Lost Tribe?

- Walter Vieira

Many times, when I look at middle management in the corporate world, I am inclined to describe it as the ‘lost tribe’ of biblical times. They are caught between running with the fox and hunting with the hound. It is a group which is caught between the small, select top management who exercise power, and the large workforce, which also exercises power with its numbers. Middle management has been loaded with a lot of responsibility, but with limited authority.

They are often expected to take the blame when something goes wrong, and sometimes also pay the price. However, they are seldom sought to take the credit when it is due. One is often reminded of the old, oft-repeated plaint:

‘We the willing,

Led by the unknowing,

Are doing the impossible,

For the ungrateful.’

Middle management is like middle class

Middle management in corporate entities suffers from the same problems as the middle class in societies. The top management is up there, often insulated from the rest. The lowest levels have the power of numbers, and their unions will not allow them to be taken for granted. Middle management is squeezed in between, with neither the authority of the top, nor the muscle power of the populous bottom.

Yet, middle management is really supposed to be the classroom, where training and sieving (for future positions in top management) takes place. But does this really happen? If one looks at the number of external candidates being imported to fill senior manager vacancies in the company— and the number of exceptional middle managers who move out seeking and acquiring senior positions in other companies—we know what the answer is.