There’s a tight rope act that leaders are engaged in every single day. It’s the battle between letting go and being hands-off and meddling in all the details.

Successfully finding this line is a massive key to both short term wins and long term prosperity. As leaders, we know that we want to empower our team members to do a job and grow into even more productive activities.

Jim Collins – the renowned business & leadership author – writes about this balance in his book “Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0.”

He writes about William Churchill. In the midst of World War II, Churchill was concerned about the information he was receiving about the details of the war through the normal chain of command. Collins implies that Churchill was concerned that he was receiving accounts through a natural filtration of moving from one military operative up the hierarchy until it reached his desk. Churchill wanted more confidence he was connected to what was really going on. Churchill created a separate division tasked with providing the raw battlefield information so that he could stay engaged with and make decisions based on what is actually happening in the field.

Here’s what to avoid so that you don’t become an empowering leader and one who is disengaged.

Stop Acting Like an Executive

The stereotypical executive sits in the big corner office behind closed doors away from what’s really happening. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business leader, you might think you’re nowhere close to an ivory tower. Yet, we can still display the symptoms of the check-out executive.

Jim Collins writes that people can slip into issuing directives instead of asking questions to understand. They get filtered or even biased reports rather than seeing what’s really going on. Instead of knowing the details, they stay in the big picture. They tell the front lines what to do instead of listening to their ideas.

When we detach from the day-to-day so much that we lose touch, it spells the beginning of the end according to Jim Collins and his research.

While it’s true that as leaders, we need to provide the vision and work on the business not just in the business, we can’t disengage so much in how the business is actually executed that we lose touch with what is most important.

You’re Not a Genius

Many entrepreneurs and leaders rose to some level of stature based on how well they performed a job. You are incredible at the service you provide. You created a great product. And, you figured out how to sell it really well. You grew a business or moved up a corporate ladder based on your genius. However, you are not a genius.

All-to-often, leaders that rise to the top based on their ability to perform the craft can become the “genius with 1,000 helpers.” These leaders have all the ideas and everything flows from them and through them. One person with a bunch of minions implementing the plans exactly prescribed without bringing thought or deviation. This genius can’t let go at all.

Granted, as Jim Collins writes, sometimes this could lead to short term success, yet it comes at the cost of burned out, low morale people. Plus, there’s usually a natural ceiling of achievement that we all have and a company cannot grow beyond when everything runs through one person.

So, the secret sauce is to use a hands-on and hands-off style. Stay engaged in the details of the business. Know what’s really happening on the front lines. And, provide the leadership to your people to work on and solve big problems, to innovate and create.

Empower your people and company. Don’t disengage from being the leader your business deserves.