Leadership Institute
Middle Management Leadership Skills
Recommended Solution for: Middle Management Leadership Skills
Many middle managers are unprepared for their unique roles. For example, when middle managers coach coaches (i.e., front-line leaders), they need to use tactical coaching skills, but keep in mind that they are also modeling coaching behaviors. So what they say and do often has a ripple effect. The stakes are higher for middle managers, who must operate under higher scrutiny and in more complex and ambiguous situations. To be effective, these leaders need to be able to:
- Understand the needs of front-line leaders and actively support their growth and development.
- Communicate efficiently and effectively with leaders and their teams.
- Build an environment of trust with and among others.
- Use personal power (rather than position power) to gain acceptance to ideas and move people to action.
- Make good decisions, sometimes with time and information constraints.
Course Recommendations
These courses build leaders of leader skills in more challenging situations.
* Essentials of Leadership is the prerequisite course for most leadership courses.
- Supporting Leadership Development -- Designed to teach managers what they need to do to provide support during a leadership development initiative which uses DDI curricula. (No prerequisite course required)
- Building an Environment of Trust -- Teaches leaders to recognize
behaviors that lead to distrust and to understand the human impact of a
non-trusting environment.
- Developing Others -- Provides leaders, coaches, and mentors with a practical process and the skills necessary to develop talent. (No prerequisite course required)
- Influential Leadership -- Helps leaders get their good ideas heard, accepted,
and enacted.
- Rapid Decision Making -- Helps leaders accelerate the decision-making process, yet still make quality decisions in fast-paced environments with limited time and information. (No prerequisite course required)
Supplemental Courses and Development Tools
- OPAL® (Online Performance and Learning) -- Provides Internet reinforcement and just-in-time coaching.
Rationale
Middle managers have a unique leadership role. As leaders of leaders they need to create an environment that encourages the growth and development of front-line supervisors, while coaching, modeling, and reinforcing effective leadership skills. Diagnosing and developing leadership skills and competence is often more challenging than technical skills, requiring a higher level of trust and closer business relationships. Middle managers have to deal effectively with situations that are complex and ambiguous, yet may have a significant impact on the performance of their work unit. The best middle managers focus on helping the leaders who report to them excel.