A couple of months ago, I wrote a piece called 15 Time Wasting Activites Corporations Encourage Daily. Growth strategist Alastair Dryburgh of London commented that my list of wasteful activities comprised the main tasks of management. And he was absolutely right. I bet if you asked random leaders and employees alike to list tasks of management, they would mention most of those 15 time-wasting activities. Activities like reporting, reviewing, planning, meeting, discussing, and documenting.

Why are these wasteful? Because not a one of these activities creates value for which customers are willing to pay. And yet, most organizations of any size have a mess of managers who devote the overwhelming majority of their time to these very activities.

But it’s even worse than that. If managers were only wasting their own time, it would be sad, but not horrendously expensive. The problem is that managers pursuing these wasteful activities inevitably waste the time of countless other employees. For example, when executives report at top level meetings, where do you think they get the information they report? Their senior managers write reports, of course, and those senior managers often present those reports in meetings. And where do you suppose the senior managers get their information? From less senior managers, of course, who write reports and who usually present those reports in meetings. And where do you suppose the less senior managers get their information? From lower level employees, of course! Each set of reports and meetings is fed by lower level reports and meetings and on down the pyramid. Do you have any idea how many total employee hours of reporting and meetings it takes to feed one executive report? The answer could be hundreds.

And that’s just the beginning. Because not all meetings are filled with reporting. There are additional meetings for planning, discussing, and reviewing. These meetings are also fed by countless activities.

Planning, meeting, reviewing, and the like have their place. Management systems aren’t totally misguided. Unfortunately, what happens is that the requirements of the management system often take on a life of their own and seemingly become more important than getting the real work done. For example, perfect plans become of the utmost importance, even when half fiction (see Why Your Planning and Tracking Generate Nothing But The Illusion Of Control). Meetings demand attendance and take precedence over individual work. Reporting must be taken seriously or employees will suffer embarrassment, damage to their reputations, or worse.

It isn’t only these core management systems that take on a life of their own and supplant value-adding activities. Other examples include change management programs, employee engagement programs, and performance management systems. Whole industries have sprung up to help the leadership get lost in these programs and systems!

Let’s consider change management. Change is inevitable. Good managers are managing change all day long, every day of the year, by helping employees understand what needs to happen, why, and what behavior changes will lead to better or new results. And that’s the way it should be.

However, once the leadership becomes embroiled in “Change Management,” the focus shifts to controlling people and controlling messages. Managers are often left doing little or nothing while waiting for direction from above. Everyone gets bogged down trying to learn some consultant’s 12-step process. Meanwhile, managers can’t even ‘get started.’ All of this is often at the expense of figuring out what actually has to change and why. (See Five Colossal Mistakes To Avoid)

Employee engagement programs are another great example where program goals eclipse the real priorities. Like teaching to the test, management focuses on trying to raise engagement survey scores. How can we help employees connect with each other? How should we celebrate successes? How should we reward and recognize employee contributions? These are a huge distraction from helping ensure employees are able to contribute successfully, are performing jobs they find interesting, and are challenged appropriately – the true drivers of engagement. (See 10 Reasons Your Employee Engagement Program Is Hurting Your Company)

Performance management systems provide yet another example of leaders getting lost in leadership. The best way to manage performance is to continuously help everyone improve their ability to contribute. Performance management systems undeniably geared toward establishing raises, documenting failures, and protecting the organization from lawsuits, not toward enhancing performance. (See 8 Signs Your Performance Review Process Is Failing)

Now don’t get me wrong. Systems have value. But they have to be the right kind of systems. I’ll be the first to support systems that make work easier and increase efficiency by replacing chaos and countless decisions with standard practices, tools, and guidelines. But I will not support systems primarily interested in controlling, disciplining, overseeing, and manipulating people. Instead, we need to unleash talent and get out of the way.

So let’s go back to the basics. The #1 responsibility of management is to be sure employees are operating with clarity. To be effective, employees must know what they are trying to accomplish, why, how, when, and with whom. Not just in the grand scheme of things, but every minute of every day. With that kind of clarity, employees can get “in the zone” and fly. That should be what everyone wants. It certainly is what most employees want.

Avoid getting lost in leadership with these tips:

1. Put the needs of your employees ahead of your own needs and cumbersome demands of one-size-fits-all systems.
2. Stop “holding others” accountable and partner for success.
3. Stop monitoring others and checking off boxes and tasks.
4. Focus on preventive actions that uncover obstacles by asking questions such as:
   • What can we do to be sure we will finish on time?
   • How do you know you will finish on time?
   • What have we learned since we last talked?
   • What do we have left to learn?
   • What could wrong at this point and how can we prevent it?

Protect employees from systems and practices that hinder their progress. Don’t get lost in leadership and forget what constitutes the real work.

Ann Latham is an expert in strategic clarity and the author of The Clarity Papers. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/The-Clarity-Papers.

This article first appeared on Forbes, February 18th, 2018.