Leading from the Middle: Techniques for Leadership in an Organization

This paper will discuss how a member of organization can lead from different levels in that organization.  It will explore how such leaders can influence superiors, peers and subordinates.  The first section will begin by discussing how individuals can "lead up," in the words of the author of the 360-degree leader, John Maxwell.  The second section will discuss how individuals can lead across and the final section will discuss how individuals can lead down.

Leading up in an organization

To sum up in one sentence: Maxwell's work is about how any individual can create value for themselves in an organization regardless of their role or where their assigned level is. While leadership is a challenging endeavor for any level in an organization perhaps the most challenging is how to influence one's superiors. This is due to the uneven power relationships inherent in such roles. Maxwell argues that there are several components to winning up.  This section is focused around middle managers who have some responsibilities for staff but are below the level of senior management. These are:

1. Leading oneself exceptionally

2. Lighten your leader's load

3. Be willing to do what others won't

4. Do more than manage

5. Invest in relational chemistry

6. Be prepared every time you take your leader's time

7. Known when to push and when to hold back

8. Become a go-to player in an organization

9. Be better tomorrow than you are today

These components focus around a workplace performance that adds value to an individual beyond their skills or experience.  It recommends that would-be leaders take on risks because the rewards that accrue from them can quite beneficial in the long term. For instance, lighten your leader's load, refers to a middle manager who increases his or her value to their bosses by performing what the author calls lifting your leader. In this case, lifting refers to seeing to it that you succeed in an organization by helping your boss to succeed.  The logic is that if the boss succeeds than the entire team will succeed as well.  An individual that does this will demonstrate their value to the organization and it will get noticed by his or her superiors. Lifting is accomplished by performing one's own job very well, solving problems that arise without necessarily burdening one's boss (if possible), and standing up for, and sometimes standing in for, your leader.  By standing in you represent yourself as a capable a member of your team.   

But leading from the middle, and at all levels in the organization, is about building relationships. However, for a middle manager-boss relationship, the most important relationship is with the boss.  Therefore, good communication with the boss is critical. It's important that vital information is relayed to the boss.  It's also crucial that the middle manager present himself as someone the boss can trust and come to in times of need. When a middle manager establishes his competence as a support player, the boss will often come to that subordinate both to seek, and to provide, assistance. 

This role is not without risk. The author argues that individuals must be willing to take on difficult assignments that many other members of the team eschew.  It may be that these assignments increase one's chance of failure. But if difficult tasks are completed on time and competently, it will establish that individual as a go-to player in the team and organization as a whole. This reputation can definitely bring greater rewards.  Higher ups will want to promote individuals with high value into roles of greater responsibility.  They will also want to reinforce this high value behavior with raises.  

Maxwell exhorts readers to pursue a stable work-life balance.  He argues that if one's personal life is difficult or unsatisfactory it will affect one's performance in the workplace.  He suggests that the tools he recommends for the workplace be applied to one's personal life as well.  If there are difficult personal issues, he recommends his readers deal with them as well.  

Leading across in an organization

As leading up in an organization is focused on building a strong, stable relationship with the boss, leading across similarly involves building relationships with one's peers.  This can be challenging as any organization has individuals that are difficult to deal with.  But Maxwell argues the best way to deal with such individuals is by means of a type of positive reinforcement.  If a peer is jealous of a relationship with a boss, you can help smooth things over by helping that peer in a time of need.  He also suggests that middle managers build authentic friendships with peers that extend beyond the working hours of the day. Good friendships can also build strong teams.  Friends will also look out for one another's interests in an organization which can bring success for everyone.

Maxwell discusses this in the context of competition.  Good and healthy competition can be quite stimulating to workplace success by raising productivity.  But it should never cross certain boundaries where one's peers feel demeaned. If anything, competition is only good when it raises the "game" of everyone on the team. Competition can lead all peers to strive to perform at their very best at all times. 

As with the "leading up" section, leading across also has several critical components: 

1. Understand, practice, and complete the leadership loop

2. Put completing fellow leaders ahead of competing with them

3. Be a friend

4. Avoid office politics

5. Expand your circle of acquaintances

6. Let the best idea win

7. Don't pretend you're perfect

A critical item above is the advice on office politics.  Every organization has individuals who move up through the ranks not by personal achievement, but because they know people. Maxwell's advice is to say away from office politics, avoid brown-nosing and to both avoid and discourage gossip.  He provides additional advice on staying reliable to one's peers.  But he also argues that individuals who rise because of politics will often times take a fall.  But someone who has demonstrated their value to the organization through competence and personal accomplishment, will enjoy great staying power.  

The most important single characteristic is exemplified by what the author calls the leadership loop (Maxwell, 2005). The leadership loop is predicted on developing authentic relationships with peers based on the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  It includes features like caring, trust and good communication. It also provides situations where positives, such as appreciating and respecting peers, and sharing information and skills, builds valuable relationships.  By contributing to your peer’s success, a middle manager also enables their own.  Thus, the altruism in Maxwell's message is also a means to increase one's own utility. 

Finally, as a member of a team, one has to see situations from other viewpoints as well as one's own. This is applicable to relationships at all levels within an organization and in one's personal life too.  The core of the author's advice is to add value to one's peers.  One must also know when others have better ideas or skillsets. As a solid team member, it is important to support other team members who have stronger ideas. 

Leading down in an organization

Leading down is the traditional and familiar way in which leadership is conceived of in organizations.  This is undoubtedly because leadership is always thought of as flowing in one direction, in a hierarchical manner, rather than in a recursive one. It is always important that leaders at or near the top of the hierarchy communicate their vision for the organization clearly and with passion. As the author points out, leaders set the tone for the entire organization.  A leader that is lazy or indifferent to the success of an organization will produce staff that behaves the same way. A leader with small visions or dreams will produce an organization that thinks small too.

The roles of mutual respect that are articulated in the above sections also apply here. In order to build support, the top leaders must respect and build trust with members at all levels of an organization.  The best way to build these relationships is to take the time to learn about the individuals that work for the firm or agency.  The information sharing shouldn't be of a prying nature.  But a great leader wouldn't need to pry if trust has been established with all members. When trust is present, members of the staff will provide a lot of useful information, personal and otherwise, to the top leader. This relationship is important to all members of the team. If there's one member of the organization that can build its social capital to the optimum it's the highest leader. The leader can use his personal communications with staff to learn about individual strengths and weaknesses, and also their hopes and aspirations.  By fulfilling as many of these as possible, the leader can build stronger and more satisfied team members. To this point, Maxwell's advice is for every leader to view all of his team members as "10s."  That is, as individuals that have the organization's highest esteem at all times (or perhaps until proven otherwise). 

In sum, Maxwell recommends that leaders maximize their utility by being indispensable to others in the organization.  It is important to build strong relationships with all of one's co-workers at all levels of the organization.  This includes building friendships.  He also reminds, that all individuals should have a clear understanding of what their strengths and weaknesses are. They should always play to their strengths, but also set aside time to work on their weak areas as well.  

Reference

Maxwell, J. C. (2005). The 360o leader; developing your influence from anywhere in the organization. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. (ISBN 978-0-7852-6092-9)