An effective leader can achieve goals through influence instead of forced compliance. Amazing lessons in leadership can be learned by stepping up to lead in a volunteer organization.

When you are leading a team in a volunteer situation you have no leverage. No one is getting paid to be there, and in most cases you had nothing to do with who is there. You have to work with what you have, or risk losing the people who are there to volunteer along with you.

A good leader in a volunteering situation learns to enroll people into a vision, and finds ways to influence others through collaboration, empathy, and through a co-ownership approach to work.

“The key to enrolling people to accomplish goals as a team is trust.”

Placing trust in people motivates them to work harder with accountability to deliver on their targets. Micromanaging and unnecessary intervention discourages people and makes them feel undervalued and underappreciated.

With constant scrutiny and overly detailed instructions, leaders attempting to gain control of growth actually end up causing stagnation and a highly disengaged organization.

If you want loyal, long term customers, you have to build trust with them and deliver value. This starts by building trust internally and adding value to people’s lives.

Many companies mistakenly look at employees as assets they need to derive an ROI from, instead of partners to team up with by focusing on mutual value creation.

If you think anyone can do the job and treat people that way, you’ll end up with customers who also think any company can deliver what you do. Is that the kind of business model you think will turn you into a market leader?

“Disengaged organizations translate into similar customers who simply don’t care about you as a brand.”

Avoid Micromanaging

If employees feel their working-style is being constantly interfered with, they might start believing that they are not the right fit for the job. Not only will it increase unnecessary pressure on them, but it will also dissuade them from learning or upgrading new skills. This will inevitably lead to poor performance on their behalf and shortfalls on achieving company goals.

People must be allowed to set their own working process, and set their own accountability terms, so that they are in full control of themselves.

“An effective leader will identify key performers and trust them to deliver the projects on their own volition.”

Those lagging must be mentored and coached in a way that supports their independence, so that they can build confidence in handling projects efficiently.

Self-accountability provides your team with a purpose to work towards contributing to the success of the organization responsibly. As opposed to micromanagement, accountability and trust reflects that the team is competent. This reflect a competent leader who has matured in their ability to enroll and influence, instead of command and control.

How to Achieve Goals Without Micromanaging

Micromanagers are unaware of the fact that they are creating obstructions in the organization. They choose to believe that they are “running a tight ship.”

A good leader must be aware of their role in the organization. and create an environment that supports the independent growth of each employee.

The following are some proven suggestions to help your teams achieve their goals without micromanagement tactics:

1. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Specify targets with employees, not for them. They need to be realistic and must be conveyed clearly to all stakeholders on the team. Get to the what and why something needs to be done together with them. You might know how a job can be done, but you have to look at the bigger picture that incorporates your team. They should do things on their own terms. More often than not it turns out that they discover new and more efficient ways of doing things. You should also hear out their concerns and expectations.

2. Define Success

Once you have clarity on the goals, define what the success of these goals will look like. Your team should also jointly design the benchmarks and outcomes. Everyone should understand the parameters of the job at hand, and the end picture. This will help you and your team contribute to the organization as equals, to achieve jointly measurable and meaningful goals.

3. Develop Trust

Focus on creating a competent team from the earliest stage. Identify the strengths of every member of your team by communicating with them. Delegate tasks accordingly, so you can be sure that they can handle them efficiently within the required time. This will help you to earn their trust and you can recognize and reward them for the desired outcomes. When you don’t micromanage your team, this will generate an upward spiral of trust across the organization.

4. Don’t Dominate. Coach Instead. Let Go

Whenever there is a problem in the organization, you don’t have to roll your sleeves and go fix it. With constant interference you will encourage micromanaging tactics. It is important to understand the role of coaching to inspire your team. You might be an expert in handling problems because of your experience, but it is your responsibility to teach your workforce to do the same. Doing their job will not help them at all. It might be hard to step back in such cases, but you must trust in the competency of your team. When they seek help, mentor them and entrust them to handle the problems on their own. You can’t be in control of every little thing in the organization.

“Trust and mentor your team to take care of issues on their own and then let go.”

Most often, leaders believe that they are ‘helping out’ but instead end up micromanaging. This demotivates people and affects their performance. As a good leader, you must understand your role as a mentor and coach.

You need to trust in your competent team and let them handle issues. When you let go of micromanaging, you will also benefit from less stress on yourself, gain better performance from your team, and improve overall organizational results.