I’m Laura and I am right in the middle of my organizational structure as an ‘Operations Manager’ in a medium sized company.
This means that my day is spent dealing with all of the operational challenges in addition to taking the strategic changes from the top and making them ‘palatable’ for my subordinates.
As a middle manager myself, I can speak to the power dynamics, isolation, and conflicting demands that challenge me on a seemingly endless basis. Most days it feels that I am navigating a world where we must do more with less to survive.
I lead in a unionized environment (two different ones on my team alone) so I need to figure out how to get along while responding to the needs of both my bosses and direct reports. I have to find new ways to get the most out of my team because I can’t simply dismiss poor performers.
I now realize what my former mentor meant when he said, “management is like an iceberg, no one knows how much is happening below the surface of your job”.
Most days I am glad that I took those promotions. There are some high days where you are so proud of your team accomplishing a goal, and then there are the other days where you drag yourself home and wonder why you thought this would be a “good challenge”.
The middle manager has the most difficult role in an organization. It is the goal of middlemanaged.com to help by providing valuable resources, advice, and tools to navigate the demands from the top and bottom of the organizational chart. Consider this role in the middle: managed.
Contact us – we would love to help you with your workplace challenges!
Do you have leadership issues, people management problems and would love some advice from middle:managed? Send an email we will get back to you as soon as possible. Consider this role in the middle:managed!
Email : laura@middlemanaged.com