The Most Expensive Good Manager I Ever Met

17 July 2026

On paper, he was outstanding.

His department consistently met its targets.

Quality was excellent. Customers were happy and senior management loved him.

If you judged him by his KPIs, you'd have promoted him. But there was just one problem.

He had become the most expensive manager in the company.

Not because he wasted money. Not because he made poor decisions and not because he missed deadlines.

He was expensive because he had quietly become the answer to every question.

Every decision came through him. Every problem landed on his desk. Every exception required his approval.

His team stopped thinking because he never stopped solving.

He was incredibly busy. He was incredibly capable, and he had unintentionally trained his team to depend on him.

The cost wasn't visible on the financial statements.
It appeared in slower decisions.
Lost initiative.
Untapped ideas.
People waiting instead of acting.

A manager who becomes indispensable doesn't multiply performance. He limits it.

Good managers solve problems, but great managers build people who can solve problems without them.

And then it hit me. Sometimes the most expensive manager in the business is the one everyone believes is doing the best job.

 

If you would like to talk to me, please call me on +27 82 465 5481 or email me on mark@meritbusiness.com

 

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