Whenever there is public attention given to a business or government organisation, who is it that gets the credit? It’s generally a member of the executive team, right?
It’s the “great leaders”, the ones lionised in society for their organisation’s success. But, do they really deserve due credit for all success obtained?
The Forgotten Heroes
You know, there is a role within organisations who I feel rarely get the praise deserved. It’s middle managers. They deserve more praise because I’d provocatively suggest that they have the hardest job.
Firstly, they are responsible for resolving the issues an organisation faces at the frontline. It’s their direct reports that deal with satisfying – or calming – customers and stakeholders, alike. So, middle managers are often called on to find solutions to these challenges as well as be the ones who listen to the frontline staff when they are feeling stressed or upset.
That’s not easy work.
Secondly, if an organisation’s strategy is to be successfully implemented, again, that’s the responsibility for time-poor middle managers. They have to engage the vast majority of organisational staff reporting to them to get strategy delivered. And that’s not easy work, either!
Hence, I observe that middle managers are the true “gatekeepers” to organisational success. Frontline and junior staff can only be successful with the support of them – as is the case with executive and senior staff.
However, in such a challenging situation, it is often the middle managers, themselves, who are their own worst enemies.
What Got You to “Here” Won’t Successfully Get You to “There”
The general pathway into becoming a middle manager often has to do with how well someone calls on the technical skills they were initially employed for. The more you excel in finance, human resources, marketing – whatever – the better your chances of moving upwards, right? Yet, the world of middle management is vastly different to what they’ve been used to as there are suddenly direct reports to support and suddenly problems to listen to.
In such circumstances, middle managers often rely on what has served them well, to date. They revert back to the use of their technical skills and seeing the context faced through that particular lens only. Consequently, they often don’t identify problems OR resolve problems until it is too late.
The technical skills with which staff excel often become an obstacle for a middle manager. What got you successfully to here will not get you successfully to ‘there’.
Reflections
What do you want to achieve in the next year? How will you get there?
What challenges do you like to deal with? Which ones mentally stimulate you?
When there is a problem to solve, do you like to solve it yourself? Or get your team involved?
Bio:
Working as a VUCA Strategist, David Ross helps organizations to protect or reclaim their reputation and performance by successfully navigating their organizations through the stormy waters of operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. He achieves this by helping to empower leaders and affected stakeholders to find lasting solutions to their most complex and contentious economic, social and environmental issues.
He has postgraduate and graduate qualifications in executive business administration, futures studies, advance conflict transformation, leadership, environmental engineering and ecology. David is currently writing a book on the leadership required to deliver sustainable development outcomes in a VUCA world and is co-authoring a book with Bob on how organizations can tackle climate change.
For more information, head to: https://www.confrontingthestorm.global/