The hierarchy of the organisation remains same in every organisation. When an organisation dreams of celebrating long life, it is important to understand the real value of the middle level management. The middle level management is the bridge to the top levels and the fresher levels. Majority of the iteration of the middle level management happens not because of the salary dissatisfaction, but because of less psychological safety.
For a kid, not every parent might focus on the best pre-primary and primary schools, but every parent becomes attentive and selective for the middle school choices. Because, middle school determines rest of the kid's future. Most importantly, along with career perspectives, behavioural aspects are formed during this stage. These definitely create a great impact on how the kid makes decisions in the rest of the life. Definitely, it is nostalgic as we can easily correlate to this aspect.
Well, we see a similar trend with the middle level management. Once the employee reaches the middle level management, the employee looks for a good career growth, self-respect, and self- improvement. The sole ownership to guarantee these to the middle level management lies with the top level management and the culture being built in the organisation. If a boss cannot transform into an unforgettable leader, then the organisation witnesses a tough path to achieve the business goals.
Being a boss, in which ever level you are, you become a teacher to your team and peers. Though there are a list of qualities mentioned to define the qualities of a boss, though there are humongous efforts made to list out the differences between leader, manager and boss, the dilemma still exists which one to practice,how many more qualities to implement.
Let us all place ourselves in the most critical situation like the Kurukshetra War. If you are Krishna, the boss and Arjuna is your team member. As a boss, which of the qualities would you practice when Arjuna says I cannot perform the war, I cannot act now, I cannot present myself. Well, let's know what Krishna did from Bhagavad Gita,
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः।।2.10।।
Meaning -
(Hrishikesa), the master of all senses, Krishna, in the midst of both the armies, smilingly, spoke with grief-stricken Arjuna (Descendant of Bharata).
Oh my Krishna!! How can anyone smile in that situation. After this shloka, He patiently cleared all the doubts in the next 17 chapters. What is this quality called. PATIENCE?
Definitely, this is a smile filled with patience. No shouting, no panic attacks, no personal grudges, no ego problems, no mood swings. It is just one most important quality. PATIENCE.
What else Krishna did with such smile?
Patiently listen to the pain or fear of the performer.Understand the causes of the fear through open mindedness. Brain storm the reality with truth. Drive the results with no illusions but with clarity and transparency.
The first step to develop patience is being a good listener. Listen not with a complaining mode on or critical feedback mode on, but to find impactful solutions to reasonable problems.
Do manager always need to give solutions to the team?How much patience is needed to drive the result?
The logic is, a good listener, is always curious to know the whole true story. While the team unveils the problems, the answers can be found by defining the problem, by breaking it into simpler forms.
Like food is always digested by breaking into simpler structures. Solution is always to be found by breaking the problem into simpler statements.
Judging and controlling will only make things complex. So, listening with open mind, attention to the details, concentration on the root cause help break the problem into simpler steps.
Implementing this great knowledge from Bhagavad Gita is the key to be that epitome of the unforgettable leader.
--Keerthi Peratla
A good read for your reference on middle level managers, this is a clear article by Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-real-value-of-middle-managers