Special Note: We will be discussing high-impact leadership development, including mid-level manager development, at our IMPACT conference April 26-28 in St. Petersburg, FL. Please join us: http://impact.bersin.com/
Why the Focus on Development of Middle Managers
In just about everything – life, work, and politics -- the middle makes it happen. Yet, most of us focus our attention on development of senior leadership and/or new supervisors, with the middle layer getting not much more than ignored. Despite that, census data shows that, over the next 10 years, retirement rates will increase significantly -- causing a vacuum in the ranks of middle management. If we expect our organizations to compete, much less thrive, we’d best figure out how to devote some development attention to the middle.
Middle managers are the players responsible for delivering organizational results. They hold the title of manager, director, or even vice president. They manage people, budgets, operational processes, and support senior management's strategic initiatives. Middle managers face unique challenges and responsibilities including:
• A workforce whose skills and desires are not necessarily aligned with management objectives;
• Organizational objectives that cannot be implemented with current processes and supporting technology; and
• Strategic goals that seem to contradict one another, for example: "cut overhead costs" and "reduce turnover of high performers".
Yet, until recently, little, if any, development attention was devoted to them. Today, high-impact organizations are recognizing the invaluable contributions of the middle layer, and the risk they face in a shallow pool of ill-prepared middle managers, and are to committing to their development. Similarly, mid-level leaders themselves are taking matters into their own hands and charting their own course for leadership development. And finally, leadership development providers are doing the same.
Development Solutions for Middle Managers
Examples of Mid-Level Development Being Offered by the Government and Companies
• NASA’s Mid-Level Leader Leadership Development Program
The Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM) recognizes the critical role of the NASA mid-level leader in accomplishing the Agency’s mission. This new 16-month program provides significant leadership development for a diverse, agency-wide group of individuals who have high potential for assuming greater leadership responsibilities in formal management or program/project management roles. This program provides an opportunity for middle managers to gain exposure, expand their perspectives and learning in new areas identified as critical for growth and leadership in this agency.
• Turner Broadcasting’s (TBS) Management Essentials
The Management Essentials blended program combines webinars, classroom training and e-learning. It covers the life cycle of an employee, hiring, performance management, company policies and procedures, delegating, time management, transitioning from an individual subject matter contributor to a people manager, team development, and resolving interpersonal conflict. The program also provides opportunities for middle managers to connect with their peers. TBS piloted the program in February 2010. The first class graduated in November. New managers are required to complete the program; this year, the company plans to adapt it for veteran managers. As Michele Golden, VP of Talent Management Turner Broadcasting stated, “Middle managers play a critical role in our organization. So, it is important that we position them for success. People leave managers, not companies. And if they’re not leaving, then they’re not as engaged or productive.”
Examples of Mid-Level Development Crafted by Mid-Level Leaders Themselves
In the absence of formal development programs yet offered by their organizations or agencies, middle managers are taking charge of their development. Creative and innovative 21st century, assertive middle managers are pursuing these types of developmental opportunities:
• Seeking out a coach
Coaching is a top method of effective development at all levels. Coaching opportunities can be impactful and low-cost leveraging internal coaches and defining action plans. The most successful senior leaders leverage coaches and middle managers are following suit. For more information on the impact of coaching as a (mid-level leader) development tool, review Bersin’s November 2010 case study on “Coaching to Win: Developing People and Driving Performance at ADM.”
• Becoming a mentor
On the surface, this seems counter-intuitive. After all, why would you help someone else grow when that's your objective? Well, three reasons. First, when a mid-level manager is focused on mentoring someone else, she is not focused on her own problems. Second, helping someone else can actually make you happier. Researcher Carolyn Schwartz of the University of Massachusetts Medical School has uncovered an intriguing trend: those who help others are significantly happier and less depressed themselves. With his latest book, Greater than Yourself, Steve Farber has outlined how this concept can be applied in the workplace. As Farber suggests, "truly great leaders in life become so because they cause others to be greater than themselves." So, the advice: The more you can channel these traits of the mentoring, purposeful leader, the more likely you are to be successful.
• Taking inventory of your values and behaviors
Effective leadership requires self-awareness. 360 degree assessments are a means to discovering talents and blind spots. If such assessments aren’t available, middle managers can broaden awareness by simply jotting down their values, then evaluating their past behaviors against them. Specifically, are there decisions they make, or behaviors that they exhibit, that don't align with the values? For example, if "teamwork" is a core value, and the middle manager regularly assigns work to one or two top performers, chances are good that the managers is not effectively communicating this value to her team. Over time, values and behaviors will become more aligned. Eliminating negative and/or misaligned behaviors can significantly improve the morale and productivity of a middle manager’s team.
• Defining your leadership philosophy
Many newly promoted managers wing it; they haven't given a lot of thought to what leadership means and how to effectively wield their new-found influence. This lack of forethought can lead to downright disastrous results. To further complicate matters, a recent Accenture study indicated that 25 percent of U.S. companies either reduced their investment in their leadership program or never had one to start with. (The good news is that 39 percent increased their investment in these programs.) But even without a formal leadership program, middle managers can discover and articulate their own leadership philosophy – an invaluable self-initiated exercise. In other words, assertive middle managers are simply writing down what leadership means, along with the people and experiences that have informed their insights and perspectives. Once written, managers discover how their philosophy aligns with the management philosophy of their organization. This understanding of one’s leadership philosophy strengthens a middle manager’s decision-making rationale.
• Leaving your comfort zone
We are all creatures of habit, and in today's fast-paced and stressful workplace, comfortable routines require less energy. Opportunities will pass by unnoticed if we passively accept what has always been. If improved individual and organizational performance is the objective, then middle managers must be comfortable diversifying their experiences. Depth and breadth of developmental experiences and assignments aligns with the lattice approach to career development…a framework developed by Deloitte Consulting and detailed in their book The Corporate Lattice. The broader the skills a middle manager acquires, the more indispensible you are to your organization.
• Thinking outside the box
For mid-level managers who have set their sights on high performance, setting aside regular time to record new and innovative ideas leads to valuable insights regarding possible new business impact. With that said, regardless of how good an idea, it will remain inert until action is taken. The question used to be: Are you a visionary or an executor? Today, effective middle managers are figuring out how to do both well.
This next generation of leaders are helping themselves. Rather than tackling the larger issues that affect our organizations and agencies (e.g., global expansion markets, mobile technology, etc.), they are addressing issues of innovation, employee engagement, business acumen, operational excellence and other critical middle manager skills and responsibilities for which formal development opportunities in their organizations may still be lacking.
Examples of Mid-Level Development Being Offered by Leadership Development Providers
The list below is not intended to be all-inclusive but rather exemplary of just some of the creative and innovative solutions that providers are making available to address this critical development need for middle managers.
• Harvard Business School Publishing
Harvard’s Leadership Direct is a blended learning program targeted specifically for emerging leaders and designed to help mid-level leaders build core management capabilities, stay current with best-practice and innovative business models, cultivate a peer network to specifically enable coaching and mentoring opportunities, and develop critical thinking skills needed to compete and thrive in today’s global business environment.
• DDI
DDI’s Business Impact Leadership program for middle managers is a newly released program targeted specifically for middle managers to help them drive performance in a changing world, manage horizontal integration in complex organizations, lead and develop talent, and make tough decisions. For more DDI insights regarding the criticality of development of middle managers, review DDI Paul Osterman’s book: The Truth About Middle Managers: Who They Are? How They Work? Why They Matter?
• RealTime Performance
Johnson & Johnson is supporting this shift to self-driven leadership development for middle managers by providing access to Inspire, an online leadership assessment and development tool from RealTime Performance. Inspire enables Johnson & Johnson’s mid-level leaders to identify areas for improvement, select targeted activities and learning resources, create a leadership development plan, share the plan with their manager and have a meaningful discussion about career goals and development opportunities.
• ScoutonDemand
To support the “seeking out a coach” self-help development that middle managers are pursuing, ScoutonDemand is an online tool enabling the mid-level leader to navigate through an online coaching network to select an internal or external coach that is best matched to that manager’s developmental needs. The middle manager (and all leader levels for that matter) can leverage ScoutonDemand to simplify the pairing process and commence the actual coaching engagement minimizing the administration pieces of the coaching process.
Value of Investing in Middle Managers
As shared in our February 22, 2011 webinar led by Stacia Garr and Stacey Harris, Bersin Analysts, development and performance of middle managers are not just nice-to-do’s. The investment provides expected increases in the bottom line. Organizations that focus on developing their middle managers – specifically, in the areas of communications, managing change, and coaching --- can expect improved impact on their engagement, retention and teamwork.
Mid-level managers are critically important to your organization’s success. As organizations restructure and flatten today, more so than ever, they need to invest in the development of their middle managers. Furthermore, because of the loss of loyalty or trust, many middle managers don’t feel compelled to stay at an organization even though they may have been there for years. If the organization is not willing to make a development investment in them, they’re more willing to look outside.
Furthermore, helping middle managers to set and manage their performance goals is a critical step in the process. Watch for an upcoming blog post from Bersin Analyst Stacia Garr on the goal setting and goal cascading process for middle managers.
Until then, I’m interested in what ways you are investing in the development of your middle managers? Please write to me at barb.arth@bersin.com.