Dr. Shannon answers the Heartland’s mental health questions
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - Dr. Shannon Cubria Farris is a clinical psychologist. He will be a guest on The Breakfast Show on Sunday mornings, answering viewers’ questions about mental health.
You can join in the conversation by submitting anonymous questions here.
This week, Dr. Shannon answers a question from a viewer about micromanagement. “My boss micromanages every move I make. What can I do?” the viewer asked.
According to Dr. Shannon, micromanagement is a leadership style that involves excessive control and supervision and over-attentiveness to the minor details of an employee’s work.
“This results in the manager typically getting the outcomes they desire, but stifles the employee’s creativity, passion, and confidence.,” Dr. Shannon said.
Dr. Shannon says there are six typical behaviors of a micromanager:
- Dictates, controls and manipulates others’ time. While micromanagers guard their own time, they’re notorious for disrespecting others by perpetuating crises, mismanaging meetings and trying to manage others calendars
- Controls the process of how work gets done by dismissing others’ knowledge, experiences and ideas
- Uses their power of authority to control others
- Requires frequent and unnecessary status updates and reports
- Bottlenecks processes due to making everyone seek their approval before moving forward
- Unable to delegate; when they do, they hover or pull it back at the first sign of trouble
“Oftentimes, micromanagement manifests due to a lack of trust and respect a manager has in their team,” Dr. Shannon said.
According to Dr. Shannon, this lack of trust can be rooted in several reasons:
- Inexperience in management/leading
- Insecurity in their abilities
- Under-skilled team members
- Fear of looking inadequate
- Perfectionism/Believing their work is best
“The psychological effects of micromanagement can leave lasting effects even after the environment has changed, the employee has moved on, and even in their personal life,” Dr. Shannon said.
He says some of those effects include self-doubt, loss of motivation, anxiety, sleep problems, fatigue, decreased trust, employee disengagement, and increased turnover.
As for how to deal with being micromanaged, Dr. Shannon says, look for silver linings and be proactive.
Mental health affects everyone, whether it’s directly or indirectly. It affects friends, family members, co-workers, and other people in your life. According to Dr. Shannon, you don’t have true health until you have your mental health. Dr. Shannon’s goal is to work together with people and create a safe space to talk about mental health in a way that truly matters.
Dr. Shannon can answer questions about mental illness, dealing with mental illness, working with your children or family members and more. If Dr. Shannon doesn’t have all of the answers, he will find an expert who will be able to answer you.
He hopes these conversations about mental health can lend themselves to a little bit more understanding of what might be going on. He wants the Heartland to lean in with curiosity about situations, especially when it’s uncomfortable.
Copyright 2023 KFVS. All rights reserved.
