If you’re a startup CEO, your job is to lead — not to control every tiny detail.
Yet, too many founders fall into the micromanagement trap, suffocating their companies instead of scaling them.
In this piece, I’ll share my firsthand experience working with two very different startups — one where the CEO micromanaged everything into dysfunction and another that thrived until leadership made critical financial missteps.
By the end, you’ll see why stepping back and empowering your team — especially HR — isn’t just a leadership philosophy but a survival strategy.
The mission was inspiring: improve education quality in low-income areas.
But it didn’t take long to see the cracks forming.
The CEO had his hands in everything, even the smallest HR decisions.
Employee disciplinary issues?
He dictated the outcomes, often ignoring the proper process.
Hiring?
He brought in people on inflated salaries, sidelining HR recommendations.
He even used department heads as enforcers when HR pushed back, creating a toxic divide between leadership and employees.
Worse, this micromanagement wasn’t just an HR problem. Directors who once had autonomy started resigning.
Seasoned employees were treated like disposable assets until they quit — only to receive counteroffers from the same CEO who undervalued them in the first place.
Sound familiar?
Brian Chesky of Airbnb once said that micromanagement has its place, but there’s a fine line between being involved and being overbearing. This CEO had crossed it.
By the time layoffs began under the guise of financial struggles, trust had eroded.
The result?
A company once full of potential lost its best talent and, eventually, its momentum.
Fast forward to 2022.
I landed a new HR role in a forestry startup — great salary, welcoming team, and most importantly, a CEO who knew when to step back.
Initially, he was involved in the day-to-day, but as the company grew, he focused on the big picture, leaving HR and department heads to do their jobs.
The result?
A thriving, well-run company — until financial decisions outside HR’s control took a turn.
Despite a solid start, the company poured its resources into an expensive new processing machine, draining its financial cushion.
Meanwhile, the CEO secretly approved high-salary hires, bypassing HR.
The warning signs appeared quickly: salary delays, quiet layoffs, then the final blow — total shutdown in November 2023.
This was a different failure, but the lesson remained: CEOs who don’t trust their leadership teams make costly mistakes.
If micromanagement doesn’t kill the company, poor decision-making without checks and balances will.
As Alisa Cohn points out, founders need to step into leadership mode, not just founder mode, as their company scales.
If you’re a startup CEO, here’s the truth.
You are not the company.
Your role is to set the vision, build the culture, and trust your team — especially HR — to execute.
Here’s how:
1. Delegate and mean it
Trust your department heads. If you hire great people but refuse to let them lead, they’ll leave.
2. Let HR do their job
Employee relations, hiring, and workplace policies exist for a reason. Undermining them creates chaos.
3. Stop making emotional decisions
Resentment builds when employees are undervalued, only to get counteroffers when they try to leave.
4. Be financially transparent
Don’t approve secret hires or investments that put the company at risk. HR and finance should be in the loop.
5. Recognize that culture starts at the top
A toxic CEO creates a toxic company — plain and simple. This piece on hostile work environments explains how leadership missteps create lasting damage.
Startups don’t fail because of lack of effort.
They fail because of poor leadership.
If you’re a CEO who wants to build a company where people want to work, back off and lead strategically.
Have thoughts on this?
Drop a comment below.
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