Micromanagement has its place, but macromanagement is the ideal.

Micromanagement is sometimes the only responsible move a leader can make—especially when someone is struggling to deliver.

Micromanagement has been vilified for so long that many leaders see it as a moral failing. I don’t. In fact, micromanagement is sometimes the only responsible move a leader can make—especially when someone is struggling to deliver. In those moments, stepping in closely, directing the work, and removing ambiguity is the fastest way to course-correct. But here’s the key: it should be corrective and temporary, not a permanent state. The danger isn’t in micromanagement itself; it’s in making it the default.

My default is the opposite: macromanagement. Hire good, trustworthy people, give them the space to do great work, and limit your involvement to periodic check-ins. When you’ve set expectations clearly and hired for competence and integrity, there’s no need to hover. In fact, detachment becomes a strength. It frees you to focus on strategy, vision, and systemic improvements instead of living in the weeds of day-to-day execution. The best leaders aren’t omnipresent—they’re present enough.

If the results are there, my role is to support from a distance. If they’re not, that’s when I zoom in—direct, hands-on, and outcome-focused—until performance is back on track.

The Collaborate by Contract (CBC) framework makes this possible at scale. Because CBC forces crystal-clear agreements on outcomes, roles, and dependencies before any work starts, I can afford to be largely absent. Everyone knows exactly what’s expected, how success is measured, and when it’s due. If the results are there, my role is to support from a distance. If they’re not, that’s when I zoom in—direct, hands-on, and outcome-focused—until performance is back on track. Then I zoom back out.

This is the Zoom-In Zoom-Out Principle: manage from a distance until results fail—then step in, fix it, and step back out. It’s a results-driven approach that keeps leadership intervention objective and measurable, applies equally to individual contributors and leaders, and ensures autonomy is earned and protected. Leaders who operate this way create cultures where independence thrives, accountability is clear, and they themselves have the time and mental space to do the high-leverage work only they can do. In the end, it’s not about being hands-on or hands-off—it’s about knowing exactly when to do each.