Unintentional Disempowerment – the Deadliest Sin of Middle Management?

So much of the excellence in organisations depends on sole managers in smaller enterprises and middle managers in larger organisations. These positions are amphibious - half in the delivery of the organisations goods and services and half in managing others to provide these. A critical capacity for these managers is to effectively ensure their standards are replicated or bettered by those whom they manage...

I am so lucky in my work to meet so many competent professionals in many and varied fields - architects, engineers, nurses, social workers, educators. Some of the best professionals I meet are in positions of responsibility-usually middle management. Their competence as professionals has what got them appointed to their management, leadership or supervisory roles. Frequently they are the best, sharpest and most experienced professionals with sound judgement and capacity to solve problems and “get things done”. These qualities are admired by their superiors and they are appointed to positions of authority.

However, I often hear from supervisors and middle managers in different fields “my staff are not up to it; I often have to complete the jobs myself; sometimes I don’t even bother to give it to them because I know they will muck it up”. As a result, these supervisors and managers are working long hours, become relied upon for decision-making, and become the centres of their work divisions, or even their organisations. Their success reinforces their confidence in themselves and the expert power that they possess.

Their staff often become gophers, doing the menial work or support work, with the real decisions and orientations being carried out by the supervisors. Like the master craftsman of old they have young apprentices painting washes on blank canvases or blocks of colour while they provide the overall design and even the detailed finish.

It is thus often not what they are not good at that limits the capacity of those around them but what they are most capable at. Often, they themselves and their superiors make the mistake in thinking that their expertise in their fields also make them good managers. It is often their various strengths as expert professionals that are their weakest links as managers.

Frequently I have seen them take jobs back, or call out juniors for making mistakes or not understanding the direction or not seeing the “wood for the trees.” There is no time for investment and staff, analysis of their strengths, detailed training, mentoring, provision exemplars or templates, coaching, support, encouragement and review. Quality is then defined by the supervisor, identifying how many mistakes have been made and correcting them under their expert tutelage. Junior, intermediate and even senior staff at times become powerless, waiting for the supervisor or manager to make the decisions, fearful that they will make a mistake if they use initiative. Those in their teams with creativity, competence and motivation often move on, seeking spaces where they can exercise their talents and abilities, while those content with lives as “foot soldiers” remain in the team to do their master’s bidding.

The real question for a leader or manager is not how well they can “star” to their organisations and their small worlds; but how well they can identify the potential strengths, develop the talents and utilise the capacities of those around them - and in the process enable all to shine brightly.

A critical capacity for those in middle management and small organisations is to know when to intervene and focus on the detail and when not to disempower and micromanage. Beyond this, the most required capacities are to develop in the minds of their staff of a clear vision of the work that they are doing; set high standards of excellence; of provide training, resources, exemplars, quality systems and processes to achieve these standards of excellence; create an environment of support and encouragement, of goal setting and review, of motivation and reward, of inclusion and engagement - all these contribute to the overall ownership of the work by the frontline staff. In developing the capacities to do these things the middle manager’s expert abilities can be transferred - eliminating the need for unintentional disempowerment.