Middle management is a career target that most front-line supervisors strive to reach. But, in today’s business world this rung on the career ladder is depreciated.
What is middle management?
Middle management is a level of control that includes managers who head specific departments (account, marketing, human resources, etc.) or business units. Typically, they have two management levels below them. Middle managers are responsible for carrying out top management’s policies and plans, and they represent the greatest group of supervisors.
Ken Tencer at TheGlobeMall.com in “It’s Never Okay to be ‘Just Okay’ at Your Job” discusses how mediocrity can settle in the “frozen middle” of an organization.
It’s never okay to be ‘just okay’ at your job
Some may consider audacity to be a negative concept associated with attitude or edge, but it’s your willingness to challenge assumptions and conventions that will catalyze innovation and business success. As entrepreneurs, if we don’t have the audacity to believe in ourselves and our ideas, who will do it for us? Two of the biggest barriers that we face in bringing new ideas to the world are the naysayers who assert: “That’ll never work, because…,” and the faint-hearted friends who say: “You have a family to feed, your dreams will have to wait.” But recently I heard a new declaration and it will stay with me for a long time. Read the rest of the post… theglobeandmail.com
Marina Krakovsky at HBR.org in “What Middle Managers Can Learn from Agents, Brokers, and Other Middlemen” examines the applicability of middleman skill set to management.
What Middle Managers Can Learn from Agents, Brokers, and Other Middlemen
As the venture capitalist Mike Maples, Jr. put it to me, “middlemen connect nodes in a network to increase the value of the network.” And in an increasingly connected world, that makes all of us into at least potential middlemen, subject to the same perils and opportunities. The truth is almost the opposite: by specializing (in middleman skillsets), middlemen can usually make things happen more efficiently than those who specialize in other job functions. (Ever tally the hours you spent planning your last trip abroad if you didn’t use a travel agent to cut through the research?) In other words, we face transaction costs, and middlemen can help reduce those costs. Read the rest of the post…
One of Marina’s points that I found constructive is to “be a single point of contact” for a team. Most employees are besieged with communications, and the messages are regularly confusing or differing. Who better to keep the boat on the right course than a skilled and savvy manager?
Rosy Jalifi, a Texan through and through, has inspired many to achieve their dreams. With a thirty-six-year tenure at the City of Austin, she's led initiatives that boosted entrepreneurship and the arts.
She's the brains behind the award-winning Small Business Development Program, recognized nationally for aiding over 25,000 entrepreneurs.
Her work earned the prestigious "Bright Idea" award from Harvard University's Ash Center.
A University of Texas alum, Rosy values teamwork and has held key roles in various Hispanic and leadership networks in Austin.
Some may consider audacity to be a negative concept associated with attitude or edge, but it’s your willingness to challenge assumptions and conventions that will catalyze innovation and business success. As entrepreneurs, if we don’t have the audacity to believe in ourselves and our ideas, who will do it for us? Two of the biggest barriers that we face in bringing new ideas to the world are the naysayers who assert: “That’ll never work, because…,” and the faint-hearted friends who say: “You have a family to feed, your dreams will have to wait.” But recently I heard a new declaration and it will stay with me for a long time. Read the rest of the post… theglobeandmail.com
As the venture capitalist Mike Maples, Jr. put it to me, “middlemen connect nodes in a network to increase the value of the network.” And in an increasingly connected world, that makes all of us into at least potential middlemen, subject to the same perils and opportunities. The truth is almost the opposite: by specializing (in middleman skillsets), middlemen can usually make things happen more efficiently than those who specialize in other job functions. (Ever tally the hours you spent planning your last trip abroad if you didn’t use a travel agent to cut through the research?) In other words, we face transaction costs, and middlemen can help reduce those costs. Read the rest of the post…
Leave a Reply