The misery of the middle manager – How to motivate for digital transformation

Middle managers are the key to any transformation. If they are not on board, most communication from top management will be perceived as lofty and out of touch. If they, however, become advocates for the new, there is a good chance change will catch fire. This is particularly true for digital transformations. The only problem: middle managers have very good reasons to block change.

Recently, I facilitated a workshop on digital transformation at a German medium-sized company. One of these hidden global champions, 10,000 employees, market leader with their unique technology. German engineering ingenuity. After we had talked about the digital strategy the company had set for itself – the usual: new digital business models, internal efficiency gains, improved customer experience – we started discussing how leaders can implement this strategy: become more agile, less hierarchical, implement iterative product development, reach out to (software) partners and learn working together, etcetera. So this quite senior guy, glasses, grey hair, quite some gravitas, speaks up, after having listened in for quite a while:

"So, what's in it for me?"

First I was annoyed, but also amused. Within our work at LEAD we often see leaders who are quite opposed to necessary change and need the extra nudge or care-taking to start the journey. But he continued: "No, seriously, why should I be pushing any of this? How can the company expect this of me?" And he went on to teach me about the misery of the middle manager in digital transformations. His points are hard to refute:

Why middle managers have every reason to resist digital transformations

Status. I have worked all my live in an hierarchical system, and I have climbed up the ladder. I learned to fit in, sucked up to authority were necessary, worked hard. I have made it to middle manager. Now you want me to abandon hierarchy?!?

Direction. For the first time it seems like the top management really has no idea were we have to go. I get no direction setting. They tell me we need to innovate using digital technology, but it seems they themselves don't really have a clue. Maybe McKinsey told them to do it. Even worse, they now tell me we have to find "local solutions". That basically means they want people like me to fix this. Seriously?

Workload. Over the last years, my work as a leader has gotten harder and harder - on the same career level. I have more stakeholders to manage, I have to make decisions faster, gen Y people want me to lead them with empathy and motivation. They have even explained to me "VUCA trainings" in that this is the new normal.

Skills. I am not trained to co-lead a digital transformation. When I look around, my younger team members are digitally savvy, I am not. I feel obsolete and outdated when thinking about digital innovation. I'm just waiting for the day when you task the young people and lay off seasoned managers like me.

Since, I have heard this story – or variants of it – again and again. The cartoon above catches it quite nicely – it's from a great book by my friend and ex-colleague Renate Osterchrist that just came out!

Driving digital transformation – 6 superpowers your middle managers need

You might say that the above story is not new. Middle managers have always been known to be resistant to change. They lack the strategic outlook to be excited by the new and they do have status to defend. Some call middle managers the "clay layer" of the organization - an impermeable layer that prevents information, ideas, and inspiration from flowing upward and downward in the organization. In past change efforts, you might even have bypassed them deliberately.

However, unlike before, in the context of digital transformations the work of middle managers is absolutely essential for successful change. They can no longer be bypassed. And their work has become a task of true super heroes and super heroines:

1. Middle managers need to give direction. Strategy-making can no longer be done at the top alone. Things are too convoluted, and we know that solutions are often local. In the thicket of the jungle of today's ambiguous and fast-changing world, they need to use a machete to cut an aisle, to show others a direction to move forward.
2. Middle managers need to inspire their teams. People below them are confused about the digital transformation, many are worried about their job. How can middle managers get people excited about the new, make it all about the potential? Make it fun? By the way, at LEAD, we call this leadership role the DJ.
3. Middle mangers need to role-model curiosity. The only chance for an organization to stay afloat in a world of hyper-accelerated progress is for its members to be extremely curious. To always look out for the new. To identify trends, opportunities, and disruptions early. Curiosity is not a typical trait of corporate culture though, so this required change runs deep.
4. Middle managers need to show courage. For organizations with a strong heritage, venturing into digital business models and agile ways of working means exploring the unknown. Team members look to their managers for confidence and courage. Do they believe we can make it into the digital world?
5. Middle managers need to encourage iterative work. Since design thinking we know that innovation happens in iterations. You build, you measure, you learn. Iterating on prototypes is more effective than 2-year-long waterfall innovation projects. Easier said than done. The middle manager is still responsible for quarterly KPIs. Encouraging the team to try and protecting them from pressure when a prototype fails requires a lot of integrity and stamina.
6. Middle managers need to get out of the way. The hardest challenge may be to get out of the way. With digital natives talent coming in the door, leadership becomes ever more servant: Create a healthy environment, provide direction and resources, fend off distractions, and solve interpersonal problems. Then get out of the way.

The solution: be empathic and supportive

Let's sum this up: Middle managers have every reason to be resistant to change. At the same time, they are the nexus of any successful digital transformation. How to solve this conundrum?

We at LEAD believe the key is empathy. The first step is to acknowledge how hard it is to be a middle manager today. How affected they are by the changes that are coming, and how high their workload can become. Acknowledge that not only do they have to learn and unlearn at an incredible pace, but they have to guide others through the process. Give them courage and hope coming from a place of deep empathy for what they are going through.

When you drive a digital transformation, make empowerment and dialog your number one priority. Don't only think of digital transformation as a matter of business models and strategy. You will only transform your business if you change the cultural fabric, the way people work and interact. There are wonderful interventions to create dialog around all the concerns, hopes, and emotions your middle managers might have: co-creative cultural diagnostics, value forums, fishbowl discussions, future retrospectives. And there are playful ways to excite people about the new. To show that they, too, can own the digital future and make it theirs. It is not only for the next generation: digital tech fairs and marketplaces, app-in-an-hour workshops, gamified large-group events, or even digital vision quests.