It's All in The Middle

You cannot lead a change from an executive boardroom. You can only lead it through the managers on the ground.

When you launch a major change, all eyes go to the top. We listen to the grand vision from the CEO. We watch the senior leaders for cues. Then we look to the frontline employees to see if they will adopt the new behaviors. But any change initiative will not succeed or fail at the top. It will not succeed or fail at the bottom.

It will live or die in the messy, complicated, and utterly critical middle of your organization. It will live or die with your middle managers.

They are the gear system that connects the engine of your strategy to the wheels of execution. If that gear system is stripped, you will generate a lot of noise but zero traction. Your middle managers are the ones who must translate your abstract vision into concrete action. They are the ones who must absorb the skepticism of the frontline. They are the ones who must manage the emotional turmoil of the transition.

And you are crushing them. You give them the responsibility for the change without giving them the authority to lead it. You make them announcers, not leaders.

Your most important job in any change is not to manage the project plan. It is to serve the leaders in the middle.

Give them the "Why," not just the "What."

Do not just give your middle managers the talking points from your slide deck. That is an insult. Bring them into the inner circle. Share the data, the debates, and the brutal facts that made the change necessary. When they understand the "why" as deeply as you do, they can advocate for the change with genuine conviction, not just recited compliance.

Give them discretion, not a script.

Your middle managers know their teams better than you do. They know who is a skeptic, who is an early adopter, and who is terrified. A one size fits all communication plan will fail. You must give them the authority to adapt the message and the rollout plan to the unique reality of their team. Trust them to lead.

Give them air cover, not blame.

When a part of the change plan fails, and it will, your instinct will be to find the manager responsible. This is a mistake. When you blame a middle manager for a setback, you teach every other manager to stop taking risks. Your job is to absorb the political heat from above and protect your managers as they navigate the messy reality of implementation.

Your change is in their hands. You must equip them for the fight.

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REMEMBER

You cannot lead a change from an executive boardroom. You can only lead it through the managers on the ground.

REFLECT

1. In my last change initiative, did I treat my middle managers as strategic partners or as messengers?

2. Do my middle managers feel safe telling me that a part of my plan will not work for their team?

RESPOND

Who is one middle manager I can meet with this week to better understand the real world challenges they are facing in our current transition?