Welcome!

Welcome to the first post in what I hope will be a regular column on how to overcome the challenges of being a middle manager. What is a middle manager? It’s really not dependent upon the size of an organization, though large companies tend to have many more levels of management. It’s really about trying to effectively lead staff while holding true to accountabilities that are given to you from levels of management over your head. Perhaps you have operations staff reporting to you, and in turn you report to a senior manager; or maybe you lead a team of managers and report up through a director-level or higher.

In addition to that, you have normal duties as a manager and employee, and the complexities of dealing with daily operations.

Regardless, you’re stuck in the middle, and have to balance how you manage on a daily basis with the strategic objectives that are being passed down from more senior leadership.

Believe me, I know and understand the challenges. I’ve been working for large corporations most of my life. I’ve had good managers and bad managers, great leaders and horrible bosses. There was a period in my life at work where I had fourteen different managers in an 18-month cycle!

And you know what? I learned something from all of them. I learned from the good and the great how to lead and not simply manage. I learned what to avoid and how not to manage from the bad and the horrible. Over time, I plan on sharing what I’ve learned here.

How about you? As I plot the course of my journey here, I’d love to hear feedback from anyone out there in the ether who has their own experiences and stories to tell. We can all learn together!

Stay tuned, my goal is to update the blog at least weekly.