The Unenviable Middle Management Position
Middle management has become an increasingly challenging role. It involves translating high-level strategic objectives into tangible results while managing expectations on both ends. This position requires almost superhuman skills, including business acumen, patience, empathy, and emotional management—qualities often undervalued.
The Global Middle Management Crisis
According to Gallup, only one in four middle managers worldwide is genuinely engaged with their work. Common practice in many organizations involves promoting technical specialists or outstanding employees to middle management positions without providing the necessary training for managing people, resolving conflicts, and building cohesive teams.
These new leaders are sent “into battle without guns,” leading to technically brilliant but emotionally overwhelmed leaders. Some exceptional individuals survive due to their personality, prior training, or curiosity for learning. However, this situation often creates a disastrous breeding ground: lack of training combined with increasing workload, endless meetings, and seemingly unending administrative tasks.
Why is this issue so dangerous?
Middle managers are more than just operational managers; they are the emotional and cultural compass of an organization. When a middle manager loses enthusiasm and disconnects emotionally, their team notices it quickly. This disconnection leads to collective demotivation, lack of commitment, and eventually, a general decline in results.
What we still don’t know but should be concerned about
While data is clear, there are crucial questions needing further exploration: What is the real human and economic cost when a highly competent middle manager decides to leave or emotionally disconnect from the organization? What happens when an organization loses silently those destined to be future leaders?
What can we do concretely now?
- Invest actively in real and specific training for middle leaders. This training should include emotional management, social intelligence, effective communication, constructive feedback, coaching skills, conflict resolution, and stress resilience. It should not be isolated courses but a continuous institutional commitment to train current and future leaders.
- Continue redefining the role of middle managers and understand what truly valuable tasks are, optimizing or eliminating those that don’t add strategic value and only consume time and emotional energy.
- Empower middle managers to make real decisions about internal processes and talent management, without relying on multiple bureaucratic approvals. Real autonomy fosters more committed, responsible, and emotionally connected leaders.
- Establish genuine and frequent upward communication channels. Create safe, constant spaces for middle managers to express their concerns, frustrations, and proposals directly with top executives. These conversations should be authentic, open, and without negative judgments. Listening honestly is the first step towards rebuilding lost trust.
Strengthening the Backbone of Companies
Recognizing humbly and clearly the strategic, cultural, and emotional importance of middle managers is fundamental to healing an internal rift that has been ignored for too long. Training, empowering, genuinely listening to them, giving real autonomy, and ensuring a healthy work-life balance builds robust and resilient leadership.
However, this is not enough. We must go further by actively humanizing their work experiences so they stop being emotional buffers and become strategic agents leading from the organization’s core.
The future demands that middle managers be the strongest link, the living heart connecting, inspiring, and motivating the rest of the team. Caring for those who articulate our organizations secures a sustainable, human, and successful future for everyone.
