As a senior leader, are you fully harnessing the power of your mid-level managers to lead change from the middle?
Your middle managers occupy a pivotal position during times of change. They can lead up, helping communicate the message of change to senior leaders, and lead down, building employee readiness and supporting adoption across teams.
Click the video below to watch on YouTube, or keep scrolling to read.
A middle manager once asked me how she could support senior leaders in managing resistance and building readiness for change.
Embedded in her question were two important issues:
- “How do I help senior leaders engage with the change and create an environment to enable the level of readiness needed for adoption?” and
- “How do I lead from the middle?”
Understanding the answers to these questions can help you successfully team with your middle managers to increase the adoption of your change initiatives.
Letting Go of Assumptions and Judgments
As you begin teaming with your middle managers on the latest change initiative, your first step is to let go of assumptions and judgments and get curious about what’swhat’sning.
Assumptions and judgments come from two perspectives:
- The senior leader perspective. The way you interpret and respond to questions about the change.
- The mid-level manager’s perspective. The way they react to the change announcement and begin asking those questions.
When you recognize and release your assumptions and judgments, it becomes easier to have open conversations. You create the space for you and your managers to understand what is happening and how to enable healthy, sustainable change.
It’s through open conversation that you can begin working with your managers and shift from a resistant mindset (the belief that people resist change) to The Readiness Mindset®, which recognizes that people who have internalized the need and feel prepared for change will move toward it.
Start with Context and Curiosity
A strong starting point is to share context about the change and invite mid-level managers to ask questions.
Open-ended questions can help start meaningful dialogue, such as:
- What is your understanding of the change?
- What energizes you about the change?
- What concerns you about it?
- How does this compare to previous changes you’veyou’veienced?
These discussions help you and your managers understand each other’other’sectives and experiences.
Questions Are Not Resistance
When mid-level managers ask questions about the rationale behind a change, try to understand the desired outcomes, or reference past initiatives, these responses are often mistaken for resistance.
In reality, they are normal human reactions to something new or different.
The questions and conversations that follow can help you:
- Understand how their perception of the change may differ from yours
- Create a shared understanding of the intended outcome
- Identify what is needed to achieve the desired results
- Clarify roles and responsibilities for supporting the transition
By encouraging these conversations, you build alignment and strengthen the foundation for successful adoption of change.
Rethinking “Resistance”
If it feels like you are facing resistance, it can help to pause and reflect by asking a few questions:
- What do you perceive as the issue or problem, and how might it differ from their perspective?
- What are they seeing that you cannot?
- What are the normal human reactions to change?
Taking time to explore these questions can uncover valuable insights and lead to more productive conversations.
Does this approach take time?
Absolutely.
But it is time well invested. These conversations help equip and empower managers to communicate the message of change to others in the organization.
Helping Managers Lead from the Middle
Mid-level managers also play a vital role in leading from the middle, which is not always easy.
One of the most important ways to support them is to begin with context.
Managers need to understand and internalize:
- Why the change is needed
- The intended outcome of the change
- The magnitude and complexity of the change relative to daily operations
Providing the time and space to explore these elements with you allows managers to understand the initiative and communicate it to their teams fully.
Mid-level managers serve as a critical bridge between you as a senior leader and your employees. For change initiatives to succeed, leaders and managers must work together as a team.
Creating the Conditions for Change Adoption
Welcoming questions and feedback keeps managers informed, prepared, and actively involved in the change process.
When you create an environment where dialogue is encouraged and curiosity is valued, you help build the readiness required for successful adoption.
By partnering closely with mid-level managers, you can strengthen communication, build alignment, and significantly increase the likelihood that your change initiatives will succeed.
Ready to chat? Book a call.
