Episode #296 // "Middle management is the engine room of performance. This is where you are closest to the work, and you can make some real inroads into performance improvement."

I produced a podcast episode over 4 years ago, titled “The Curse of the Middle Manager”. So, when I recently came across an HBR article that signaled a resurgence in middle management roles, I figured it was time to take another look!

In many businesses, the role of the middle manager is by far the toughest. If you’re in that position now, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

You’re effectively the meat in the sandwich — the punching bag for both your team (who often don’t want to change the way they do things), and the senior leaders above you (who sometimes just want you to do as you’re told, without discussion).

Middle managers are often the most unloved (and unrewarded) people in an organization. But here’s the essential lens you need to look through: middle management is the petri dish in which senior leaders are identified, developed, and hatched.

I’m dedicating today’s episode to the middle manager, so that you can not just learn how to survive the cauldron, but to grow, thrive, and move onto bigger and better things!

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.74: The Curse of the Middle Manager

Ep.267: Management vs Leadership

Ep.53: Don’t Overdo Collaboration

HBR Working Knowledge article:

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Clay Christensen books:

The Innovator’s Dilemma

The Innovator’s Solution

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Moment #66 // Leaders who have been passed over for promotion are often told, “You need to be more strategic”... whatever that means!

There could be a number of possible explanations for this… but you can’t always rely on your boss to explain exactly what she means! 

In this Moment, I give you a few suggestions for how you might be able to interpret this feedback, and use it to work on the things that will better prepare you for the next level.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.134: Being More Strategic.

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Episode #295 // “We make mistakes, at each new level that we move to – it's an essential part of our growth and development. But the higher up you go, the bigger the impact that those mistakes have.”

One of my recent social media posts went viral (this one - 2.7mill views as of writing this), as I outlined the three biggest mistakes I made when I was finding my feet in my first few senior leadership roles.

The good news is that, once I was aware of them, I was able to put some strategies in place to fill the holes. This had the surprising outcome of turning some of my biggest mistakes into genuine strengths.

They became part of the rock solid foundations of my leadership repertoire and, for at least one of these weaknesses, it became an unqualified strength, which gave me a competitive edge over my peers.

In this episode, I take a closer look at the three biggest mistakes I was still making when I stepped into senior leadership roles, and how I managed to turn these around. 

I’d love you to be able to do the same, without having to get quite as many scars as I did!

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Moment #65 // If you want to be a great leader, you have to learn to read the play – to know when it’s appropriate to push one of your people harder, when it’s appropriate to work more closely with them, and when it’s appropriate to stand back and let them get on with it.

In this Moment, I take a look at Situational Leadership Theory (SLT). This model gives us guidance for how to adapt our style so that we have the best chance of getting through to our people, and enabling them to be successful.

Of course, the world isn’t clear cut… there’s 1,000 shades of gray, and every individual is different. Your style will never be as definitive as the SLT model might suggest. But it’s a really good mental frame to remind us to adapt our style for the individual, rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all strategy.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.63: Reading the Play.

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Episode #294 // “If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don't!”

I often talk about the need for speed. As a leader, placing a premium on forward progress is one of the most reliable tools you have to achieve execution excellence in your team. 

If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don’t.

Teams that don’t value speed just seem to stagnate. I’ve seen lots of them over the years, and whenever that level of stagnation is present, it’s generally accompanied by other undesirable characteristics, like:

• A high level of conservatism
• A perfectionistic culture
• Low productivity
• Lack of challenge between team members
• Knowledge hoarding
• Lack of initiative and innovation
• Decision-making by consensus
• Over-indexing on process, and under-indexing on results

That’s why I was interested to read an article a little while back in the Wall Street Journal, which was titled, Why Bosses Should Tell Employees to Slow Down More Often.

It led me to wonder if there’s a case for deliberately slowing the tempo of the team, and under what circumstances that might make sense?

In this episode, I share some of my experiences on the virtues of speed, momentum, and forward progress. I take a good look at the findings of the WSJ article. And I offer my suggestions for the areas where I think speed is essential, and where it might be better to tell your team to back off and cool their jets.

Source Material:

Wall Street Journal article:

Why Bosses Should Tell Employees to Slow Down More Often

The Guardian article:

Sacking, revolt, return: how crisis at OpenAI over Sam Altman unfolded

Asana article:

What is Agile Methodology?

London Business School study:

The motivation of mission statements: How regulatory mode influences workplace discrimination

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.266: What the Best CEOs Do

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Moment #64 // Many CEOs and senior executives talk a good game when it comes to culture change and transformation… it’s almost expected. But, even though they might make the right noises, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have the commitment to set a higher standard, or generate the level of momentum it would take to lead the change successfully.

Pretty much every senior leader says they want a constructive, high performance culture. But very few can clearly articulate what this means… and even fewer are prepared to do what it takes to affect any lasting change.

It doesn’t mean they’re bad people, or even that they’re ineffective leaders… What it does mean is that many senior leaders are only prepared to go so far in the quest for culture change. It’s the elephant in the room that no one really talks about. 

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.37: The CEO Wants Culture Change… or does he?.

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Episode #293 // “I look at my high performers with one thought in mind: What will it take for them to get to the next level?”

When you focus on setting a high standard for performance, it’s easy to fall into the habit of managing the exceptions — to focus on the people who fall behind, or don’t meet the minimum standard you’re trying to preserve. 

The old saying that the squeakiest wheel gets the oil is as true in the leadership context as it is in every other aspect of life!

When people don’t perform to the required level, it’s only natural to want to help them… to coach, guide, and motivate them, so that they can perform successfully. So you can spend a hell of a lot of time and energy focusing on people who, quite often, have absolutely no interest in lifting their performance to meet your expectations.  

And, while you’re busy focusing on the under-performers, it’s easy to forget about the people in the team who are self-sufficient… the ones who just get the job done… the ones who don’t suck your time and energy, because they consistently do things the way you expect them to.

We’re quietly grateful for the ones who don’t constantly demand our attention, but this often leads to an unintended consequence: a few of these reliable people are genuine high performers, and neglecting them costs you way more than any of your under-performers ever could!

In this episode, I start with the critical question, “Do you know who your high performers are… really?!”; I then give you some surefire ways to lead your team so that you get the most from your best; and, of course, I give you a few traps for young players that you should try to avoid.

Download the free PDF resource, 6 Tips for Leading High Performers here: https://www.yourceomentor.com/leading-high-performers

Source Material:

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.231: Talent Management

Ep.240: The Talented Jerk

Amazon book link:

The Halo Effect

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Moment #63 // Times are tough and, when the pressure is on, it doesn’t take long before companies start to squeeze their suppliers in an attempt to find cost savings.

Unfortunately, your suppliers are facing exactly the same pressures you are. Their costs are rising too, and they’re experiencing the same difficulty in finding and keeping their best people.

Knowing how to manage your suppliers for optimum long-term benefit is critical, especially as you seek to outsource more and more of the company’s non-core work. If you squeeze your suppliers too tight, they’ll end up cutting corners. Remember, you can outsource the activity, but you can’t outsource the risk!

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.221: Managing Supplier Relationships.

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Episode #292 // “In team sports, “leading from the front” means a completely different thing than it does in business.”

There are a number of elements that contribute to your leadership identity. Many leaders let their identity form organically, without much conscious thought or planning. That’s fine, but there’s an enormous amount of upside to be captured, if you choose to be deliberate and methodical in your approach.

For every leader, regardless of level, industry, company size, or location, there are a number of foundational aspects of leadership that require a level of competence… but only if you want your people to thrive and perform, that is!

Because every individual is different, the way you interpret and apply these fundamentals may also be vastly different. The best leaders understand how to apply their unique style, personality, and values to a framework of strong leadership that’s guaranteed to produce extraordinary outcomes.

How deliberate are you in crafting your leadership identity? Are you thoughtful about how to integrate your own style into the tried and trusted foundations of high-performance leadership? Or are you, like many leaders, happy to leave it to chance?

FREE Resource we recommend in this episode:

Ep.186: Your Personal Leadership Audit

Ep.257: Your Leadership User Manual

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Moment #62 // The board of directors is increasingly seen as the accountable body for ensuring ethical, responsible behavior from companies. But we still seem to be witnessing some pretty spectacular failures in corporate governance.

To me, this isn’t at all surprising. The board has very little influence over what the management team does on a day-to-day basis. 

Boards have limited control over what really goes on. I’m sure that many professional directors will disagree with me on this… but that would most likely be a reflection of their ego, rather than reality.

You can take a deeper dive into these insights by listening to Ep.248: The CEO and the Board.

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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Episode #291 // “The boundaries between our work and personal lives have shifted, and leaders need to deal with the fallout.”

When I began my corporate executive career, the only concern leaders had for safety was to ensure that people working in dangerous environments didn’t get seriously injured or killed.

Then, there were a lot of businesses that didn’t even need to think about the word “safety”, because they were predominantly white-collar, office-bound enterprises.

For most of my senior leadership career I worked in industrial businesses:

• Where people worked at dangerous heights, and in confined spaces;
• Where big machines moved with velocity; and
• Where, heat, energy, and dangerous gasses could combust with explosive force.

The world has moved on quite a bit since then. These days, what it means to keep people safe (and just how far your duty of care extends) has evolved dramatically. I’ve found that my grounding in the principles of physical safety leadership has been invaluable in meeting these evolving challenges.

These days, when we talk about safety, it’s normally couched as SHE (safety, health and the environment), and it covers everything from personal wellbeing, physical and mental health, and psychological safety, right through to ensuring a company leaves the smallest possible footprint on the communities in which it operates.

In this episode, I take a fly across the top of the safety domain, and talk about the role that you play as a leader in keeping your people safe — physically, mentally, and psychologically. 

Source Material:

No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast:

Ep.185: The Mental Health Minefield

Harvard Business School faculty profile:

Amy Edmondson

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Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. 

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