I was in Ft. Lauderdale recently conducting some leadership development training. The client was a small business that has experienced impressive growth under the leadership of a talented CEO and an exceptional COO. The audience numbered approximately 20 persons, most of whom were middle management.
When speaking to middle management, I make it a point to emphasize their importance, their worth to their organization. In his book Real Change Leaders author Jon R. Katzenbach lays out the value of middle managers. From his work I learned there are three reasons why middle management is so vital to an organization.
Let’s get right to it:
#1 Middle managers have direct access to the most people. It’s raw math. Look at the entire organization chart of any enterprise and you will see that middle managers command the most people. That means middle managers are in a position every day to influence the skills, the production and the behavior of the majority of the organization. That’s powerful stuff.
#2 The profile of the middle manager tends to lean toward high performers. Most often, the middle manager is ‘on the way up’ in his/her career. They are typically eager, energetic and wanting to make a name for themselves. As a result, middle managers tend to be willing to roll up their sleeves and tackle their workload head on. Can you feel the energy?
#3 Front line employees typically report to middle management. And that’s important because it’s the frontline employee that deals directly with the customer. For change to take hold, it has to reach the customer. It may be the executives that set the course for change, but it’s the middle managers that arrange for that change to reach the customer through the work of the frontline employees. Quite the responsibility.
If you are a member of the middle management ranks at your organization, take a bow. Your role is critical to the overall success of your organization. If you are a member of the senior or executive management ranks, do your best to cater to your middle managers. Invest in them. Be there for them. Give them the resources they need to get their job done. It is the middle manager that makes the machine run.
#leadership #leadership speaker