When someone is new at a job or a task, with not much knowledge or expertise, it’s easy to get a little bit frustrated as a manager. You want your new hire to succeed, to get it right the first time, and to not make an error. You might stand over their shoulder, offer unsolicited advice, or even take over and finish things for them. But this isn’t the best approach; quite the contrary – don’t be a snowplow!
“Snowplow parenting”, or “snowplow leadership” is a term describing people who go out of their way to clear any possible obstacles out of their children’s’ (or employees’) way. Being a snowplow means running ahead of your team and frantically pushing away anything that might get in the way of them doing a perfect job. This includes doing things for your employee instead of having them try their hand at it first, or covering for any possible mistakes without letting them learn through trial and error.
While this method may seem kind and proactive, setting the others up for success, it actually is detrimental in the long run. If others never have to solve their own problems or figure out how to get around obstacles, they will be helpless when the time comes that there is nobody there to hold their hand through a process.
Even if it might result in a longer timeframe for the task to be completed, or a few inconvenient missteps along the way, letting your employees figure things out themselves will be better for the entire team in the long run.
Micromanagement is a form of snowplow leadership, where a manager does not truly entrust their employees with their tasks, but rather demands that they do everything exactly as the manager wants it. This is not only time-consuming and exhausting for the manager, but also just plain annoying and reduces employees’ morale significantly. Employees need to feel trustworthy and competent at their jobs – even when they might not be an expert on the task at hand.
The best way to avoid being a snowplow is to promote autonomy positively. Equip your team with all the the tools and info they need to do the best job possible. That doesn’t mean don’t correct or guide – just do it one time, in a concise and effective way, and let them learn from you and make their own mistakes. In the long run, it will make your employees more confident and give them a sense of freedom, not pressure, from their management.
“Great leaders are kind and supportive. They respect disagreement from their teams, and effectively delegate work to their teams and give them autonomy to get things done. They also hold high standards for themselves and their teams and work to coach everyone to meet those standards.”