You don't leave them alone.

Nobody wants to be micro-managed. If you browbeat the people on your team to make sure they do what you want them to do the way you want them to do it, they're going to hate you.

As a manager of other human beings, your job is not to care if people like everything you say. Your job is to get results.

But people perform -- and deliver results -- when they have clear goals, the tools to do the job, and the support of their boss.

When people have you breathing down their neck, they don't perform. They are reactive instead of proactive. They look down instead of looking forward. They don't feel you have confidence in them, so they don't have confidence in themselves.

Think about it. When have you had your best job interviews? Your best client meetings? You perform better when you're confident.

Now imagine that confidence was ripped away from you. You failed in your attempt to get that cute girl's phone number. And you knew exactly who it was that took your mojo away.

You'd hate them.

You leave them alone.

The opposite of micro-management is ignoring your people.

Every single one of us craves... desires... yearns for feedback, all the time.

Your people want the attention of their boss. After all, you are the human being with the power to give them a raise, promote them, put them on the great new account and, yes, fire them.

If you don't give your people feedback and meet with them regularly, they don't know if they're doing a good job. Chances are, when you finally do get around to giving them feedback, it's because there's a problem. They are in trouble. That means the only time they hear from you is when there is something negative happening.

How are they supposed to feel about you? I don't even know you and I hate you.

Your people have a reasonable expectation to receive guidance from you. Positive and negative.

That's easy to overlook in the name of "being hands-off." But good intentions have a way of biting you on the ass. There is a middle ground.

Talk with your people. They need it.