The Perils of Middle Management
Confession: I never thought I’d ever become middle management. I assumed that I would top out as a high performing individual contributor with no management aspirations. Franky, I was unsure I’d ever get to that high performing place to begin with after a series of jobs that only make sense in retrospect. I just thought that there would never be enough money that would make me work long hours, devote weekends to becoming the head honcho in the corner office, or move beyond work I could leave at my desk.
Oh, how the tides have changed.
Beyond the Corner Office
What I didn’t realize is that management didn’t have to be selfish. It was never about the title or the power. It was about the team I was building.
There is something so special, so unexpected in the creation of a team. When it works, when you’ve created the kind of team you always wanted, it is magic. And it feels tenuous, which it should feel. And that ephemeral something that makes a team so darn good is what is so hard to save.
People say that being a middle manager is tough. People are right.
Leading With Heart
My significant other tends to offer leadership advice pulled from years in the military that’s somehow beyond applicable to white collar America. Hire a good team and get out of their way. Protect your team. Guard your team against the upheavals above your head, and guard your leadership against the ebb and flow below.
Middle management is tough and lonely and beyond frustrating. It’s spending hours per week managing emails and exchanges that have nothing to do with billable work. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just drinking the Kool Aid like other managers before me, so full of their own disconnected goals and satisfaction. I’m acutely aware that the structures I put into place directly impact the happiness of my team, and that that team has years of experience beyond my reach in some cases. I will never know everything. I will always likely talk too much and be too much of an open book. I will wear my heart on my sleeve under my cardigan, and I will question myself every single day.
And that’s all okay.
The Why
I had a chat with a member of my team last week. We grabbed a few beers for a bonding session, and shared our respective backgrounds. I learned about him, what drove him, what he loved about his work. His appreciativeness and honesty reignited the joy in my work.
I have worked for a lot of interesting people in my career. The micromanager, the buddy, the mentor… I learned from all of them. I know how it feels to be unable to meet expectations in a role that feel just out of reach. I know what it means to watch your boss for signs of impending change and be wary of unexplained meetings that might lead to layoffs. I’ve struggled in environments where a lack of trust created a space void of creativity and ideation. I’ve felt unsure about asking questions, about asking for too flexibility, or what the next steps for my role were. I’ve been there, and I paired the t-shirt with some slacks and a blazer.
Culture Matters
The truth is that you can be a marketer anywhere. Most organizations have someone managing their website, social media, or communications. What we’re missing most of the time is the spark that drives work that matters. It’s the team that begs for happy hours because we actually enjoy each other’s company and it’s the leadership that stands behind creative, collaborative work. That culture is rare and I’ve fought hard to create it in my current role.
Is middle management a tough position to be in? Absolutely. But I’ve grown more as a manager, as a client owner, and as a storyteller more over the last several years than in my entire career prior. It’s meaningful, it’s powerful, and it’s rare.