What do Steve Jobs, Mickey Drexler, and Jeff Bezos all have in common? They are all builders of giant brands, from Apple to J Crew, to Amazon? Yes, but there's something else you might not realize they have in common, and it is directly related to their success— each is( or was) an unmitigated(十足的),unapologetic, micromanager! The modern executive is taught—in business schools and in many jobs—that to manage people effectively is to delegate, and then get out of the way. However, it's not delegate and forget; it must be delegate and be intimately involved with what happens next. The dichotomy (二分法)between delegation and micromanagement is false and misleading. It's not one or the other, it's both! Being able to handle, and indeed thrive, by doing two opposing things at once is a hallmark of great leaders. Such"ambidextrous"(多种才能的,灵巧的) leaders intensely execute today's game plan while sowing the seeds for what comes next. They are deeply analytical at the same time as they are looking for creative solutions to business challenges. And they are hands-on delegators. It is a paradox only for the tired and the timid. Micromanagers must be selective. You can't delve into the details of everything, and in fact superstar micromanagers don't. Steve Jobs was intimately involved with each product the company designed, and was even famously involved in designing the glass stairs at the Apple stores. But financial and operational issues were delegated to second-in-command and current Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook. Micromanagers must be experts. What could be worse than a manager immersed in the details who really doesn't know his stuff? Sam Walton spent most of his time flying in his little airplane to visit stores, deepening his knowledge as he went. When he had something to say, there was deep credibility behind it. Finally, it takes a strong, trusted team to be a micromanager. Could Steve Jobs have spent weeks with the Iphone design team if there was no one else to mind the store? If not for Tim Cook, perhaps the legend of Steve Jobs would not have turned out quite so well.