When you ask someone about their career goals, they may say, “I want to be a school principal” or “store manager” or “leading the team discovering a cure for a devastating disease.”
“But they probably aren’t going to say ‘I want to be a middle manager,’” laughs Bryan Hancock, a McKinsey partner. “Yet, these are all middle management positions.”
A year ago, McKinsey published Power to the Middle, a book exploring how this under-rated role has become top of mind for leaders whose companies have experienced high rates of burnout, leaves of absence, and attrition in the aftermath of the pandemic.
“Businesses are realizing that investing in their middle management is not just a nice-to-have; it is a business imperative,” observes Emily Field, a McKinsey partner, who along with Bryan and Bill Schaninger, a former McKinsey partner, co-authored the book.
We talked to Bryan and Emily about how this pivotal organizational role has been changing over the past year.
We are well-known advisors to the C-suite. How have we also been working with companies to rethink middle manager roles?
Emily: The companies that are doing this right—and we’re getting to help them—are thinking about it not as, “We need to send our managers to training,” but actually, “We need to rethink our manager operating system.”
They are asking questions like: how do we first create space so our managers have time to think critically, to focus on developing their own skills, and to coach their teams? What administrative work can we eliminate? What technologies can we use to automate some of the work? How do we build resiliency habits?
Let’s face it: a manager’s job is incredibly hard: their spans are becoming larger, the personnel situations they have to navigate are more complicated, and they’re having to execute and deliver on business objectives in constrained environments as organizations cut costs.
Power to the Middle
What does an effective manager look like today?
Bryan: Managers need to be able to do four things particularly well.
They need to connect what the team is being asked to do to the broader “why.” This “sense-making” aspect is incredibly important.
They empower their people: give them the context, guidance, and the confidence to do their job, and not micro-manage. At the same time, they challenge their team members to meet a high standard of performance—and to do more than they thought possible. A great manager is an inspiring, honest, and empathic coach—and not just a process-oriented taskmaster.
They need to be able to build productive collaboration within and across teams—including fostering connectivity across many different forms of colleagues, including those working remotely, on hybrid schedules, and gig workers. They need to connect with divisions across the company, such as tech and support functions.
They also need to understand the whole person—including the career and outside-of-work priorities of their team members—and provide empathetic and honest counsel on how to balance competing priorities. They need to recognize team members who may be struggling and guide them to supports which may be available.
How has gen AI been re-shaping this role?
Emily: We are seeing companies starting to use AI to improve their managers’ skills while they are in the flow of work. One organization is building in an AI-bot system of nudges to help their people better manage their work/life balance. For example, it asks ‘can you combine these meetings to be home on time?’ The same approach is being used to develop resilience: to guide teams to pause and take moment to re-calibrate their reactions to moments of stress such as a customer service crisis, or a tightened deadline, instances which will be a constant in their work life.
Bryan: In addition to improving skills, gen AI is giving time back to managers. It is helping managers more rapidly complete the first drafts of their individual contributor work; alleviating administrative burdens, such as auto-filling required HR forms; and helping manage meetings and email via copilots which can summarize meetings and email threads and highlight areas for action. Gen AI-enabled tools are freeing managers to spend more time coaching team members, building relationships, and thinking critically about the most important problems.
Where do you see middle management roles in two years?
Emily: My hope would be that people can say proudly: “I am a middle manager because that’s a great place to be; I’m able to have impact, I have the space in my day to develop my people, which is was what gives me energy, and that is why I do my job.”
And, if not, that’s okay. Companies are recognizing that not everyone wants to be a manager, and it shouldn’t be the only track for advancement. Companies are creating dual tracks: one for managers, one for knowledge experts.
You don’t have to become a manager to advance; you can just be really good at what you do. Your expertise is your source of renewal and growth. And this dual-track approach can create an organization that is able to execute and thrive.