Psychoanalytic Features of Micro-Management in Financial Sector

The purpose of this work is to investigate the psychoanalytic prerequisites for the emergence of micromanagement in a financial organization and to consider the genesis of symptoms of psychotic anxiety in the organization, which results in the formation of this management style, using the example of a specific case. The paper focuses both on theoretical problems of group defense mechanisms investigation, which results in micromanagement evolvement as a symptom of protection from psychotic anxiety, and analysis of the specifics of financial organizations as carriers of projected unconscious customer anxieties related to the perception of money. The empirical part aimed on the analysis of the particular banking case with an explanation of the reasons for the emergence of micromanagement leadership style at the systemic level, as well as to propose interventions to change the existing group dynamics. The research demonstrates how historical factors of the organization's development lead to substitution of the primary task by the creation and maintainance of social defenses, with their subsequent institutionalization into all the mechanisms of functioning. The lack of effective mechanisms for containing anxiety in the organization leads to the regression of participants to less mature levels of behavior, forming a vicious circle of increasing the existing anxiety. The work clearly demonstrates that micromanagement is a specific manifestation of obsessive defense mechanisms, and its main danger is to avoid contact with reality, which creates the risk of critical situations. The paper also considers other manifestations of social defenses that support this management style, which makes it clear that micromanagement is a symptom of deeper problems in the organization than is commonly believed. Based on the findings, practical ways to solve the problem of micromanagement are proposed, based on both a psychoanalytic understanding of this behavior and modern business approaches and tools.