Please Note that this is a sample blog extracted from Workable.com
Middle managers might be the busiest people in your organization. They oversee other employees, negotiate with peers, and manage up to executives – all while juggling individual responsibilities. They’re crucial to executing organizational goals but often lack the time, resources, or authority to do so effectively.
Instead of asking why middle managers are so unhappy, perhaps we should wonder why any are happy.
As leaders and organizations, we can’t ignore this problem.
According to Gallup, managers are the biggest single factor in employee engagement – 70% of team engagement is determined by the manager. As our middle managers go, so do our businesses.
The antidote to burnout here is to actively cultivate a greater sense of psychological safety in your culture.
You’ll have to be patient – psychological safety accumulates over time. It’s the result of many, many small interactions where a person actively views a situation from somebody else’s perspective.
They don’t immediately judge something as right or wrong. Rather, they explore other perspectives and ideas, and they learn from the interaction. The other party feels seen, heard, and welcomed.
The reason these exchanges matter – sharing your thinking while learning about other people’s thinking – is because psychological safety is dependent on the people involved. Their thinking, their personality, and their comfort level all matter.
For example, I’m an analytical thinker who loves to tear into data and explore what it means. That can create psychological safety for me and like-minded people. But for people who don’t understand the data or feel personally attacked by such an examination That approach can make them quickly feel confused and overwhelmed.
Imagine a workplace where middle managers feel they can be honest and vulnerable about their thinking and perspectives with their bosses. In turn, they’re also curious about their colleagues’ thinking, and they proactively inquire about their direct reports’ insights.
Suddenly, there’s less confusion and miscommunication. Even the most difficult conversations become easier because both parties start with some level of trust.
