How to Lead with Clay Scroggins and Adam Tarnow What’s the Purpose (and Future) of Middle Management?
Jun 16, 2025
Middle management is often viewed negatively, but it holds crucial potential for growth and transformation. The discussion reframes this role as a vital proving ground, emphasizing its ability to shape vision and resilience. Listeners explore how middle managers can empower themselves and others, shifting from feelings of powerlessness to proactive leadership. The importance of personal transformation is highlighted as a key component for navigating challenges and thriving in the future of leadership.
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Reframing Middle Management
- Middle management is often misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a place of too much pressure with too little authority or glory.
- Its purpose is not broken, but forgotten, and it can be reframed as a vital proving ground for leaders.
Grocery Cart Steering Analogy
- Clay uses the grocery cart analogy where the steering wheel seems to have control but actually does not steer the way children expect.
- This illustrates how middle managers have pressure without real authority, yet the steering wheel still works if leveraged correctly.
Middle Management as Transformation
- Middle management is a journey of personal transformation, viewed as a symbolic valley one must go through rather than avoid.
- It teaches resilience and how to find a path forward when none seems visible, shaping leaders fundamentally.
