Leading from the Middle: Why Culture Lives or Dies with Your Mid-Level Leaders
- Peter McLean
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
By Peter McLean Keynote Speaker | Strategic Advisor | Creator of Lead With CLARITY™
“Peter, we are a different team. The changes have stuck. Thank you!” — Judy Hogben, CEO & Telstra Businesswoman of the Year
We often say culture starts at the top. But it’s middle managers who carry it, bend it and, more often than we admit, bear the weight when it breaks.
These leaders are the bridge between strategy and daily reality. They translate vision into action, hold the emotional tone of an organisation, and influence the climate where performance either thrives—or slowly deteriorates.
When middle managers lead well, culture lifts. When they’re uncertain, the organisation stalls in the middle.
Having been at the bottom, the middle, and the top myself, I know what it’s like. I’ve led from all three places. I’ve seen just how vital these leaders are. And I’ve seen how often they are left out of the real conversation about leadership and culture.
And yet… they’re the ones who make it real.
Let’s face it, execs: how many times have we needed our middle managers to tell us how something can ACTUALLY work?
The Hidden Pressure Point
Middle managers are often expected to:
Lead without clarity
Coach without capacity
Navigate change without real support
Middle managers aren’t just implementing. They’re navigating ambiguity, mediating up and down, managing conflicting priorities, and trying to make good decisions with limited clarity.
What they need isn’t more policies or more complexity. They need clarity: Clarity about what good leadership looks like. Clarity about how to lift their teams. And clarity about how to think, act, and lead under pressure.
A Better Way to Equip Them
That’s why I created the Lead With CLARITY™ framework. It’s not about theory. It’s about grounded behavioural leadership that equips people where they are and helps them move forward, fast.
When I work with mid-level leaders, we focus on practical leadership clarity: how to speak up safely, how to build shared ambition without burnout, how to lead culture from the middle out, and how to get results that actually matter.
The best part? It sticks. Teams change. Confidence grows. Culture lifts.
What Middle Managers Actually Need
In my work across sectors including government, mining, logistics, finance, and healthcare, I’ve seen that middle managers succeed when we focus on areas like:
✅ Clear behavioural expectations (not vague values or posters)
✅ Practical decision-making tools they can apply under pressure
✅ Permission to lead as culture-shapers, not just implementers
✅ Tools they can use today—not just theories to read about
Here’s a sample focus set from my Lead With CLARITY™ framework that I often use with mid-level leaders:
Courage to Challenge – so they can speak up safely and confidently
Aim Higher Together – to lift team ambition without burnout
Results Not Recipes – empowering practical judgment, not box-ticking
Yes! – making real wins and successes possible, championing further success
When these tools are introduced and embedded, something powerful happens: Teams change and confidence grows. Culture begins to lift organically, from the middle out.
If You’re Leading a Middle Tier
If your organisation is in transition, under pressure, or facing cultural drift; the middle tier feels underpowered, confused or quietly struggling… this is the moment to act.
Your middle managers don’t need fixing. They need equipping. Let’s equip your middle managers to be the culture carriers and leadership multipliers they can be.
Through keynotes, leadership offsites, workshops or my consulting and coaching, I help organisations lead with clarity.
Contact Peter McLean
now for a complimentary 20-minute Sounding Board Call.
📬 Message me directly or connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/petermclean
Plainspoken and profound, with clarity that cuts through and presence that lifts the room.
#Leadership #Culture #MiddleManagers #OrganisationalPerformance #LeadWithCLARITY #LeadershipKeynotes #KeynoteSpeaker
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