ARE YOU A PYROMANIAC?

A pyromaniac is a boss who is constantly lighting fires within their company. They are Type A's, control freaks “on steroids,” who create constant emergencies, taking energy and time away from the important issues people must deal with. If you are constantly calling or emailing your people, especially after hours and on weekends about urgent trivialities or new priorities, this is one of the symptoms. You have a habit of focusing your people on minutiae combined with being impulsive, compulsive, and stubborn. You look upon the small stuff as a threat to your “baby,” the firm you started. You needed some of these behaviors to create your company, but you need to deep six them in order to manage the company. A lot of it comes from insecurity or lack of trust in your people to do the right thing at the right time. Managing this way is the antithesis of good leadership. It brings down morale and creates turnover. You have to learn to control those impulses.

Remember, if you hired the right people, trained them well, and set goals with them, they should be able to do their job. You don’t need to constantly interfere and divert them from the task at hand. Lock up your cell phone or Blackberry after hours. Give people a life outside of work and they will reward you with more productivity while at work.