Not Micromanagement, Not Absentee: Balance
Most leaders are not trying to micromanage. They are trying to ensure quality, manage risk, support their teams, and deliver results.
The challenge is finding the right balance between oversight and autonomy.
Join a panel of experienced leaders as they explore how to build trust, accountability, and ownership without becoming over-involved, and how organizations can create systems that consistently support healthy empowerment and leadership growth.
IQC — in partnership with PEN , WCPE, and GRQC— is pleased to welcome a panel of cross sector leaders for this Morning Excellence webinar.
A Panel Discussion of Real Leadership Practices
How much oversight is too much?
How much is too little?
And how do leaders know the difference?
Many leadership conversations frame micromanagement as a personal flaw. The reality is more complex. Most leaders are trying to navigate competing responsibilities: supporting employees while holding people accountable, staying informed without becoming controlling, and developing capability while ensuring results.
This discussion explores leadership judgment rather than leadership labels.
Through candid stories and practical examples, our panelists will examine how leaders recognize when they are becoming over-involved, how they create accountability without hovering, and how they support employee growth without solving every problem themselves.
We’ll also explore a broader organizational question:
How can organizations create consistent leadership practices that encourage trust, accountability, innovation, competence, and ownership rather than relying on individual manager styles?
Grounded in the Baldrige Leadership category and core values such as visionary leadership, valuing people, agility, ethics and transparency, organizational learning, and delivering value and results, this session will explore both individual leadership behaviors and the systems that help organizations develop empowered, capable teams over time.
Throughout the discussion, participants will have opportunities to reflect on their own leadership tendencies, share insights with peers, and consider practical actions they can apply immediately.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS WILL LEAVE WITH
- Greater awareness of where they naturally fall on the oversight spectrum
- Practical behaviors that help build trust while maintaining accountability
- Signals that indicate they may be over-involved or too hands-off
- Ideas for coaching rather than rescuing employees
- Insights on creating ownership and decision-making capability in others
- Examples of organizational practices that support healthy empowerment and autonomy
- Reflection on one leadership behavior to do less often and one to do more often
OUR SPEAKERS
Taryn Davis | AMSOIL
Integrated Planning leader focused on operational alignment, business planning, and continuous improvement, helping connect strategy, forecasting, and execution across the organization.
Anneliese Peterson | Benedictine
Chief Operating Officer with more than 20 years of leadership experience overseeing operations, organizational performance, quality, and growth in the senior living and healthcare sectors.
Andrew Elbert | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Supervisor of the Organizational Improvement Unit, leading efforts in leadership development, organizational learning, and continuous improvement across a large public-sector organization.
Michelle Nelson | St. Louis County
Organizational Development Specialist with extensive experience in leadership development, organizational effectiveness, strategic planning, and process improvement, helping build leadership capability across the organization.
Facilitated by Amy Czechowicz | Performance Excellence Network
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
- Executives and senior leaders
- Managers and supervisors
- Continuous improvement professionals
- Human resource and organizational development leaders
- Emerging leaders preparing for greater responsibility
- Anyone interested in creating stronger accountability, ownership, and engagement within their teams
Leadership is rarely about choosing between control and autonomy.
The challenge is learning how to provide the right level of support, visibility, accountability, and trust for the situation at hand.
Join us for a thoughtful and practical conversation with leaders who have wrestled with that balance in real organizations and learn how both leaders and organizations can create the conditions for people to grow, contribute, and succeed.
Thursday, Oct 15th | 8:00–9:00am CT (Optional networking and mingling from 7:45–8:00)
Format: Zoom meeting
Investment price: Included with membership for PEN/WCPE/IQC members | $20 for non‑members
Can’t make it live? Register anyway – all registered attendees will receive access to the recording.
