Are you trapped in the middle as a middle manager?

"I spent several years of my career in the uncomfortable role of middle manager. On one side, I had executives asking me why my team couldn't "do more," and on the other side, my employees told me they were stretched too thin. It was an endless tug-of-war. I was both the enforcer of company expectations and the advocate for my team's needs. At times, my role felt at complete odds with itself. Executives push for efficiency and growth, while employees look for empathy and stability."

"With flattening org charts and AI-driven efficiencies, the role of middle management has changed. They're no longer the roles that "keep things moving." Instead, they're responsible for people: managing culture and communication across departments and locations. Yet even though the expectations and job descriptions have changed, many of the underlying limitations of middle management haven't. Middle managers often have limited authority to implement changes. Yet, somehow, they have unlimited accountability for outcomes."

"Unlimited accountability that often leads to burnout, especially when managing people. I spoke to one former middle manager who said that she felt like she had to compensate for her employer's unsustainable growth practices. "I had to choose between screwing people over or shielding my team," she said. "It was emotionally draining." Eventually, she quit and took a new job as a non-manager."

Middle managers occupy a tension-filled role between executive demands for efficiency and employee needs for empathy and stability. Organizational trends toward flatter structures and AI-driven efficiencies push managers away from task coordination toward people-focused responsibilities like culture and cross-location communication. Many middle managers retain limited decision-making authority while carrying broad accountability for outcomes, contributing to stress and burnout. Some managers report having to choose between harming employees or shielding teams from unsustainable growth pressures, leading to exits from management roles. Large firms reducing management layers and the rise of automation increase the risk of obsolescence for traditional middle-management functions.

Read at Fast Company