Don’t Ghost Your Middle Managers. 👻 Give Them the Leadership Tools They Need.
The following is an excerpt from our October 2025 issue of Hey Leader.
Hey Leader, crafted with thought & care by The Perk, is a monthly email series all with the intention to help you lead better. You belong here!
Hey, Hi! —
You know what’s really scary this time of year?
Not haunted houses. Not horror movies.
(And while they’re a little scary, long lines at Disney World aren't, either.)
It’s realizing your leadership bench isn’t as strong as you thought it was.
It’s that moment when you look around and see that the same few people are carrying all the weight—all the decisions, the responsibility for building culture, the making space for connection—& you wonder: “What happens if one of these leaders burns out—or moves on?”
This question is one that keeps SO many leaders up at night. It’s also one that led us to make a big decision here at The Perk.
We’re niching down—fully & intentionally—into middle manager development.
Now, love for middle managers isn’t a new thing for us. We’ve trained THOUSANDS of middle managers at companies all over the world.
We’ve always been in awe of all that middle managers have on their plate & the delicate tightrope they have to walk between executing on company mission & vision…all while protecting the humans actually doing the work.
But when we took a hard look at 1) the kind of work The Perk LOVES doing, & 2) where we see the most transformation—the kind that changes people, teams & organizations deeply & for the better—it ALWAYS starts in the middle.
Middle managers are where the magic & the mess happens.
They’re the ones translating big vision into daily action.
They’re the ones holding teams through change, often without clear direction.
They’re the ones juggling business goals, people dynamics & the emotional labor of leadership (sometimes, all before lunch!)
They’re not just the bridge between strategy & execution. They are the engine. And yet, they’re often the most overlooked, under-supported layer in any organization.
And let’s think about the future-state, too. In the era of AI, middle managers will need to adapt quicker than ever before, leading with clarity while harnessing technology.
When middle managers aren’t overlooked, organizations just run better. Research shows organizations that intentionally grow & empower their middle managers are 2x more likely to retain top talent & 5x more likely to exceed their financial targets.
Both pretty important, right?
That’s why we’re putting all our focus, energy, & creativity into one mission: to build & strengthen the leadership bench inside organizations by transforming how middle managers lead.
For us, that means simplifying our offerings & clarifying our path. If you go to our website right now, you’ll see we’re offering one thing. It’s called The Middle Manager Protocol. It’s a scalable & fully-customizable (because if you know us, you know everything we do is custom) journey built around the 12 skills that are essential for middle managers to have today. We teach those behaviors through immersive workshops, group coaching & ongoing practice.
(The “how” & “why” of The Perk stays exactly the same—we just got crystal clear on the “what.”)
And I’ll be SUPER honest: Getting to this point was also a little scary. It meant pruning the good to make room for the great & saying “no” to a lot of things we could do so we could pour our energy into the thing we do best.
So, this season—as we embrace all things eerie, spooky & unknown—let’s also make the commitment to focus on the leaders that deserve the investment.
Because we’re making a bold claim. The future of leadership isn’t built at the top. It’s built in the middle.
You’re amazing,
Assess Your Leadership Bench
Okay: If the future of leadership is truly built in the middle, how do you get started?
It begins with awareness of where your middle managers are currently, especially when it comes to specific skills & behaviors.
Enter: the Middle Manager Leadership Skills Scorecard. We created this resource as a quick, practical way to see where your managers are thriving & where a little extra support could create outsized impact.
In just a few minutes, you’ll get a clear snapshot across 12 essential leadership skills—from accountability & trust to communication, change & coaching. It’s the first step in turning awareness into action.
Ready to see where your middle managers shine (& where they could stretch next)? Download your free Scorecard here.
If you download & use the Scorecard, please let us know what it sparked for you & your leaders!
Teams large & small love working with The Perk!
SEE results in action!
GE HealthCare, building next level leaders.
Focus on building confident, compassionate leaders, & developing high-trust teams takes innovative, world-renowned healthcare company to the next level.
About The Perk
We're a premiere leadership & culture development studio.
The skills your leaders need today are very different from the ones they needed 5 years ago. We equip leaders with the skills they need to confidently & effectively lead their teams now & going forward.
And we have quite a lot of fun doing it!