Are you Fueling or Steering Your Employees?

Earlier this week I was listening to a webinar on parenting adolescence and the speaker suggested and interesting concept that for parenting tweens and teens that I believe has great application to working with employees.  When parenting and leading people at work, it is critical to manage the balance between steering and fueling.  By using the car metaphor we can think about the necessary, yet very different roles of steering and fueling.

Steering reminds me of what we often call micromanaging–overly dictating behaviors, controlling processes, etc.  Fueling, on the other hand, implies stocking the fire, engaging, motivating, and ultimately inspiring.  I think often at work, in particular, in times of stress, and when managers are dealing with performance issues, they too ofter resort to steering when they would be better off, and ultimately see greater results, by fueling their employees.

How do you fuel your employees? What tricks, tips, and best practices have you discvered?