Sometimes managers will say to me, "You know I would like to be a stronger boss. I would like to be more hands-on, but that approach would never fit with the culture of my workplace." They'll say, "I work in a big organization, there's no way a hands-on approach would work here." Or they'll say, "I work in a really small company so there's no way that a hands-on approach would work here" or they'll say, "I work in a very creative company so there's no way a hands-on approach would work here." Or they will say, "We work in a very technical environment so there's no way a hands-on approach would work here" or they'll say, "We're a very old-fashioned conservative company so there's no way a hands-on approach would work here" or they'll say, "Well you see, we're a freewheeling, entrepreneurial company so there's no way a hands-on approach would work here." You get the point?

If being a strong hands-on boss doesn't feel like a good fit with your corporate culture, you shouldn't be surprised. Remember? There's an under management epidemic throughout the workplace. Managers don't manage anymore. So being a strong hands-on boss might make you a little bit of a maverick. That's OK. Be a maverick.

I like to tell the story of when I was in eighth grade. It was a year when I was probably more inclined to be misbehaving than to be behaving properly and I had this one teacher whose name was Mr. Benson. He was my English teacher. And he was a little quirky; he was a bit of a maverick. You could definitely tell that he had that reputation even among the other teachers; he was a maverick. He was kind of a hard-nosed teacher. He gave pop quizzes. He made us do one book report after another. He was very strict. And I remember one time in the eighth grade I turned in a book report on Johnny Tremain and Mr. Benson ripped up the paper right in front of me because I had not dotted my I's. What a beautiful metaphor for quality control. Anyone that knows my written hand knows that to this day I dot my I's with little stars. And that's my running tribute to Mr. Benson. I don't remember any of my other teachers in the eighth grade but I remember Mr. Benson and I still dot my I's with stars. Be that person. If being a strong hands-on boss makes you a maverick, be a maverick.

BONUS MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICE
Help your employees earn more! Can you think of an example of a bigger more significant reward that a particular employee is eager to earn? Choose one. Start by describing that bigger significant reward. Now, describe what would be necessary for that person to do, over what likely period of time, to possibly earn that significant bigger reward. Can you break that big equation into smaller parts? Can you sketch out a plan for helping this employee earn this bigger more significant reward over some period of time? What would this plan look like? You'll have to start at the beginning. Meet with the employee regularly with plenty of time in advance of each small goal. Go over the list of concrete actions/specifications/time-budgets for reaching each small goal. Keep going, one small piece at a time. As the employee succeeds, one step at a time, you'll help this person earn that bigger significant reward, one step at a time.