to wonder why (some) people are so obsessed with status?

[toconclude]

Some (not all) middle managers feeling their authority is being 'questioned' or 'undermined' if you make a genuine attempt to just get on with a job without constant back-checking if it's OK with them - for no real reason to do with the job itself. Isn't it supposed to be about teamwork? The customer? Delegation? Initiative?

Perhaps I lack empathy or something - and am clearly destined never to climb the greasy pole myself. I don't give a flying fork about my own 'authority' or official status (I think in general authority is earned as you go on, doesn't come ready made with a label) and find it difficult (and frankly a huge waste of time) to keep second guessing everything in favour of other people's worries about it.

Suggestions in dealing without constantly having to bite my tongue or tread on eggshells, people?

Insecurity? Fear that they aren't really needed?

We all care about status, we just each define it in different ways.

Some people are just control freaks and want a task done their way. I think if you're a manager and this is the way you wirk, you don't understand your job properly. You're being paid more to manage the team and get it all done, the minutiae of how is no longer your concern. I often review the work of junior colleagues and think ok, that's not how I would have done it, but will it meet the client's needs? If so, I move on because I don't have time to do my job and theirs. I've had a boss who was a micromanager. She was at work til 9pm every night, had the weight of the world on her shoulders and ending up leaving because the job was 'too stressful'.

What I mean is, it's not necessarily about status, some people just can't let go and adapt to changing roles. That's why it's so prevalent in middle management. They're new to it.