This Coffee Chat dove into one of the most complicated roles in any organization. Middle managers sit at the crossroads of leadership expectations, daily operations, and learning initiatives. They can be your biggest ally or your biggest barrier, often depending on how well they understand their role in supporting development.
The chat quickly turned to some all-too-familiar struggles. Managers who block progress, expect new hires to be experts, or try to run training their own way. Others just don’t think helping their teams learn is part of the gig. And honestly, most are pulled in so many directions that learning ends up taking a back seat.
We talked about what it looks like to shift that relationship from tension to partnership. It starts with inviting managers into the process early, giving them visibility into what’s coming, involving them in decisions, and offering easy-to-use tools that help them lead conversations about learning. One participant shared a “leader-led learning” model that made managers the heroes by equipping them with resources to guide discussions with their teams.
Sometimes we toss training over the fence and expect managers to run with it, even though no one’s ever taught them how. When we bring them in, let them learn alongside their teams, and show how it connects to their own goals, the tension starts to ease. Suddenly, learning feels like something they want to be part of, not just another box to check.
In the end, middle managers are not the enemy. They’re just caught in the middle. The more we treat them as partners rather than obstacles, the stronger our learning cultures become.
Stay curious! -Shannon
Video
Transcript
Transcript Summary
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Resources
Learning Rebels’ CTRL + ALT + BUILD: The Microlearning Lab for Modern L&D Workshop
The Power Hour Tool
Leader Led Learning Series
20 Ways Managers Can Create a Culture of Continuous Learning
How to Involve Managers in Learning Programs3 Actionable Steps For Managers to Cultivate a Learning Culture
How To Create a Learning Culture: 18 Best Practices
Leaders' Critical Role in Building a Learning Culture
Books
Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work by Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, and Emily Field
Caught in the Middle: 5 Crucial Insights into Mastering Middle Management by Maria Simpson
Leading Change from the Middle: A Practical Guide to Building Extraordinary Capabilities by Jackson Nickerson
The Middle Management Challenge: Moving from Crisis to Empowerment by Alan L. Frohman and Leonard W. Johnson
Be part of the Community. Gain more valuable resources to build your skills! Learn more here. Join the conversation Be part of the live chat! Sign up here. Hire Learning Rebels When you need learning that sticks, we’ll fight to make performance results happen. Visit the Learning Rebels website to learn more Host: Shannon Tipton Podcast produced by: Obsidian Productions
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