by Steve Pew

Created on: June 03, 2009   Last Updated: June 09, 2009

Peter Vajda, Ph.D. has done an excellent job of giving an overview of the Helicopter boss. This type of supervisor (seldom a leader) has also been called a micro-manager. But there are subtle differences between micro-managers and helicopter bosses. Micro-managers thrive on every detail and rather than supervise the work of others they like to meddle in the details because that's what drives them. Micro-managers are driven to "do it themselves" but once they advance to the supervisor position they have difficulty delegating tasks and compulsively "jump in" uninvited. They are reinforced by doing the detailed work and by their own egos that lead them to believe that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

Helicopter bosses may be micro-managers but more likely they are driven by insecurity and self doubt which they project on others. They have a pervasive fear that the job won't get done right and that if it does go wrong, they will be blamed. While they don't necessarily "snatch the ball and run" as do micro-managers, they hover, nag, second guess, delay and crowd people doing their jobs. They are compulsive about having meetings to find out what people are doing and to kibbitz, over analyze and criticize the work. Their criticisms are not driven by a careful analysis of the processes/products handled by others, they are motivated by a fear that something might go wrong if they aren't watching. They are indecisive worriers. They see their hovering as the responsible way to assure things get done right. This conveys an atmosphere of condescension that is interpreted by those they supervise as not trusting the employee's work, implied incompetence and a general dogmatic and pedantic approach to the work of others.

Micro-managers are driven by their need to be involved in detail. Helicopter bosses are driven by fear of failure or fear that the failure of others, for whom they are responsible, will fail, making them look bad. Helicopter bosses often rise to leadership positions but are seldom successful leaders because they unwittingly undermine the work of talented people in the organization. Unlike micro-managers, they aren't driven by doing the work themselves but by hovering over those who do. If the work gets done they interpret that it was their hovering and close attention that resulted in the success as opposed to success being in spite of their hovering. Their hovering is then reinforced and becomes even stronger. Sooner or later

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