[Special 2-Part Series] Part 1 – 8 Ways Middle Managers can Develop their Leadership Skills

There is much literature about how managers can transition and grow to become leaders. When reading a piece on leadership, or scrolling through Instagram or Twitter on the topic of leadership, it won’t take long before you come across quotes like “When I talk to managers, I get the feeling that they are important. When I talk to leaders, I get the feeling that I am important”.

The word manager often gets a bad rap, as evidenced in the latter quote above. They are seen as self-centred and focused on their own development, while leaders are regarded as selfless and nurturing. Is this altogether correct?

In much literature, middle managers have been blamed for almost everything that goes wrong in organisations large and small. For example, this Innovation Management article claims that middle managers slow innovation down because they are conservative and aren’t long-term focused, amongst other things. In another one, bad middle managers are squarely blamed for a rotten workplace!

Seriously?

We believe Middle Managers have been unfairly maligned. They’re not all bad. Even the best and most celebrated leaders started at the bottom and learnt to become fair, caring and effective leaders.

In this two-part post, we’ll focus on eight ways managers can develop their leadership skills.

1. Grow your employees’ confidence

2. Give your employees the opportunity to lead

3. Be on guard for trouble in the horizon

4. Give feedback in a timely manner

5. Show empathy

6. Don’t play favourites

7. Give employees your full attention

8. Motivate your employees

1. Grow your employees’ confidence

Confidence comes from taking ownership of projects and results, and even the mistakes. Instead of managing every project or vertical within your team, let your employees manage their own projects or verticals. Make space; allow them to experiment with new ways of doing things. If they make mistakes, don’t solve the problems for them, but give them timely feedback or ask them questions which will steer them back to the right path. It’s not uncommon that employees may struggle with confidence when managing their own projects – especially those in the spotlight or with P&L expectations learn – but taking risks is the only way to learn and grow. Your role is to ensure that they are given the green light to take these risks, fail, try again, and succeed; and stand guard in front of them when they are questioned by others about the effectiveness of their work.

“If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough”.

– Jillian Michaels

2. Give your employees the opportunity to lead

Are there one or two employees in your team who’re ready to become managers themselves? If they’ve shown the potential and the desire to become people leaders, give them the opportunity to do so. Hiring a trainee or an intern? Allow your employees to be their manager. If your company does not allow this, allow your employees to do the interviews and be the day-to-day guides for the trainees, while you take a step back and accept the role of the administrative manager. As team leader, you’re still responsible for the trainee’s development. Have frequent meetings to get a pulse of how your employee is leading the trainee. Provide your employee feedback and guidance often so that her ‘managerial’ role is fruitful and successful.

“Leaders don’t create followers. They create other leaders”

-Tom Peters

3. Be on guard for trouble in the horizon

As a middle manager, you’re answerable to your manager(s), you’ve got your team to manage, and you’ve got tasks and projects to deliver with success. The last thing you can afford to do is to bury your head in the sand. Keep your eyes and ears open for trouble that’s brewing. Has an employee indicated that he’s overworked…or has he even said it more than a couple of times followed by ‘LOL’? That means it isn’t a joke, and he could be on his way to burning out. Or has another employee complained of unfair treatment or inappropriate behaviour by another colleague? Rather than ignoring the problem and wishing it will disappear on its own, address it immediately. Your team will be grateful, knowing that you’re looking out for them.

“If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients”

– Richard Branson

4. Give feedback in a timely manner

A trusted manager is one who is honest with her employees. When you provide honest and objective feedback in a timely manner, your employees will know that you’ve got their best interests at heart. With timely feedback, they are able to course-correct and make necessary changes to ensure success. While useful, feedback that’s only given much later will not help your employees while a project is ongoing, or while they are leading a junior employee.

“Feedback is best served hot”

– Middle Manager

In next week’s post, we will touch on the remaining four ways managers can develop their leadership skills.