Strengthening Middle Management for Organisational Resilience

WHAT HOLDS AN organisation together in chaos? Is it visionary leadership, cuttingedge strategies, or robust technology?

- Srinath Sridharan & Steve Correa

While these may steal the spotlight, the unsung heroes - the middle managers are the ones quietly anchoring the ship.

Like the unseen roots of a banyan tree, they provide stability during storms and strength for growth in calmer times. Yet, why does this crucial cohort remain overlooked in conversations about resilience and leadership? With India's complex mix of diverse demographics, industries, and cultures, can organisations afford to ignore the pivotal role of middle management? The answer is clear: they cannot. The middle managers often operate at the intersection of strategic direction and ground-level execution, making them pivotal during organisational crises. Their unique position between senior leadership and operational teams equips them with the ability to influence, mediate, and implement solutions effectively.

With a younger workforce eager to climb corporate ladders, middle management often finds itself stretched between the ambitions of an aspiring generation below and the strategic vision of senior leadership above. The burden of balancing these dynamics is immense, requiring technical skill, emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, and an aptitude for risk management. When inadequately prepared or supported, middle managers can become bottlenecks in decision-making, stifling innovation and morale. Conversely, when empowered, they become the glue that holds an organisation together, translating strategy into actionable outcomes while fostering a culture of trust and collaboration.

Organisational resilience often focuses on financial buffers or operational redundancies, but true resilience stems from people.