1. Much as I would like to take credit for these ten items they are a distillation of a more complete explanation by Susan Heathfiield who is prolific in our output of good stuff - not that I agree with all of it! You can read the entire article by clicking through on the About.com link.

2. Item nine is a killer for sure. As I read these items I’m wondering how many of the ten could happen independently of the other nine?

For me these items are symptomatic of a single problem - management lacking confidence in their own abilities and being willing to assume accountability for their reports’ failures and shortcomings. Surely those are some of the very things to leverage when empowering the workforce, helping people and organizations realize their potential.

You raised some great points number nine especially recognising people’s contribution and expressing to emplyees their contribution is so important and often not done. I really second your comments on having a strategy then employees can know when success has occured. Many manager I feel do not understand the differnce between stragy and tactics and often feel that their input is required at a tactical level when in fact this is as you say micro management.