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By:

Rahul Kulkarni

30 March 2025 at 3:32:54 pm

The Boundary Collapse

When kindness becomes micromanagement It started with a simple leave request.   “Hey, can I take Friday off? Need a personal day,” Meera messaged Rohit. Rohit replied instantly:   “Of course. All good. Just stay reachable if anything urgent comes up.”   He meant it as reassurance. But the team didn’t hear reassurance. They heard a rule.   By noon, two things had shifted inside The Workshop:   Meera felt guilty for even asking. Everyone else quietly updated their mental handbook: Leave is...

The Boundary Collapse

When kindness becomes micromanagement It started with a simple leave request.   “Hey, can I take Friday off? Need a personal day,” Meera messaged Rohit. Rohit replied instantly:   “Of course. All good. Just stay reachable if anything urgent comes up.”   He meant it as reassurance. But the team didn’t hear reassurance. They heard a rule.   By noon, two things had shifted inside The Workshop:   Meera felt guilty for even asking. Everyone else quietly updated their mental handbook: Leave is allowed… but not really. This is boundary collapse… when a leader’s good intentions unintentionally blur the limits that protect autonomy and rest. When care quietly turns into control Founders rarely intend to micromanage.   What looks like control from the outside often starts as care from the inside. “Let me help before something breaks.” “Let me stay involved so we don’t lose time.” “Loop me in… I don’t want you stressed.” Supportive tone.   Good intentions.   But one invisible truth defines workplace psychology: When power says “optional,” it never feels optional.
So when a client requested a revision, Rohit gently pinged:   “If you’re free, could you take a look?” Of course she logged in.   Of course she handled it.   And by Monday, the cultural shift was complete: Leave = location change, not a boundary.   A founder’s instinct had quietly become a system. Pattern 1: The Generous Micromanager Modern micromanagement rarely looks aggressive. It looks thoughtful :   “Let me refine this so you’re not stuck.” “I’ll review it quickly.”   “Share drafts so we stay aligned.”   Leaders believe they’re being helpful. Teams hear:   “You don’t fully trust me.” “I should check with you before finishing anything.”   “My decisions aren’t final.” Gentle micromanagement shrinks ownership faster than harsh micromanagement ever did because people can’t challenge kindness. Pattern 2: Cultural conditioning around availability In many Indian workplaces, “time off” has an unspoken footnote: Be reachable. Just in case. No one says it directly.   No one pushes back openly.   The expectation survives through habit: Leave… but monitor messages. Rest… but don’t disconnect. Recover… but stay alert. Contrast this with a global team we worked with: A designer wrote,   “I’ll be off Friday, but available if needed.” Her manager replied:   “If you’re working on your off-day, we mismanaged the workload… not the boundary.”   One conversation.   Two cultural philosophies.   Two completely different emotional outcomes.   Pattern 3: The override reflex Every founder has a version of this reflex.   Whenever Rohit sensed risk, real or imagined, he stepped in: Rewriting copy.   Adjusting a design.   Rescoping a task.   Reframing an email. Always fast.   Always polite.   Always “just helping.” But each override delivered one message:   “Your autonomy is conditional.” You own decisions…   until the founder feels uneasy.   You take initiative…   until instinct replaces delegation.   No confrontation.   No drama.   Just quiet erosion of confidence.   The family-business amplification Boundary collapse becomes extreme in family-managed companies.   We worked with one firm where four family members… founder, spouse, father, cousin… all had informal authority. Everyone cared.   Everyone meant well.   But for employees, decision-making became a maze: Strategy approved by the founder.   Aesthetics by the spouse.   Finance by the father. Tone by the cousin.   They didn’t need leadership.   They needed clarity.   Good intentions without boundaries create internal anarchy. The global contrast A European product team offered a striking counterexample.   There, the founder rarely intervened mid-stream… not because of distance, but because of design:   “If you own the decision, you own the consequences.” Decision rights were clear.   Escalation paths were explicit.   Authority didn’t shift with mood or urgency. No late-night edits.   No surprise rewrites.   No “quick checks.”   No emotional overrides. As one designer put it:   “If my boss wants to intervene, he has to call a decision review. That friction protects my autonomy.” The result:   Faster execution, higher ownership and zero emotional whiplash. Boundaries weren’t personal.   They were structural .   That difference changes everything. Why boundary collapse is so costly Its damage is not dramatic.   It’s cumulative.   People stop resting → you get presence, not energy.   People stop taking initiative → decisions freeze.   People stop trusting empowerment → autonomy becomes theatre.   People start anticipating the boss → performance becomes emotional labour.   People burn out silently → not from work, but from vigilance.   Boundary collapse doesn’t create chaos.   It creates hyper-alertness, the heaviest tax on any team. The real paradox Leaders think they’re being supportive. Teams experience supervision.   Leaders assume boundaries are obvious. Teams see boundaries as fluid. Leaders think autonomy is granted. Teams act as though autonomy can be revoked at any moment. This is the Boundary Collapse → a misunderstanding born not from intent, but from the invisible weight of power. Micromanagement today rarely looks like anger.   More often,   it looks like kindness without limits. (Rahul Kulkarni is Co-founder at PPS Consulting. He patterns the human mechanics of scaling where workplace behavior quietly shapes business outcomes. Views personal.)

Not a Colonel but the Commander in Chief!!!

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Dilip Vengsarkar

Everyone knows him as a batter par elegance and an icon of the game.

Born in Mumbai and bred on its cricketing maidans Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar has the ‘Khadoos’ attitude of a Mumbai cricketer so much so that he is often considered to be aloof and reserved but with friends close to him he is the life of any party.

He is the stuff which legends are made of…not only on the field but also off the field.

We all know of his exceptional batting prowess over the years for his club Dadar Union, Mumbai, West Zone and for India and not for any small reason does he hold the title ‘Lord of the Lords’ with 3 back-to-back centuries and narrowly missing the 4th one.

He has close to 7000 runs in Test cricket and top-notch centuries all across the globe and against all teams. He is one of the rare Indian cricketers who has played much over 100 Test matches.

He still holds the record of being the No.1 batsman in the world as per the world rankings for the longest period which he held for 21 months from 1986-88.

Indian cricket owes a lot to this former Captain of India and Chairman of the Selection committee.

Post retirement Dilip Vengsarkar could have done what most of his contemporaries have done. He could have sat in an air-conditioned television studio, done commentary and advertisements and made lots of money.

He is one of the very few cricketers who has given back to the game and that too in many forms.

His contribution as a cricketer, an India captain, as Chairman of selectors, an administrator, a talent spotter, a columnist is immense and he has taken upon himself to spot, groom and train the young and mentor talent at not one, two but four of his Dilip Vengsarkar Cricket Academy’s.

His products latest products include Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad and as a Chairman of Selectors he did Indian Cricket the greatest service when he backed and played two youngsters who went on to become India’s legends and best cricketers across all formats Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli!!!

The list is endless…

In his four academy’s, two in Mumbai, one in Pimpri-Chinchwad and the newest one at Panvel, Dilip (Sir) as he is known to the youngsters ensures that his trainees and players get the best of equipment, pitches and facilities. Every July he even travels to England with his Academy’s team to give upcoming trainees the exposure and experience of foreign conditions, pitches, players and culture.

A devoted son and a family man, he is married to Manali Vengsarkar who is herself a successful jewellery designer, a spiritual guide, a counsellor and mentor to those who seek her help from all over the world.

They have a son Nakul who is a leading Architect and Interior Designer and daughter Pallavi. They are well settled with their respective spouses. His grandson, Nirvaan of course is the apple of his eye!!!

Dilip Vengsarkar is avid traveler across the globe, he is a cricketing brain and most of his predictions about a player or the game come out to be true due to his vast experience.

Born in Hindu Colony in Dadar he holds high traditional values.

Not many know that he is also an excellent singer and hums his favourite Mehdi Hasan songs only when he is with the closest of his friends. He always stays away from social media and media glare though is contribution to Indian cricket is huge.

Unlike others he shuns publicity and continues with his good work towards the game and society.

As a columnist also he is precise, blunt and does not mince words. He gives justice to a neglected player and backs the player to the hilt. His views carry weight and more often than not the neglected player gets his due.

He always speaks for the upliftment of cricket and other sports.

Amongst Indian crickets most popular names he was given offers to contest Lok Sabha elections on more than one occasion from different Party’s but had politely declined.

However, he did try his hand at the Mumbai Cricket Associations elections and was elected as the Vice President of MCA for a long period.

Though he prefers to stay for away from politics, he was also elected to the apex committee of the BCCI with a thumping majority by voters all across India, where he voices players concerns, speaks about improvement in the game, fights for the rights of ex cricketers and their families.

His concern for the game and its players is extremely genuine and he voices the same at all levels and forums makes him sound anti - establishment but Dilip Vengsarkar is not the one to be bothered.

Standing tall he doesn’t duck but faces every attack bravely just as he did in his heyday days on the cricketing field making him one of India’s finest batsmen ever to play the game.

He has good sense of humour and it is always a pleasure to be in his company. He has good taste is elegant and is a connoisseur of the finest single malts!!!

A hard-core Maharashtrian he loves his fish and his mutton and an evening with friends.

He is a goldsmith in Indian Cricket, he knows how to spot diamonds on the field, not surprising because of his experience of 55 years and as mentioned has given back to the game tirelessly as a cricketer, administrator, talent spotter and as a mentor to so many greats.

With more than a thousand trophies and awards he was also conferred the Padma Shree and is also the recipient of the Arjuna award instituted by the Government of India. However, legions of his fans across the globe truly feel that he has not got his due for all his work and lesser mortals have been honoured more...

The government should definitely consider honouring this Indian legend, World Cup winner with a Padma Bhushan!!!

For Indian cricket and its lovers across the globe he is a man worth his weight in Gold ... 24 Karat Gold!!!

(The writer is a spokesperson for Shiv Sena. Views personal.)

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