Help your Middle Managers – Coach them!

I am quoting from an article that talks about the role of Managers and the many reasons why their roles, in particular, are very challenging.

https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-being-a-middle-manager-is-so-exhausting

The very question of whether Managers are needed is quite common!

“Google infamously tried to eliminate their engineering managers only to learn that managers mattered — a lot”

But

“Middle managers often find themselves stuck in between various stakeholder groups, which can produce ‘relentless and conflicting demands.'” It is “psychologically challenging to disengage from a task that requires one mindset and engage in another task that requires a very different mindset.”

Sounds familiar? I bet it does for many Middle Managers out there.

This type of role can be extremely challenging AND lonely. The core of the work is delivered in conversations with stakeholders. It is REAL work, but often not seen as such by direct reports and outsiders.

One of the proposed solutions in the article:

“4. Don’t micromanage your middle managers. This creates unnecessary role switching from their perspective. It is better to provide your strategic input to middle management and then allow them the freedom to implement those strategies with a high-power mindset.”

I could not agree more.

This advice is the perfect example of the coaching mindset of a mature Senior Leader, who trusts their middle managers to find strategy implementation solutions themselves. A Senior Leader who knows when to deploy coaching skills will be very careful to provide their direct advice on HOW to implement, knowing it will reduce ownership and motivation. They make a clear distinction between non-negotiable outcomes the very real possibility that their own idea on how to get there could be one of many. They trust their direct reports to Lead in their own way.

There is an amazing power in NOT advising and solving for others.

-Maik

(Picture licensed by stockunlimited.com)