Make way
for astute middle managers. Their power is growing as many find
they have more credibility and goodwill from their staffs than
do their top bosses.
After all
the complaints about how the workplace is never a meritocracy
and how back-stabbbers always win, now is the time for hard-working
and trustworthy managers to present themselves as the new face
of upper management.
With dozens
of senior executives under scrutiny for wrongdoings, middle managers
are "like kids in dysfunctional families" says Dory Hollander,
a partner at WiseWorkplaces, Arlington, VA. "They're looking at
the bosses they've depended on and saying, 'I don't want to be
like them -- and maybe I can do a whole lot better.' "
Who has the
best chance to advance? Those who haven't been stuck a long time
in midlevel jobs because they are non-assertive types who went
along with superiors to get along, or who weren't previously bypassed
for promotions because "they got crushed somewhere in their careers,"
Ms. Hollander explains. "I'd bet on relative newcomers to middle
management" and on people who have moved from one company to another,
acquiring skills and allies along the way.
In either
case, middle managers who want to flex their leadership muscles
should assess their strengths and weaknesses and gain the experience
they lack. What's needed now is financial know-how and an ability
to communicate with a range of constituents.
Ms. Hollander
is coaching 13 middle managers at several companies who see a
vacuum at the top, and so an opportunity to exert more influence
over decision-making. Among these are a software manager who has
won kudos for his conceptual skills but has never been a people
leader, she says. "He had decided this is a good time to develop
communications and empathy skills to fill his gaps -- and see
how far he can go," she says.
David D'Alessandro,
chief executive at John Hancock Financial Services, Boston, is
challenging his middle managers to demonstrate their leadership
ambitions. "I'm telling them to prove to me how they can take
market share right now," he says. "With all the incompetence in
the investment world, this is a chance to win new customers who
want secure products."
Moreover,
at a time of great business upheaval, the less-promising managers
are easily identified. "They're the managers who say they don't
want to sign financial statements related to their departments
because that is the responsibility of the CEO, or they don't want
to be paid partly in options anymore, since stock prices are down,"
he says. By contrast, the nonwimp group knows there are opportunities
in managing through adversity. "It has to do with character and
believing in yourself."
Randy Gausman
isn't discouraged even though as chief financial officer of iBeam
Broadcasting, Sunnyvale, Calif., he recently oversaw the company's
filing for bankruptcy protection. Now, he's seeking a new job.
After nearly
30 years in business, "I've seen a lot of economic cycles," he
says. "The compensation [for managers] isn't going to be what
it was three or four years ago but those who persevere, put their
heads down and work hard can gain experience and move ahead. And
there's no better experience than moving through some rough patches
like the one we're in now."
Mr. Gausman,
who previously founded an Internet company still in business,
and has worked for start-ups, says he is wedded to difficult situations.
"I get an adrenaline rush trying to build something or turn it
around, " he adds.
Middle managers
often have more regular contact with customers, suppliers and
employees than their top bosses, so they have a chance to show
their integrity, the quality most desired in leaders today.
"Corporate
directors want to know whether you let subordinates play near
the edge of the court, or how you make sure to keep them away
from the line they should never cross," says Michael Useem, a
professor and director of the Center for Leadership and Management
Change at the Wharton School.
Pat
Cook, head of Cook & Co., a boutique executive search firm, says
that during the dot-com boom, youth, speed and exuberance were
the most highly valued traits, but in the past few months clients
mostly want to know they can trust a candidate.
"We're
back to basics where what counts is honesty and reliability, along
with the ability to get hard-core results," she says. "All those
people who got ahead for all the wrong reasons are going to have
to stand aside."
