You're stuck. Caught between an executive team insisting things must change and teams insisting they can't. You're being force-fed a strategy you never asked for, and tomorrow you have to explain why it's brilliant. Even though you still don't understand what is actually going to change — except that your department will probably be dissolved. Welcome to the middle management sandwich.

As we discussed in our earlier blog discussed, there are four key roles that determine whether strategy succeeds or fails. This is part 4: middle management. Paul van Bekkum, co-founder of Summiteers, and Thijs Venneman, management consultant, explain why your role is underestimated, but also why you ultimately determine whether the strategy succeeds or fails.

The uncomfortable truth

Here's the blow: the strategy succeeds or fails with you. Not with the executives. Not with the consultants. With you.

“The certainty or uncertainty emerging in this group forms a powerful lever for the rest of the organization,” says Paul. “If you stand behind it, it trickles down. If you doubt, that trickles down too.”

You are not the forgotten layer. You are the decisive layer.

The executive team can say whatever they want. If you don't communicate it, nothing happens. If you don't believe it, no one will. And if you resist, it's over. But the reverse is also true: if you embrace it, it comes to life. If you are enthusiastic, everyone becomes enthusiastic. If you show the way, teams will follow.

The problem with your position

“Middle managers have a clear dual role,” Thijs explains. “You're often involved in the strategy late, yet you're responsible for implementation. Meanwhile, you still need to keep your department running.”

You are the translator without one values. The messenger who gets shot. The cheerleader of a plan you don't believe in.

The executives worked on the strategy for three months. You get a one-hour presentation. And then you're expected to motivate your team with enthusiasm. While you're still thinking: what is this even about? And more importantly: does this mean my job will disappear?

‍

Five things to stop doing

1. Stop pretending to understand

What you are doing now: Nodding during the presentation and hoping it will become clear later.

‍What works: “I need more time to grasp this. Can we schedule a follow-up session?”

It's no shame not to understand it immediately. The executive team spent months working on it. You get a one-hour PowerPoint. Claim the time you need. Ask questions. Many questions. Stupid questions. Until you truly understand it. Because if you don't understand it, your team certainly won't.

2. Stop keeping your worries to yourself

What you are doing now: Swallowing your doubts and remaining professional.‍

What works: “I am concerned about X. How do you see that?”

“The impact lies partly in the fact that a new strategy can have personal consequences for this layer,” Thijs acknowledges. “Your department is affected, tasks change, or may no longer exist.”

‍
Be honest about your worries. Nu. Not when it's too late. You are not a robot. You are a human being with a mortgage, children and career plans. These worries are legitimate. In fact, they are valuable. Because if you are worried, your people will be worried too.

3. Stop being the messenger

What you are doing now: “The executive team has decided that...”

‍What works: “This is what we are going to do and this is why I think it can work...”

Your team looks at you, not at the executive team. If you present the strategy as something from 'them up there', you become the enemy. If you present it as something you stand behind, you become the leader. But what if you don't stand behind it? Then you have skipped point 2. Go back. Make your concerns known. Get answers. Or at least understanding.

4. Stop trying to explain everything at once

What you are doing now: Stuffing the entire strategy into one team meeting.

‍What works: Taking your team along step by step.

You needed time to understand it for yourself. Give your team that same time. Start with the main points. Let it sink in. Come back with more detail. Ask what they need. Listen to their concerns.

Paul emphasises: “You cannot jump from a high-level strategy to implementation. There is a phase of thinking and doing in between. Middle management plays a leading role in this translation phase.”

5. Stop struggling on your own

What you are doing now: Figuring out on your own how this should work in your department.

‍What works: Aligning with other middle managers and moving forward together.

You are not the only one struggling with this. Every middle manager has the same questions. The same concerns. The same challenges. Move together. Align. Learn from each other.

Consistency between departments is worth gold. Not because it must be done, but because it helps. Your team speaks with other teams. If everyone hears a different story, chaos arises.

This makes the difference

As a middle manager, you do not determine the strategy. But you do determine whether it is executed. You are the difference between:

• Beautiful words vs real change
• Resistance vs movement
• Cynicism vs energy
• A strategy that bogs down vs one that takes off

“You are not just a recipient of strategy,” Thijs emphasises. “You are an active shaper of the future of your organization.”

The question is not whether you have power. You have more power than you think. The question is how you use it.

For yourself? For your team? Or for the organization? The answer determines everything.

‍

This is part 4 of our series on the four key roles that make strategy succeed. Earlier we discussed the commissioner and the subject-matter expert. Next time: the orchestrator. The link that needs to hold everything together. But how do you do that without formal authority?