Learn to Lead from the Center

Leading from the center is complex. Middle managers are jugglers who tackle their own duties while making sure employees perform daily tasks well and senior management can focus on the bigger picture.

In fact, middle management has been described as being tougher than senior leadership roles because of the pressure to appease so many different groups of people.

But good middle managers can find great satisfaction in their jobs.

“The biggest thing is that you can’t do it all yourself,” said Jason Gallaugher, principal founder of Three North Consulting in Ottawa, Ont., who has been sought out for his ideas on mastering middle management. “From a happiness standpoint, it’s all about balance and time and leverage. Burnout comes when responsibility and obligations are very high, but the level of control or time available is very low.”

Gallaugher and Casey Bernhard, mechanical discipline leader for LaBella Associates in Rochester, N.Y., share their tips for how best to handle the juggling act:

Know what you’re getting into

It can be challenging for some to adjust to a different type of “endorphin feedback loop” once stepping into a middle management position, Gallaugher said.

Using a gardening metaphor, Gallaugher said middle management is like planting seeds. You coach and develop people on your team, make strategic calls and decisions, and participate in activities as part of a broader management group—all things that don't necessarily have an immediate payoff. 

Even though “you’re doing things that are really, really important,” he said, you can wind up questioning what you’ve accomplished even after a very busy day.

This is why some initially find middle management to be insurmountable, according to Gallaugher. Speaking from experience, he said he felt as if he’d “tapped out” his capabilities during his first stint as a middle manager and returned to a role he felt more comfortable in. He kept trying to make it work—in different environments, in different roles—and ultimately was successful.

“The notion that career paths are supposed to be completely linear isn't true for most of us, to be honest,” Gallaugher said, laughing.

To minimize what Gallaugher calls the “thrown in the deep end” effect, he advises would-be middle managers to look for “try before you buy” opportunities to shadow someone already in the role. This lets you observe expected responsibilities in a safe environment, and ask about any kind of training, leadership development programs, or coach/sponsor scenarios that may be offered.

Delegate

This is about finding ways to be more efficient throughout the day. Reduce reactivity by creating systems to manage team performance, for example.

While you may have picked up some time management and personal organization skills in past years, being a middle manager tests those skills to a different degree, Gallaugher warned.

“It really comes down to finding ways to apply an engineering mindset to the sorts of problems you’re facing—and to the patterns in those problems to try to get ahead of them,” he said.

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Bernhard appreciates the idea of delegation but finds it difficult to triage his own responsibilities when assistance is needed elsewhere—in part because he loves his job so much.

“I like working with others in my organization, so any time there’s someone asking for help on something, I almost never say ‘No,’” he said. “I typically end up working extra hours to compensate. Carving out time where I can’t be interrupted would be good.”

Trust

Bernhard admits to being a former micromanager who found it tough to let others take care of small tasks and decisions. That was long ago, and with experience—realizing that micromanaging can lead to less productivity and a more negative work environment—and some time observing how other managers handled their roles, he learned to step back.

“I had a manager [higher up] once tell me something like, ‘You don’t have to bake the cake. You just have to know the gist of the recipe,’” he recalled. “Now I trust the team and don’t have to double- or triple-check things. I just have to make sure they’re headed in the right direction, and that allows me to do other important things.”

Get leverage

Leverage is a mechanical principle about maximizing the effect of the force you’re applying to a particular problem or the investment you’re making. And that combination is different for every company, Gallaugher said.

He suggested that middle managers ask themselves these questions: What is important to the people above me? What is not important? What level of detail do they need, and how do I communicate that?

That last one is particularly important, noted Gallaugher. “If you’re tied up in inefficient communications across the organization for half your time, then you’re likely overloaded on the other aspects of the work you have to do,” he explained.

Enjoy the role

Part of what Bernhard appreciates so much about middle management is watching others become better at what they do.

“You have a hand in nurturing the junior engineers and seeing that growth—watching them succeed—is pretty rewarding,” he said. “There’s also a respect there that they have for you. It’s a little bit of a drug, enjoying that.”

Robin L. Flanigan is an independent writer in Rochester, N.Y.