It’s who gets left behind that is causing the problem.

It’s who gets left behind that is causing the problem. ⚠️

I spent years — years, y’all — working across industries and watching companies throw money at Execs and Hi-Potentials. That’s who gets the attention. To be fair, the folks in sales bringing the money — they get attention, too.

Nothing really wrong with that.
🚨 It’s who gets left behind that is causing the problem.
👉 Your middle managers are under supported.

Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report says only 44% of managers say they’ve received training.

You expect a lot from your managers. Their performance may not have the same impact as your executives, but they run the process & procedure, check the status & results, engage with customers, solve operational problems, and manage your people.
 
Gartner’s 2023 report says, Managers now have 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage.

The middle doesn’t have as many fancy degrees and practically no elite MBAs. They might not even come from university.
They probably were not coached on the right way to navigate your hierarchy. They might not know what you expect or what differentiates them. 
There is a chance they don't know how to show you their potential.

💡 Most were promoted for excelling in a previous role, not because they were ready to lead.
🪜They wanted to advance and didn't realize the increased responsibilities that came with it.

We toss them into a Manager 101 and call it a day. Maybe there is Manager 201 or annual manager training.

Nah. What most of the companies are doing today is buying a library of training courses and saying: “There. Go find what you need.”
You call it personalized. They can chart their own learning and development path.

We'll set aside the fact that the middle managers are overworked and stressed out and that don’t have time allotted to take training, much less search for training and decide which courses to take.

The problem is that most managers don’t know what they need.

They think they’re better at communicating than they really are.
They think they’re nice and well-respected. 
OR They think people do what they say because they’re tough and don’t allow anyone to step out of line.

Dig under a layer or two, and you’ll find teams who say their managers:
Rarely communicate.
Are unfair and let people get away with too much.
Fail to set realistic expectations.
Don't spend time developing and coaching their teams.
Act like despots and everyone is afraid of them and their retaliation.

I could keep this list going for days. I’ve seen it. Heard it. Experienced it. 

Let’s work to change it.
✅ Start devoting your attention and resources to the managers in the middle.
Make it possible for them to have a chance to perform, to shine, to show you awesome results. 
✅Pair them up with consistent, relevant training and coaching and give them the time to participate. You don’t have to toss out the library, but you do need a purposeful approach to their training and development.