✨ Equipping Middle Managers to Successfully Lead Change

Middle managers play a mission-critical and often under-recognized role in implementing change across organizations. Managers are expected to guide their direct reports and are often at the heart of crucial communications when organizations decide to make organizational shifts.  According to PMI, “In the fundamental role as a leader of change, middle managers—the mid-level leaders—need to help everyone around them change the way they perceive and approach change, from an extrinsic (compelled) to an intrinsic (desired) viewpoint.”

Organizational change challenges managers to upskill and develop their leadership traits, such as emotional intelligence, dynamic communication, and level of influence, while fulfilling their unique leadership positions. While it’s certainly doable, it’s not uncommon for middle managers to face these opportunities for growth without resources and training to help them succeed. The past three years have compounded the pressure middle managers feel to motivate staff while juggling expectations from senior leaders above them.

The good news: with the right resources and support, middle managers can grow into exceptional change leaders who carry their teams through the transitions more effectively while meeting business needs. Three elements can help middle managers become more successful in their role: upskilling in change management, compassion and awareness, and coaching skills. 

Upskilling in Change Management

When it comes to upskilling in change management, middle managers need to be able to see the big picture and understand the magnitude of changes occurring across the organization. Often, the more significant planned changes - things like reorgs, software deployments, or company acquisitions - get the most attention and therefore prioritization.

What senior leaders fail to appreciate - and what middle managers can help surface - is the impact of all the minor changes employees are experiencing all the time. Things like process changes, system updates, even new hires to the team, can impact employee readiness and lead to change fatigue.

The problem with this is that change fatigue often gets overlooked, causing a lack of adoption and frustration across the board. Middle managers may require training to understand why it’s important to be aware of different types of organizational change, how change impacts end users, and ways to bridge the gap between senior leaders and frontline workers using change management best practices. 

Compassion and Awareness

Leading with compassion and awareness is an important skill for all managers. In many instances, top performers are promoted into managerial or change leadership positions due to past high performance and a desire to take the next step in their careers. However, what makes someone a top performer doesn’t always equate to strong leadership skills.

No one sets out to be an ineffective leader or people, projects, or change, but sometimes a lack of awareness and compassion can make this seem like the case. Leaders who lack awareness may struggle to balance impact with intent. They may want to do the right thing but are missing cues that would provide insight into how their actions, words and behaviors are landing with stakeholders.  Leaders who lack compassion will struggle to build community, which is critical for change and innovation to occur.

To develop greater compassion and awareness, ask for feedback from a trusted supervisor, peer, or colleague. If possible, a professional coach or peer-coaching program can be a powerful tool for growth and transformation. Becoming aware of one's strengths and weaknesses can be humbling, which is why having compassion and support is key.   

Coaching Skills

Middle managers are intermediaries of change and transformation. They understand the business strategy and goals, as well as the needs and concerns of their employees. When it comes to organizational change, they are the people that carry the most weight and influence in terms of accelerating change acceptance and adoption and ensuring the new ways of working are sustained.

Coaching is a technique that managers can use to bridge the gap between employee mindsets and behaviors in the current state and where they want to be in the future. Coaching techniques such as asking powerful questions, practicing active listening, and encouraging teams to reflect and discuss self-concerns can break down perceived barriers and result in the mindset shift that leads to lasting positive behavior change.

Middle managers play a pivotal role in organizational change and investing in their skills through additional training like Apogy’s certification program can go a long way in creating better managers and more resilient organizations. Questions? Please email us at [email protected].