This expression was imagined by the teams of the OWL Labs company, specializing in videoconferencing tools. His CEO, Frank Weishaupt, describes this style of management as a mirror of the too protective parental attitude. “This is” apparent to snowflowing parenting, which consists for a parent to eliminate the greatest possible number of challenges in his child’s life “He told Fast Company magazine.
Concretely, these managers want to control everything. They make important decisions, keep strategic projects for them, and leave their team the simplest tasks. They return to missions they had however entrusted, cancel meetings without explanation, and hold their collaborators away from discussions with management. With good intentions, of course. But by dint of doing everything instead of their team, they end up slowing them down instead of moving them forward.
Managerial stress and fear of failure
Why does this need to do everything yourself? Because the pressure is strong, especially on managers. Between telework, ever higher objectives and blurred expectations, they are among the collaborators most exposed to stress. According to the 2024 OWL Labs report on hybrid work, their stress level is 55% higher than that of their subordinates. Some fear for their position, others simply want to prove that they master the situation. Almost all of them are convinced-often in good faith-that they will go faster by taking everything in hand themselves.
Under its reassuring air, permanent control is a false ally. By wanting to centralize everything, the snowfielding managers cut short in autonomy, break the initiative and slow down the team dynamics. Employees stagnate, ideas go out, and collective energy runs out. The problem intensifies in times of crisis or restructuring. Intermediate executives, often in the sights of social plans, try to prove that they are essential by taking care of everything. But this strategy ends up exhausting them – them, and their team.
How to react to a snowplay manager? You have to bet on a frank and constructive discussion. It is not a question of pointing the finger, but of proposing. Take the initiative of an exchange to express your desire to invest more, ask to drive a project, share an idea, offer your help on a suffering file. Show that one is reliable, motivated, capable of taking responsibility without having them weigh. And if the situation remains blocked despite the efforts, it is better to explore other avenues by participating in transverse missions or by following internal training. A simple and concrete way to keep moving forward, even when things get stuck.
“Snow Chasting” is not inevitable. It often reflects a good poorly oriented intention: that of protecting, securing and avoiding missteps. But it is by leaving room for attempts, errors and autonomy that the teams gain solidity. Progress assumes to have the right to fall. The confidence, the ability to delegate and the openness to the unexpected is the keys to allow employees to take off. And the manager to finally get rid of the snow-hunting role.