CONTROL FREAKS are just perfectionists who have let their addiction to perfect get the better of them. Yet let’s not pick on them too much- they happily catch planes, trains and automobiles where they are completely out of control! They trust. But it’s not blind trust- it’s track record trust. If a pilot just flew their first 10 flights with only one crash into a mountainside, no one would board the plane. Proven trust is important not just to Control Freaks but to all great leaders. And there lies the problem: to get people to prove their trust takes trust. And if they fail, it takes more trust. And Control Freak Leaders aren’t good at this. Here’s some keys to help-
1- Take your frustrations home with you.
You’ll always see things people do as sub-standard. That’s what makes you good! You always see the gaps. You never accept average. _________________________________
2- Improvement is what you’re after. Not perfect. No one gets a PB every time they play sport, so don’t demand it. But they certainly should improve over time. __________________________________
3- Think about your own mistakes. Grace is what’s needed. Move from being Dictator to Coach and allow people to start bad and end good. __________________________________
4- Teach people to measure twice cut once. Most people start out just measuring once. Most perfectionists start out measuring so much they never cut. Twice is good. __________________________________
5- Be consistent with your appraisals.
When you cast your critical eye on something and it’s working well, go berserk. Get them a gift. Go crazy. Get yourself a new reputation. __________________________________
6- Give people a safe place to fail in. It’s called training. Even Jesus didn’t let Judas mix with the people. He didn’t trust him. They were too important to Jesus. Yet he did trust him with the finances. It’s called measured trust. __________________________________
7- Turn a blind eye to things that may annoy you. Stop snooping. Figure our what’s essential and only do that. Otherwise you’re going to explode. And you’ve done that before. It’s not pretty. ???
How to Stop being a Control Freak
