I once entered a manufacturing firm where everything seemed stuck. The CEO’s desk was a traffic jam. Managers queued with forms for his signature, procurements, leave requests, and even the replacement of a cleaner. On paper, it looked like discipline. In reality, it was paralysis. Managers stopped leading. Staff stopped thinking. Execution was no longer a rhythm of ideas. It had become a ritual of approvals. This is the disease of top-down micromanagement. Leaders mistake control for accountability. I have seen it in hospitals where every procurement waited for the board chair, and in banks where even small loans had…