There's little satisfaction in watching someone fail. Even the most cynical managers don't want to see that happen to their employees, if only because it implies that they, too, have failed in some way. This is when your parent hat can obscure your vision. Parents don't like to see their children struggle, and often they will do what they can to reduce or eliminate their suffering. Never mind that mistakes are part of learning; they just don't want the lessons to be so harsh. To an extent, this is a good thing. Care and compassion are important ingredients for growing employees and cultivating loyalty. But there comes a point when the parent hat slips too far down on your manager's brow, and caring goes too far.

Where is that point? Well, it can be hard to see until you cross it. Take the following quiz. How often do you find yourself …

Taking time out of your day to redo what an employee has done?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Redoing the same tasks for the same employee over and over again?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Missing opportunities to encourage employees to grow by indicating your expectations and how you'll measure progress?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Spending time after hours on work tasks that aren't really yours, when you have other responsibilities or you could be having a life?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Waking up at night worried about how an employee is performing or whether the employee will complete a project correctly and on time?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Defending an employee's incomplete or incorrect work to other team members, your superiors, or clients?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

Asking other employees to pick up extra work to cover for an employee who isn't pulling his or her load?

□ Never

□ Once or twice a week

□ Daily

If you never do any of these things, you might not be paying enough attention to what's going on in your department or work group. It's normal for managers to have to step in every now and then; even exceptionally proficient employees occasionally stumble. But if you're doing three or more of these things once or twice a week, you have an employee who is flailing — and failing.