Scott Mautz - Leading from the Middle

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It was a yellow fish with bright blue stripes, unlike any other in the aquarium, that drew my attention.

Regally, intentionally, it circled the center of the glass encasement at a measured pace, surrounded by myriad other fish darting wildly about. My co‐worker, sitting next to me at a noisy work‐dinner party, asked what I was staring at. I brushed the question off and reentered the fray of conversation, albeit half‐heartedly. At a time when I felt frazzled in my middle management role, I kept stealing glances at the Pisces protagonist, my mind lost in association.

I was that fish.

Maneuvering in the middle of an oversized fishbowl, all eyes privy to my every movement. Surrounded, yet lonely. Pressure from all sides; the weight of water. Watching other fish with their own agenda zip by while I labored to remain steady and purposeful in the middle of it all.

Such is the plight of the middle manager, of those who lead from the middle.

Which would be anyone who has a boss or is a boss, at any level, anyone who must influence in all directions to do their job well.

Me. You.

My existential moment happened in the middle of my three‐decade corporate career. Even as I moved closer to the “top” at Procter & Gamble to run multibillion‐dollar businesses, I was still always in the middle at some level, with people to influence above, and always plenty of those to influence down and across. It was exhausting at times, exhilarating at others. I found myself wishing someone would study the unique challenges of middle managers and offer help. Then I decided, “Why not me?”

And so began a journey that carried on for 15 more years in corporate; intensely studying those who lead from the middle and their challenges, watching how they operate effectively (or not), learning the success secrets of influencing up, down, and across, all as I rose at P&G, knowing that understanding the middle was how I was able to rise at all to begin with.

It became a mission, a mission for the middle, one that has carried over into my post‐corporate life. I leverage each class I teach as faculty at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business for Executive Education to study the middle manager. I conduct studies, interviews, surveys, and focus groups with these heroes. I wrote hundreds of articles about middle‐management struggles for my top Inc.com column, garnering well over a million clicks a month, which speaks to the unmet need in this arena. I wrote the multi‐award‐winning books Make It Matter and Find the Fire that speak to leadership and self‐leadership, all while harboring a burning desire to write the book that addresses head‐on the challenges that middle managers face.

Which brings us to here.

I've been where you are. I know how challenging it is to have to influence in every direction, saddled with an undoable workload, often under‐resourced, under‐appreciated, and over‐stressed. Surrounded, but alone.

It's time the specific challenges of middle managers are recognized and specific help is provided. And while I know the experience, research, data, and volumes of work poured into this book will serve you well, there's another reason it will become your playbook for leading from the middle.

Because it comes from the middle. My heart.

At one point, any mid‐level manager who worked for the Lego company had the set of directives in Figure 1.1hanging on their office or cubicle wall. 1

The middle is messy, full of contradictions and opposing agendas, and couldn't be more critical for a company's success.

And it's you. 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.

Don't be fooled by the old Dilbert cartoons or Office reruns. Those who lead from the middle, let's use the often‐derogatory term “middle management” for a moment, aren't the go‐nowhere, has‐been, mediocre bureaucrats that block progress as popularized in pop culture. They're the ones that love what they do (mostly) and whose passion and talents make the company hum. They account for 22.3 percent of the variation in revenue in an organization, more than three times that attributed to those specifically in innovation roles, according to Wharton research. 2 A five‐year study from Stanford and Utah universities found that replacing a poor middle manager with a good one boosted productivity 12 percent, more than adding an incremental worker to a team. 3

Figure 1.1Lego Directives

Source: Adapted from P. Evans, “Management 21C,” Chapter 5, Financial Times, Prentice Hall (2000), in “Emerging Leadership: A Handbook for Middle Manager Development” (IDeA).

Those leading from the middle are the key to employee engagement. They interact with the largest part of the organization and have the most direct impact on attracting and retaining talent. In fact, research shows that employees who have strong middle leaders are 20 percent less likely to quit their job if offered more money from another company. 4 The Boston Consulting Group defined mid‐level managers as “vital to success,” according to their massive survey of executives spanning 100 countries that found nearly two‐thirds of respondents said middle managers were more critical than top managers. 5

Whether you lead from the upper middle, mid‐middle, 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 know the best realize that being in a position in the middle doesn't mean being stuck in the middle.

It means a chance to lead.

Marty Lyons, legendary former player and longtime radio announcer for the New York Jets football team, would know. Lyons played for the Jets for twelve seasons and led from the messy middle. Literally.

Lyons was a middle lineman sandwiched in between outside linemen Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko, who along with Abdul Salaam, made up the famous “New York Sack Exchange,” a group that led the NFL in sacks three times between 1981 and 1984. 6 Lyons told me on leading from the middle, “You have to know and embrace where you are and realize that being in the middle is a blessing. It means you have the opportunity to lead in all directions.”

Lyons knew that his role as the middle lineman was to lock up the guys on the opposing front line so that the speedy outside linemen Gastineau and Klecko could get the edge in rushing the quarterback. He wanted to lead from the messy middle so the entire team could lead on the scoreboard. Later on, as Klecko, the locker room leader, got older, Lyons began stepping up to passionately yell and scream and psych his fellow players up before a game. Being in the middle always means the chance to lead, it just requires a keen awareness and understanding of the conditions around you, so you know exactly what actions to take at what time.