Leading from the Middle. Scott Mautz

Introduction

      It was a yellow fish with bright blue stripes, unlike any other in the aquarium, that drew my attention.

      Regally, intentionally, it circled the center of the glass encasement at a measured pace, surrounded by myriad other fish darting wildly about. My co‐worker, sitting next to me at a noisy work‐dinner party, asked what I was staring at. I brushed the question off and reentered the fray of conversation, albeit half‐heartedly. At a time when I felt frazzled in my middle management role, I kept stealing glances at the Pisces protagonist, my mind lost in association.

      I was that fish.

      Maneuvering in the middle of an oversized fishbowl, all eyes privy to my every movement. Surrounded, yet lonely. Pressure from all sides; the weight of water. Watching other fish with their own agenda zip by while I labored to remain steady and purposeful in the middle of it all.

      Such is the plight of the middle manager, of those who lead from the middle.

      Which would be anyone who has a boss or is a boss, at any level, anyone who must influence in all directions to do their job well.

      Me. You.

My existential moment happened in the middle of my three‐decade corporate career. Even as I moved closer to the “top” at Procter & Gamble to run multibillion‐dollar businesses, I was still always in the middle at some level, with people to influence above, and always plenty of those to influence down and across. It was exhausting at times, exhilarating at others. I found myself wishing someone would study the unique challenges of middle managers and offer help. Then I decided, “Why not me?”

      And so began a journey that carried on for 15 more years in corporate; intensely studying those who lead from the middle and their challenges, watching how they operate effectively (or not), learning the success secrets of influencing up, down, and across, all as I rose at P&G, knowing that understanding the middle was how I was able to rise at all to begin with.

      It became a mission, a mission for the middle, one that has carried over into my post‐corporate life. I leverage each class I teach as faculty at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business for Executive Education to study the middle manager. I conduct studies, interviews, surveys, and focus groups with these heroes. I wrote hundreds of articles about middle‐management struggles for my top Inc.com column, garnering well over a million clicks a month, which speaks to the unmet need in this arena. I wrote the multi‐award‐winning books Make It Matter and Find the Fire that speak to leadership and self‐leadership, all while harboring a burning desire to write the book that addresses head‐on the challenges that middle managers face.

      Which brings us to here.

      I've been where you are. I know how challenging it is to have to influence in every direction, saddled with an undoable workload, often under‐resourced, under‐appreciated, and over‐stressed. Surrounded, but alone.

      It's time the specific challenges of middle managers are recognized and specific help is provided. And while I know the experience, research, data, and volumes of work poured into this book will serve you well, there's another reason it will become your playbook for leading from the middle.

      Because it comes from the middle. My heart.