Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: 01 Life in the middle -- What is the reality of life in the middle? -- A positive view of middle management -- Power and influence -- All of you -- Establish your goals and objectives -- Development tool: Defining your goals -- 02 Life above and below -- Strategic drivers at the top -- Interpersonal dynamics -- Personal motivations -- What do those at lower levels need from you? -- Understanding the perspectives of those around you -- Process tool: Perspectives -- 03 Managing work pressures in the middle -- Demands in the middle -- Resource pressures in the middle -- Control in the middle -- Pressure in the middle: coping mechanisms -- 04 Mid-level career development -- Career anchors -- Looking out and across -- Connecting through networking -- Creating lateral futures -- Career resilience -- Wellbeing and career development -- Process tool: Structuring your career development -- Supporting others to develop their career in the middle -- Career development: the need to influence outwards -- 05 Getting the best out of your team -- Teams-getting the basics right -- Team resilience and wellbeing -- Managing the pressure climate -- Wellbeing and performance -- Team development -- Guidance tool: Team confidence builder -- 06 Influencing and working with your peers -- Peer influencing and networking -- Learning from your peers -- Better understanding and influencing distributed decision making -- Peer support networks -- Improving the way you work with your peers -- 07 Managing upwards -- Difficult upwards relationships -- Managing demands from above -- Developing a true partnership with your boss -- Managing a range of senior stakeholders -- 08 Lifestyle management -- The impact of work on life and life on work -- Maintaining your health and wellbeing -- 09 Becoming an outstanding middle manager -- Converting goals into actions -- The ultimate middle management challenge -- Developing middle managers -- So be outstanding -- References -- Index.

"Middle managers--those with responsibility for managers or sizeable teams/divisions beneath them and who directly answer to senior management--make up a large portion of a corporation. The Outstanding Middle Manager, co-authored by business psychologists Gordon Tinline and Cary Cooper offers a fresh perspective on the role of the middle manager in the 21st century. Taking a holistic view of the position, Tinline and Cooper first situate the role in the changing work paradigm: flatter organizations, new working practices and expectations, cross-cultural and intra-generational factors in management. They then address the unique pressures and challenges middle managers face including: -managing work pressures of overload, resource shortages, and limited control -building resilience -influencing where you have limited power -getting the best out of both the team and overseers -developing a mid-level career -life management and how to achieve a healthy work-life balance With a focus on lateral development and progression, this book empowers middle managers to take control of their career and become more fulfilled, resilient, and satisfied"--