Here is a great excerpt from Harvard Business Review’s “The Mark of a Great Leader” post from yesterday:

Have you ever worked with a micro-manager? This is someone who thinks he or she needs to be involved in everything that happens within the company. These leaders are closing out the talents of others by not divesting themselves from the day-to-day problem-solving activities of the company. Great leaders let go of the day-to-day, problem-solving activities of the company. Rather, they choose to maximize strategic and relationship-building efforts. These contribute to the forward momentum of the company rather than causing a “bottleneck” at the leader’s desk. No one person should do it all — and if they are self-aware, most people will realize that they really aren’t capable nor knowledgeable enough to do it all.

The bolded portion is something I particularly agree with — great leaders are the ones that give up control of day to day activities as a way to maximize the possibility of keeping their high performing employees around and allows them to focus on the strategic relationships vital to moving their business forward.