"Nose In, Fingers Out” NIFO Leadership
Close to everything, yet away from everything.
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
Lao Tzu
Welcome to another edition of “Students of Leadership,” today to extrapolate learnings from a simple principle originated in corporate governance to describe what the optimal relationship between the board of directors and a CEO ought to be; the balance between governance and operations.
The Leadership Principle That Changes Everything
In the spring of 1864 the American Civil War is entering its fourth and bloodiest year, the nation is fractured, the Union Army is in bad shape, and public morale is at its lowest point. In Washington, President Abraham Lincoln is immersed in every detail of the war effort. He spends hours absorbing the information from the endless battle reports, learning about supply shortages, and dealing with political infighting. Yet despite his deep engagement, Lincoln refrains from dictating battlefield strategies to his generals.
When Ulysses S. Grant becomes commander of the Union Army, Lincoln sends him a letter, remarkable in its simplicity and trust:
“Not expecting to see you again before the Spring campaign opens, I wish to express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of your plans I neither know nor seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant; and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any constraints or restraints upon you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster, or the capture of our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, I know these points are less likely to escape your attention than they would be mine. If there is anything wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. And now with a brave army, and a just cause, may God sustain you.”
This is NIFO—Nose In, Fingers Out.
Lincoln was deeply immersed in all affairs to understand the pulse of the war to the details, but wise enough to leave the execution to the expert he had entrusted. The results of this leadership approach? Grant’s relentless campaigns led to the surrender of Confederate forces within a year, preserving the Union and ending the war.
The Power of NIFO Leadership
The principle of Nose In, Fingers Out is deceptively simple: as a leader, you must stay close to the work, deeply understanding the dynamics, challenges, and context of what your team is doing. But you must also resist the urge to interfere or micromanage. Your job is first and foremost to listen, to understand their thinking, to remove roadblocks and support behind the scenes, to help them course correct and adjust when needed, to act as a trusted sounding board, to help pressure test their assumptions, to help them connect the dots brining them information or resources they would not access otherwise. Your job is to empower others to do their best work,
NIFO leadership is anchored on two simple pillars:
Engagement: Staying involved at a meaningful level so you can provide direction, remove obstacles, and make informed decisions when needed.
Trust: Delegating authority, giving the freedom to execute and ensuring that credit is theirs, you want to boost confidence.
Trust in the leader and personal confidence are true force multipliers for high performance. Lack of trust in a leader, and self-doubt are force destroyers.
Lincoln’s balance allowed him to maintain strategic oversight without stifling the autonomy of his generals. He was close enough to sense when intervention was necessary, like when he replaced ineffective commanders earlier in the war, but distant enough to give Grant the room to lead.
Three Crucial Implications of NIFO Leadership
1. Empowerment Drives Performance
Leaders who micromanage erode trust, stifle creativity, and demoralize their teams. By keeping your “fingers out,” you signal confidence in your team’s capabilities. This trust inspires ownership and accountability, encouraging individuals to step up.
Lincoln’s empowerment of Grant didn’t just lead to military success—it energized the Union Army. Soldiers knew their leaders had clarity of purpose and believed in their mission, which boosted morale and cohesion.
Teams empowered to make decisions and solve problems perform better because they’re motivated by trust and autonomy.
2. Strategic Clarity Comes from Proximity
To make good decisions, leaders must understand the reality on the ground. Staying “nose in” means asking the right questions, observing dynamics, and seeking diverse perspectives. Depth of engagement helps connect dots that others might miss.
Lincoln’s constant presence in the War Department wasn’t micromanagement from his perspective, he wanted to stay informed. He read dispatches, asked questions, and sought insights that allowed him to navigate political and military complexities. His deep understanding of the war’s challenges enabled him to make sound strategic decisions, such as prioritizing the emancipation of slaves as a moral and military imperative.
3. Agility and Resilience Require Trust
Crisis demands speed, adaptability, and resilience; qualities that are impossible when a leader tries to control everything. By trusting Grant to lead, Lincoln ensured that decisions were made quickly and by the people closest to the action.
Teams need to feel empowered to act without waiting for endless iterations and long approvals. Leaders who practice NIFO create organizations that are fast, proactive, responsive, ultimately better equipped to navigate uncertainty.
The Risks of Ignoring NIFO
“Nose Out, Fingers In” is the opposite of NIFO leadership, a recipe for dysfunction. Leaders who remain detached from the work yet interfere in execution create confusion, resentment, and inefficiency.
Consider the disastrous leadership of General George McClellan, Lincoln’s predecessor to Grant during the Civil War. McClellan avoided frontline involvement, misjudged key opportunities, and hesitated to act decisively despite overwhelming resources. His failure to align strategy with action nearly cost the Union the war.
Micromanagement suffocates initiative, destroys confidence, and makes creativity disappear. Talented individuals leave, seeking leaders who trust them to do their job by being close to the work but to help them elevate their game and be at their best.
Let’s have some fun, what about extremes?
“Nose In, Fingers In”
Imagine a company led by a “Nose in, Fingers in” approach, with executives constantly hovering over every detail, micromanaging everything. It’s like a chef who decides on the recipe and also insists on tasting every ingredient before they go in, while simultaneously stirring the pot while everyone is lectured; the result is a kitchen in fear where no one dares to add a pinch of salt without permission. Creativity dies and morale plummets, everyone wonders if they are all just glorified pawns!
“Nose Out, Fingers Out.”
Now, let’s imagine the total opposite, a culture of “Nose out, Fingers out.” Leadership is completely disengaged, like a chef that stays in his office during the whole service, never inspecting, never giving an order, never listening to what people need, never tasting a dish, never checking in with staff, never getting the pulse of the customers in the salon... Strategy is unclear to everyone and decisions are left to chance.
In both scenarios the ship heads for troubled waters.
Becoming a NIFO Leader
NIFO leadership is not a passive style, quite the opposite, it requires humility, vision and discipline.
Stay Close to the Work: Spend time understanding your team’s challenges and processes. Listen, ask questions, see them in cation, observe how they solve problems without taking over.
Empower Ownership: Set clear expectations and desired outcomes, then step back, trust your team to deliver. Resist the urge to “fix” everything.
Intervene Strategically: When your involvement is needed, act decisively. Be the leader who removes obstacles, aligns the team, and restores momentum, not the one who second-guesses their every move and always has a better answer.
Sit with your team during a critical project and intentionally only ask questions about what they need, not about what’s wrong or what you would do instead. Step back and let them act, they can achieve a lot more when they know you’re present, engaged and competent, but not intrusive. NIFO leadership aims to kills a culture of fear in an organization and breed one of empowerment, delegation, accountability and agility.
NIFO isn’t just a principle, it’s a mindset that transforms how to lead to make teams perform at their best.
The best leaders stay very close to the action, yet keep their hands off the ball to give the player the confidence they need and the credit they deserve.
The worst leaders steal confidence away, don’t be one of those.
P.S. Before I go, here you have “The Treat,” where I share some of the music that made me company while writing … Enjoy as you bid farewell to this post
“Lead yourself, Learn to live. Lead others, Learn to Build.”
If you enjoyed reading this post consider subscribing to the newsletter for free, joining the community and sharing your thoughts.