Some common themes that present themselves when I speak to executives about their middle managers are:

• They are reactive
• They are good at doing exceptional work but struggle to delegate and hold their teams accountable
• They are either too kind and caring or harsh and critical.  They struggle to be clear, consistent and fair.
• They rely on us (as executives) to inspire, motivate and help their teams to navigate difficult and challenging times

When we meet with the managers and explore the feedback received from their leaders, we recognize the fear that drives self-limiting, insecure behaviors and inaction. When we unpack the fear, we identify limiting beliefs that lead to compliant actions that align with what they believe they are “allowed”. 

Coaching challenges the manager to recognize the trap of being stuck in familiarity (often recognized through statements like “that is how it has always been done”) is “right”, “good” and “safe”. People are designed to hold onto the familiar.  That is why we have “comfort zones”, and “growing pains”.  It requires courage, effort and energy to step out of the familiar and to explore the unfamiliar for long enough for the unfamiliar to become the new familiar. 

A business model that has been used to support managers to create a familiarity around the unfamiliar is the POLC model (Planning, organizing, leading and control).  I’d like to unpack how this model can support middle managers to:

• Make proactive suggestions and take proactive actions
• Delegate and hold their teams accountable because it is right for the staff and gives them the space to lead and manage better.
• Courageously communicate clearly, consistently and fairly.
• And choose to lead their teams through difficult and challenging times with inspiration and motivation.

POLC is a model usually applied to senior leadership where:

• Planning refers to strategy, long term visioning and purpose.
• Organizing refers to organizational structuring, function allocation and organizational performance allocation
• Leading refers to strategic leadership, empowerment and engagement (leading the organization rather than the individuals)
• Controlling refers to implementing policies and procedures, quality standards and organizational measures.

Although there is some alignment with middle management, these four leadership competencies need to be applied more practically to support middle managers to step into the unfamiliar and risk managing their teams confidently and assertively.

Planning, for middle managers,is the process of evaluating what needs to be done, by when and by whom to achieve specific outcomes.  It is also the process of understanding the potential risks that could get in the way of achieving the delivery objectives.    Through planning, the middle manager is able to recognize risks that need to be dealt with and may require an “unfamiliar” action.  Planning allows the managers to proactively recognize and address the “unfamiliar” that can catch their business/team/department by surprise and affect their delivery.  Managers may, or may not, address these risks with their executives.  When they are not addressed and the fall-out occurs, Executives could coach their managers on how they could have planned better and been more proactive.  When managers have recognized the unfamiliar through their planning and been proactive by:

• Recognizing the risks and
• Presenting suggestions on how to manage or overcome the risks.

Executives should recognize the proactive behavior.  This will make the “unfamiliar” a safer space that the manager can manage.

Organizing is the process of implementing the plans (and solutions for the potential risks) by getting all team members on board with the plan, explaining “why” achieving the plan outcomes is important and then evaluating and resolving any resource or planning limitations that are identified.  Organizing supports managers to recognize when the familiar structures and requirements may not be sufficient. Once again, they have the opportunity to raise and recommend solutions that can assist the business to achieve its goals and address the resource challenges.  Often managers default to “we need extra staff to achieve the results”.  What is implied in the message is that the additional staff are necessary to complete the tasks in the familiar manner.  When organizing, managers need to be challenged to consider innovative, creative and unfamiliar solutions that could solve the resource challenge without increasing the staff count and costs.  When managers have been innovative, creative and efficient, they must be recognized for:

• Identifying the causes for delivery challenges.
• Taking action to resolve the problems.
• Creatively and proactively looking at the problems and recommending unfamiliar and innovative solutions. 

Leading is the process of being clear on the team goals and providing the safety and confidence to all their team to remain positive and show up as the best of themselves when they face difficulties that get in the way of achievement.  This includes asking for clarity and insight from executives so they can provide honest and transparent information to their teams (even if all they can tell their teams is that the information is confidential and cannot be shared at this time).  Leading is the process of having a future focus, an awareness of potential obstacles and opportunities and then deciding the path that the team will follow to succeed, despite the difficulties.  Managers often forget that their primary function is to be “the resilience”, strength and safety for their teams in the unfamiliar that makes staff feel frightened, demotivated and insecure.  Managers that are being resilient, strong and whose teams are remaining successful even when there are obstacles must be acknowledged for their ability to:

• Support executives to recognize where additional clarity and transparency is required (especially in times of great change).
• Remain strong and steady for their teams.  This often includes motivating, challenging and coaching their team members to keep showing their best, despite moving into the unfamiliar.
• Hold their teams accountable for resolving issues and maintaining delivery.

Controlling is the process of measuring quality, monitoring delivery outputs, managing financial indicators and managing compliance and alignment with standards and policies.  It is through controlling that managers are often exposed to recurring problems, challenges and failures that are hiding in the familiar.  It is through controlling that delivery and performance are sustained.  Managers become complacent in the familiar way of working and become desensitized to recurring issues, and obstacles.  They forget how important their role is in supporting the business to be exceptional and competitive.  Often managers believe it is Exco’s responsibility to identify and make these improvements, but the most impactful improvements are the smaller, day-to-day changes that transform the daily operations.  Managers need to be held accountable for and recognized when they:

• Achieve the desired quality, delivery and performance results.
• Identify opportunities for improvement and removal of recurring issues that have hidden in the familiar.
• Measure and evaluate performance.  And then present and recommend successes and improvements that create new, improved performance and remove “invisible” inefficiencies that hide in the familiar.

Although familiarity allows people to feel secure in their competence and skill, it does not keep up with changes, opportunities and enhancements.  When middle managers lean into their role and responsibility to make the day-to-day operations more effective through challenging the familiar, they become invaluable to business.  They courageously lead changes that strengthen their businesses.  They also lead their people with confidence and fairness.  They engage with their executives with positive and constructive suggestions and recommendations.  They are key players in supporting business health and sustained performance.