“Leading from the Middle” is a book written by Scott Mautz, a former executive at Procter & Gamble. The book provides insights and practical advice for middle managers, who are the backbone of an organization. The middle managers are those who have a boss and are bosses and must lead from the messy middle, up, down, and across the organization.
The book covers the journey from a newbie middle manager to a great one and emphasizes the importance of middle managers for an organization. Some of the critical insights the book provides include: the role of middle managers in the organization’s well-being; how to influence up, down, and across the organization; and practical tips for success.
The unique challenges of those who lead from the middle
The middle is messy, full of contradictions and opposing agendas, and couldn’t be more critical for a company’s success.
Those who lead from the messy middle work in spots higher or lower in the organization, from vice presidents, general managers, and directors to sales, marketing, and design managers, and many more.
They have a boss and are a boss, at any level. It’s anyone who has to lead up, down, and across an organization.
Step 2: Ask your boss!
Ask your boss these questions even if you think you have a good handle on what’s expected of you.
1. “What does good performance look like?” Great performance?”
2. “Let’s assume I’ll get great results—what behaviors do you want or not want to see as I achieve those results?”
3. “What business metrics or goals are the most important to you and why?”
4. “These are my top priorities—are they consistent with yours?”
5. “This is how I’m spending my time—does it feel like it’s supporting what’s most important?”
6. “What measures does your boss most frequently discuss with you?”
7. “What specifically will get you promoted?”
8. “What should I stop, start, and continue doing to better succeed?”
9. “Think of the most effective employee you’ve ever had working for you.” “What made them so effective?”
Step 3: Style Awareness
So many potential boss–subordinate partnerships never come close to fruition because the subordinate never takes the time to understand the boss’s style and then adapts to it. You might not like adjusting your style to accommodate your boss’s, but it’s the lowest-hanging fruit there is for achieving an effective partnership.
The power of this step comes from acknowledging and acting on the six key aspects of style that follow.
Step 5: Your House in Order
To manage yourself well, you have to manage yourself well. That is, you must ensure you have your house—the basics of your job—in order. Otherwise your boss will be too distracted that you don’t have a firm grip on your core job to engage in anything else.
Here are the five gut-check, do I have my act together? questions that discern if you’re set up to manage up.
1. Are you delivering the results expected of you?
2. Do you know your business inside and out?
3. Have you asked for what you need?
4. Are you organized and prepared for interactions with your boss?
5. Are you bringing the attitude you want reciprocated?
Leading Your Boss
Anyone who has ever had a boss knows that effectively influencing and interacting with said boss can be tricky and even anxiety-inducing. Those who do it best realize that it’s not just one of the many relationships you must manage while leading from the middle; it’s the opportunity for a full-on partnership, one vital for business success, and that’s two times more critical for your career success than any other relationship.
Being held in high regard by your boss is one of the most powerful forms of influence and visibility you can wield. Not to mention that if you want to be considered good at managing people (which most of us do), people includes your boss.
Step 6: Purposeful Support
The support you offer should be intentional about why and how to make your spirit of servitude more meaningful. It’s not about impressing your boss (although that’s certainly a great side effect); it’s about performing well in your duty to support your boss.
To do so, know that there are six core areas in which your boss most values your support and that those areas most directly lead to a spirit of true partnership.
1. Information
2. Capacity
3. Decision‐Making
4. Problem‐Solving
5. Advocate
6. In Process
Step 1: Nature before nurture
First and foremost, before you can nurture anything, it’s important to understand and embrace the fundamental nature of an effective boss-subordinate relationship. That is, it’s interdependence between two imperfect human beings.
Many employees struggle with their boss because they gloss over this truth. You need your boss, and they need you. And you’re both imperfect human beings.
Often frustrated employees reach the conclusion that they don’t need their boss, that the boss is just an impediment to success. Or they hammer their boss for their mistakes and flaws, labeling them in an unrecoverable way.
If you don’t start by embracing the nature of the boss–subordinate relationship, the ideas of interdependence and fallibility, you can’t begin to nurture anything. Not only will you never reach true partnership with your boss, your basic relationship is doomed to fail.
Step 2 contd: Understand the Asks
The problem lies in the assumptions we make and the lack of thoroughness on this front. Bosses rarely spell out exactly what they expect from the subordinate, and the subordinate too often falls short of fully comprehending. A good talk that clarifies what is required on both sides is crucial.
Leading those who report to you
Sure, as someone leading from the middle, you get automatic influence over those who report to you because of your positional power. But it’s personal power well wielded that separates the very best at effectively managing downward.
The best at this know that it’s about relationships, not reporting lines. Their efforts yield commitment rather than compliance. They know it’s about being a facilitator, not a fixer, and that it’s about helping others improve, not proving their own depth of knowledge.
Stuck in the middle!
Whether you lead from the upper middle, midway, or way lower middle, if you have a boss and are a boss, if you lead up, down, and across an organization, take pride in your career-making position.
And the best of us realize that being in the middle doesn’t mean being stuck in the middle. It means a chance to lead.
The six key aspects of style
- Information: Understand your boss’s style preferences for exchanging information.
- Decision-making: Know how your boss likes to make decisions and influence them effectively.
- Conflict: Understand your boss’s conflict style and help them be ready with convincing data and arguments.
- Formality: Be aware of your boss’s preference for structure and formalities, which can affect performance.
- Task vs. People Orientation: Strive for a balance between focusing on people and getting down to business.
- Behavioral: Know your boss’s behavioral traits and make slight adjustments in your approach to build a strong partnership.
Step 4: Get Personal
Make the effort to build a personal relationship with your boss, as it forms the strongest roots of an effective partnership. Have an agenda for learning about them, and work it over time, slowly building rapport.
Seek to understand their pressures, aspirations, hopes, and fears; what matters most to them in their life; what they like most or least about their workday; what motivates or energizes them; and what drains their energy. Discover their strengths, weaknesses, regrets, biggest accomplishments, pet peeves, and hot buttons. Make true connections; don’t just try to schmooze.
