Over the course of my professional life, I have been “in the middle” of the organization a lot more than I have been at the top or at the bottom. Chances are, we will spend most of our professional careers somewhere in the middle.
Does that mean that we are not leaders? Absolutely not, to be honest I think that it is the leadership in the middle that truly stokes the engines of success.
When you are leading from the middle you lead both down and up at the same time. What’s more, you serve as a vital bridge to help communicate both up and down within the organization. You provide critical feedback in both directions, an essential part of connecting vision to reality.
When you are leading from the middle you are the critical connection to the company’s culture. You help the newer teammates understand the culture, how we behave, how we create success, and how we feed raw data into the decision-making process that keeps the organization headed in the right direction.
Let’s face it, our bosses are not perfect either. Sometimes, maybe all the time, there is a need to “lead up.” Sometimes the C-Suite is so far removed from the reality of “doing the hard work” that they need someone to provide them with the cold hard truth.
Candor is hard, but saying nothing is worse. Especially when it means that the real truth goes unsaid, and the company drifts off the rails. I have spent significant time “leading up” and helping my boss see, hear, and feel what the rank and file needed him/her to hear. That is part of the job when you are in the middle.
Communication is one of the top 3 things that companies admit they want to do better. Creating effective feedback loops are part of communicating well. In between the top and the bottom there is “the middle.” The middle takes the “vision” from the top, interprets it, and makes it executable, and translates it into actions that lead to results.
Raw information, feedback from the field, comes back in loaded with critical intelligence that will enable adaptation and fuel that drives the flywheel. It is “the middle” that interprets, analyzes, and synthesizes the raw information into useful data that drives adaptations and business decisions.
As a leader in the middle, what must you do well? Here are five things to think about.
- Communication: Middle managers are conduits for information. They must articulate the big picture to their teams and distill executive messages into actionable guidance. Effective communication bridges gaps and fosters understanding.
- Problem-Solving: When challenges arise, middle managers troubleshoot. They balance short-term fixes with long-term solutions, ensuring operational continuity.
- Conflict Resolution: Disagreements occur both horizontally (with peers) and vertically (with superiors or subordinates). Middle managers mediate conflicts, seeking win-win outcomes.
- Decision-Making: Middle managers make countless decisions daily. They weigh risks, consider trade-offs, and align choices with organizational goals.
- Emotional Intelligence: Understanding emotions—both their own and others’—is crucial. Empathy, active listening, and managing emotions contribute to effective leadership.
Leading from the middle is critical to the success of any business. It is also critical to becoming a mature, emotionally intelligent, executive. Never doubt your value in “the middle.” Without you, the entire company falls apart!