Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization

by Scott Mautz

Overview

The definitive playbook for driving impact as a middle manager

Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization delivers an insightful and practical guide for the backbone of an organization: those who have a boss and are a boss and must lead from the messy middle. Accomplished author and former P&G executive Scott Mautz walks readers through the unique challenges facing these managers, and the mindset and skillset necessary for managing up and down and influencing what happens across the organization.

You’ll learn the winning mindset of the best middle managers, how to develop the most important skills necessary for managing from the middle, how to create your personal Middle Action Plan (MAP), and effectively influence:

• Up the chain of command, to your boss and those above them
• Down, to your direct reports and teams who report to you
• Laterally, to peers and teams you have no formal authority over

Anyone in an organization who reports to someone and has someone reporting to them must lead from the middle. They are the most important group in an organization and have a unique opportunity to drive impact. Leading from the Middle explains how.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119717911
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/18/2021
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	104,000
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

SCOTT MAUTZ is a popular keynote speaker, award-winning author, and faculty member at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business for Executive Education. Scott’s a former Procter & Gamble senior executive who successfully ran several of the company’s largest multi-billion-dollar businesses, all while transforming organizational health scores along the way. He’s been named a “CEO Thought-leader” by The Chief Executives Guild and a “Top 50 Leadership Innovator” by Inc.com, where he wrote a popular leadership/self-leadership column read by well over 1 million monthly readers. He’s a LinkedIn Learning instructor and is CEO and Founder of Profound Performance, a keynote, training, and coaching company. Connect with Scott at scottmautz.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 The Unique Challenges of Those Who Lead from the Middle 1

2 The Mindset for Leading Effectively from the Middle 27

3 The Skillset for Leading Effectively from the Middle 51

4 Leading Your Boss 81

5 Leading Those Who Report to You 103

6 Leading Teams 125

7 Influencing Peers 149

8 Leading Change 161

9 Creating Your Personal MAP (Middle Action Plan) 187

Acknowledgments 193

About the Author 195

Index 197