ready right now because we were planning on talking about it tomorrow. um I think the micromanager

17:23
When they know that they’re gonna get regular updates, it encourages them to kind of take a step back. They start to recognize it on their own. um I would also say this goes for everybody, not just the micromanager, um because it is an issue, I would say, for all of us, me included, is that we have to learn to take ownership of things. And what I mean by that is being willing to be accountable for the results of our work, good and bad.

17:52
You know, if I get the right result, great. We could talk about how that happened. But if we get the wrong result, A, that was my responsibility. I’m going to fix this, you know? And so regardless if it’s good or bad, I’m going to be accountable for it. So that means, go ahead. Well, I want to give some resources to those that are listening. So what’s the next step?

18:21
What are some ways to, look, personal development is an ongoing process. It’s a journey. And you can’t just hit this once. You have to keep, it’s like working out. You gotta keep doing it because otherwise we go back into contraction. So if you go to allphotonalacademy.com, click events. Pretty much every event that we do, there’s layers of leadership, especially if you’re bringing your team there.

18:47
because for example, our case acceptance program, it’s entire team case acceptance, it’s cooperation. We have to work together, not micromanage. We have the May Summit where Larry speaks all the time, one of our key speakers. And it’s not just the content, we talk leadership, but it’s also working in groups with teams uh and meeting other teams and learning emotional intelligence. We have a program every January where we focus just on leadership for dentists.

19:14
We have a program in May at the All-Star Growth Summit where we also talk about leadership only for team leaders. and besides our coaching program, but my point is, you’re listening, I’m all about action. You’re listening, it’s like, okay, what do I do? What are some ways that I can accelerate this? And I would say go there, familiarize yourself with those opportunities and see what makes sense for you. You individually or you and your team.

19:43
These are ways to accelerate it. It is an ongoing process. Myself, love, listen, I love eating our own cooking, which is, uh I One thing you get to do with everybody else who hasn’t signed out is you’re not alone. You’re not There are other people who have the exact same issues. We all deal with them a little bit different, but you know, Alex, we’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from our attendees. When you realize you’re not alone and you’re not the only neurotic person in the world, that…

20:13
You see, okay, I’m not alone. They had the courage to face it. I can do it too. And, and that’s, that’s, that’s the entire process. Also, I be remiss, you know, I’m going to start, I needed to put this in the, in the podcast, but I’m, I’m from now on, I’m going to put this in our, in our recordings. Uh, so I have a book coming out. We were talking about it. It’s called my uncle, the magician. It is a wonderful uh book with a great company, Ben Bella, that’s helping, uh, putting this together the same.

20:42
a company that uh provides, you know, Wigman, Traction, some great, great New York Times bestsellers. So kudos to Heather for getting that publisher. Anyways, if you go to allstartnulleyacademy.com, backslash magic, M-A-G-I-C, I think, you will have an opportunity. You can pre-order the book. It comes out in September and we give you some bonus goodies with respect to it. And you’ll see that all on the landing page, but it help great.

21:12
to have you kind of be part of that, uh the pre-order process, great book. I’m excited to share uh when it comes out in September, but you’ll also get, chapter one, you get the audio, you get the text, and you get some of the bonuses as well. if you like what we’re talking about with All-Star on Business, now we get into the personal development, the why behind everything. That’s the book there.

21:38
So those are some resources for all of you, because I know all of my, I was thinking about this. I’m like, we have a great podcast follower. I got to let you guys know too about the book. And I’ll send some emails out as well to remind you of that. Larry Gazzardo, thank you as always. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Remember to follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all of it. Get the episodes as they are released, share with your friends and until next time, go out there and be.

22:08
In all star. See you at the summit.