Why Middle Management is the Hardest Job | Simon Sinek

00:04:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0W4H6jMLKg

Resumen

TLDRThe video explores the difficulties faced by middle management in organizations, emphasizing the lack of training for leaders transitioning from junior roles. It highlights the need for effective leadership training, as many middle managers are not equipped with essential skills such as communication and feedback. The speaker notes the disconnect between senior management's focus on profits and the efforts of self-taught middle managers who strive to do the right thing. The video encourages these managers to embody the leadership qualities they wish to see, ultimately creating a positive work environment that attracts others to their teams.

Para llevar

  • 💼 Middle management faces unique challenges in organizations.
  • 📚 Lack of leadership training is a significant issue.
  • 🗣️ Communication skills are crucial for effective leadership.
  • 💡 Self-taught leaders often struggle against profit-driven management.
  • 🌟 Be the leader you wish you had.
  • 📈 Positive leadership can improve team performance.
  • 🤝 Foster a supportive work environment to attract talent.
  • 🔄 Leadership training should be robust and comprehensive.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:04:36

    Middle management is challenging as it requires balancing strategic and tactical responsibilities without adequate training. Unlike junior roles, where individuals are trained for specific tasks, middle managers often lack leadership training, communication skills, and effective confrontation techniques. This gap leads to a disconnect between visionary senior leadership and frontline employees, resulting in dissatisfaction. Additionally, self-taught leaders in middle management face the challenge of senior management prioritizing quarterly earnings over people. To navigate this, they are encouraged to embody the leadership qualities they wish to see, focusing on their immediate teams and fostering a positive environment. Successful leadership initiatives in middle management can lead to improved performance and increased interest from other employees in joining those teams, highlighting the impact of effective leadership on organizational culture.

Mapa mental

Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas

  • Why is middle management considered the hardest job?

    Middle management is challenging because they must balance strategic and tactical responsibilities without adequate training.

  • What training do middle managers typically lack?

    They often lack training in leadership, communication, and effective confrontation.

  • What should middle managers do if senior management prioritizes profits over people?

    They should focus on being the leader they wish they had and care for their team.

  • How can middle managers improve their leadership skills?

    They can read books, attend conferences, and seek mentorship.

  • What was the outcome of improving leadership in a middle management group?

    The group's performance improved, attracting interest from others in the company.

  • What is a common complaint among self-taught middle managers?

    They often feel that senior management only cares about quarterly earnings.

  • What is the importance of leadership training?

    Robust leadership training is essential for developing effective leaders.

  • How can middle managers create a positive work environment?

    By fostering good leadership and caring for their team.

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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:00
    middle management is the hardest job in
  • 00:00:03
    any organization because when you're jr.
  • 00:00:09
    your only job is really to do your job
  • 00:00:13
    that's it and you get trained how to do
  • 00:00:15
    your job I mean you all have to be
  • 00:00:17
    licensed and go to school and learn how
  • 00:00:19
    to do the job of being an accountant and
  • 00:00:21
    if you're really good at it you
  • 00:00:24
    eventually you get promoted and you
  • 00:00:25
    eventually get promoted to position
  • 00:00:27
    where you're now responsible for the
  • 00:00:28
    people who do the job you used to do but
  • 00:00:30
    the problem is they don't give us any
  • 00:00:31
    training how to do that you know and
  • 00:00:33
    senior people are thinking about
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    entirely different things they're
  • 00:00:35
    thinking about the firm thinking about
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    strategy and the problem is so you have
  • 00:00:39
    this middle group that's in this sort of
  • 00:00:41
    weird mix where they're not there they
  • 00:00:44
    have to be strategic but not majority
  • 00:00:46
    strategic and they they have to be
  • 00:00:48
    tactical but they're not majority
  • 00:00:49
    tactical and they have to translate
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    what's going up here to down there and
  • 00:00:52
    down here to up here and and most things
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    break in the middle because I'll meet
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    firms where the leadership is amazing
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    and they're visionary and they care
  • 00:01:01
    about people and they want to do the
  • 00:01:03
    right thing and then I go down to the
  • 00:01:04
    frontline and they're like yeah this
  • 00:01:05
    place is the worst
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    and so I'm like what happened between
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    here and there and it's the middle most
  • 00:01:12
    things break in the middle and so I
  • 00:01:14
    think there are two there are two there
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    are two factors one is we don't train
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    people how to lead right so as I said
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    before when you were junior we're we
  • 00:01:23
    have to know what to do we just do our
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    jobs we'd be good at it and as we become
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    leaders in this middle management we're
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    now transitioning to this job we're now
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    responsible for the people who do the
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    job we used to do but nobody is teaching
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    us listening nobody's teaching us
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    communication skills nobody's teaching
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    as effective confrontation nobody's
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    teaching us how to give and repeat
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    receive feedback nobody's actually
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    teaching us leadership so this is why we
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    get managers and not leaders and like
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    you would never ask somebody to do
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    anything in accounting without showing
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    them how to do it
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    ever bad idea all right
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    so why on earth do we think that we can
  • 00:01:59
    just promote someone to a leadership
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    position and expect that they know what
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    to do without showing them how to do it
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    so that's problem number one is is that
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    is the rule is the total vacuum in some
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    cases or just really minimal amounts of
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    leadership training
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    and it needs to be robust the other
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    problem that I come across very often is
  • 00:02:19
    I get some really wonderful self-taught
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    leaders of middle management they're
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    reading books they're going to
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    conferences themselves they're watching
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    TED Talks I mean there's students of
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    leadership they have mentors I mean
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    they're really making a go of it and
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    they complain that the that the senior
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    management all they care about is is the
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    quarterly earnings and so that problem
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    we have there is they're trying so hard
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    to do the right thing but management
  • 00:02:42
    really doesn't care so that's the
  • 00:02:44
    opposite right and in those cases I
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    recommend that they the right thing to
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    do
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    I mean quitting is always an option but
  • 00:02:52
    that's not the not necessarily the best
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    option or the first option but I always
  • 00:02:57
    recommend to be the leader you wish you
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    had which is they'll I get the question
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    it is one of the if not the most common
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    question I get which is what do I do
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    when I'm trying to do the right thing
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    and and my boss for my boss's boss or my
  • 00:03:09
    boss's boss's boss just don't get it you
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    know all they care about is money before
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    people and and the answer is you can't
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    control what you can't control so
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    worried about the people around you
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    worried about the people to the sides of
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    you the level below you even a level
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    above you and you be the leader you wish
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    you had what you start to find in those
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    pockets is these magical little diamonds
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    in the rough up here we we worked with a
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    large a large technology company and we
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    worked with a group where that's exactly
  • 00:03:38
    what we did we we developed this whole
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    leadership thing just for this little
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    group in the middle and yes they started
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    to do better and their numbers went
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    better and the group expanded and blah
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    blah blah all the things you'd expect to
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    happen but one thing we didn't expect is
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    that the phone started ringing off the
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    hook from other people in the firm
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    asking can I get a job in your group
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    because when the people who worked in
  • 00:04:01
    this group would go out for lunch with
  • 00:04:02
    their friends who works in other groups
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    you know how's work today amazing
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    different stories different stories and
  • 00:04:08
    all of a sudden words spread across this
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    80,000 person company and this was only
  • 00:04:12
    a group of 150 people word spread across
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    this 80,000 person company that
  • 00:04:17
    everybody was trying to get into this
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    group which is because it was they
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    wanted to work in it because he had good
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    leadership
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    [Music]
Etiquetas
  • middle management
  • leadership
  • training
  • communication
  • organizational behavior
  • employee engagement
  • senior management
  • work environment
  • self-taught leaders
  • performance improvement