The story I'm going to tell here happened 10 years ago, but it couldn't be more current.
Andressa was the Financial Director of a large company in the automotive sector. On his team, there were five managers, each with their own teams of coordinators, analysts, assistants and interns.
Andressa was known for her friendly management style. In fact, he was too friendly.
He rarely got involved in his subordinates' conflicts, which were constant. Quite the contrary, when she saw a conflict, she would ask for permission, take the lead and quickly decide how to proceed.
Managers almost never reached any resolution, much less could decide something, and this was reflected in the results of their teams.
Everything seemed slow, meetings lasted hours and everyone left feeling like they were just wasting time.
You may be thinking that micromanagement is the main villain behind the poor performance of Andressa's teams. But there are more seeds in this angu, you bet!
Although Andressa is a very beloved boss, with an almost maternal attitude, her subordinates felt underestimated in their decisions and day-to-day tasks.
The director scheduled many meetings, almost daily, to find out the status of each person's activity, including analysts, assistants and interns who reported to coordinators and managers.
At the end of the year, sales plummeted. It was a difficult year, the external scenario was not favorable.
However, the CEO decided to bring together the entire board for a discussion, because she knew that despite the external scenario, the internal scenario was just as unfavorable.
Andressa did not understand why she was called to this meeting, since her department was not Marketing or Sales. And she was great at controlling the company's accounts in detail.
In so much detail that there was almost no room for managers and their respective teams to have autonomy.
Andressa didn't understand. Trust? Nothing made sense. Still, she was confident, as everything was under her control, as always.
At the extraordinary meeting requested by the CEO, Andressa arrived happy, since, in her understanding, she would have no role there. They would talk about the drop in sales, not the company's accounts.
However, the CEO did not initiate inquiries into Marketing or Sales. It started with Finance, and Andressa was surprised by that.
The question was about sales, so she said that that wasn't her department, and that the company's accounts were being controlled very well - if that was the correct question that the CEO, Marta, should have asked.
Marta insisted on the question, while Andressa responded with a joke. Everyone laughed, except the CEO, who was clearly uncomfortable.
The problem may be very clear to us, who are analyzing this story from afar. However, whoever was nearby might not have such clarity.
So, Marta explained. Andressa really managed the company's accounts carefully and in detail, there is no doubt about that.
But he managed too much. I didn't manage, I micromanaged. She micromanaged so much that there was no time left for her to get involved with other areas. So much so that the fact that the company was in bad shape took it by surprise, in a way.
This absence in the company's general affairs had a reason: the lack of trust in its teams.
Andressa had so little trust in her teams that she felt she needed to maintain close control, very close, to the point where people felt incapable. And to the point, also, that she had no way of getting involved in anything other than Finance.
So since she didn't get involved, why would the teams get involved? And if she didn't trust him, why would they trust her?
And the moment you trust, space opens up for productive conflicts in search of the best solutions, everyone's commitment and the feeling of “owning the processes”, consequently achieving the best collective results.
As long as there was no trust, everything else fell apart.
The CEO noticed all this happening throughout the year. And you may be wondering, why didn't you do something sooner?
She thought things would work out eventually. The teams themselves, who seemed dissatisfied, would give feedback to Andressa, the CEO believed.
I'm mistaken! Nobody wanted to be the person to give feedback to the boss. Because she was nice.
They were so used to simply letting things go - without resolutions and without decisions - that no one would take the grand step of asking the boss to actually be a leader.
Therefore, the CEO was the one who brought the news. Andressa was not fired. But it would need to change.
I would need to be a leader. She had held the leadership position for years. The hierarchy was very well defined in this company.
On the other hand, leadership was lacking. There was no purpose, courage or looking at collective results and success. There was no trust, clarity, transparency, effective communication, respect and connection.
There was just everyday life happening, in a disconnected and routine way.
And this story is common beyond Andressas in work environments.
For a long time, people held leadership positions. There was no talk of leadership. Today there is a lot of talk. However, we still associate leadership with the level of toxicity.
Andressa did not fit into that pattern of a boss that we understand as toxic. Quite the contrary, she was a very kind and friendly person.
But micromanagement due to lack of trust caused his teams to act like this too. There was no cohesive team willing to collaborate for collective success. The results were individual only.
This also fits the definition of holding the position of boss, without being a leader.
Leadership is a state of being and being. It needs to keep up with the dynamism of a company and the current scenario. First of all, you need to trust.
Getting to know yourself and your team, deeply. This way, you can understand where to work to enhance your qualities. You must be aware of your vulnerabilities, because it is through them that trust between people is based.
With this in hand, it is possible to reach commitment and accountability of everyone, towards their areas and towards the entire company. Competition turns into collaboration.
Andressa understood the message. And she looked for training and experiences for herself and her collaborators.
The change was neither quick nor simple. It is a process, constant and daily. But things started to move better, with open and transparent dialogues, punctual and productive meetings, with better results for the company in the following years.
Andressa still held the leadership position. But he became less of a boss who micromanaged and more of a leader who inspired.
Do you want to know how it was transformed to reduce stress, increase happiness, cohesion and collective results in the workplace?
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