Middle managers are expected to demonstrate a wide set of leadership competencies to motivate themselves and their employees to improved performance (Diskiene et al., 2019). Middle leaders require competencies ranging from strategic to interpersonal, including thinking and acting strategically; demonstrating strong character (e.g., trustworthiness and integrity); building a positive team culture and encouraging positive relationships between team members; resourcing teams appropriately and distributing workload among team members equitably; and cultivating open communication and shared decision-making (Thornton et al., 2018). Diskiene et al. (2019) categorized middle leadership competencies in a framework divided between cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, and social intelligence. In an increasingly globalized economy, Berraies (2020) also added cultural intelligence. Ong and Yaqiong (2018) found core leadership competencies needed for middle managers to maximize their employees’ performance include job mastery, employee engagement, resource management, results-orientation, teamwork, innovation, change management, and people management. Mazanek et al. (2018) found leadership competencies are unique to each level of leadership – front-line leadership, middle leadership, and top-level leadership – and middle leadership requires a range of individual, interpersonal, managerial, strategic, and creative competencies.
The business and education literature discussed different sets of middle leadership competencies. Forty-six percent of middle leadership competencies identified in the present literature review appeared in both the business and education literature, albeit with differing emphases (communication; interpersonal and relationship skills; administrative, operational, and managerial skills; decision-making; collaboration and teamwork; creativity and innovation; self-awareness and self-control; sensemaking; strategy, strategic thinking, and strategic implementation; change leadership and management; growth mindset and learning orientation; conflict management; developing others; influence and persuasion; motivating others; professional expertise; trust-building; vision setting; achievement and results orientation; analytical thinking; coaching; integrity; and networking and developing peer networks). Sixteen percent of middle leadership competencies appeared in only the business literature (knowledge-sharing; courage; cultural intelligence; fair judgment; information seeking; insight; positivity; and risk management) and 38% appeared in only the education literature (building and leading teams; emotional intelligence; culture building; advocacy; strategic resource allocation; agility, flexibility, and dynamism; facilitating; mentoring; time management; business awareness; employee engagement; empowerment; engaging senior leaders; goal setting; managing expectations; negotiating; open-mindedness; proactivity and taking initiative; and systems thinking). Table 1 provides a comparative list of middle leadership competencies identified in the business and education literature in order of most frequently mentioned.
Table 1
Middle Leadership Competencies Identified in the Literature
| Middle leadership competencies in the business literature | Identified by | Middle leadership competencies in the education literature | Identified by |
| Communication | Alvesson and Jonsson (2018); Basuki (2020); Berraies (2020); Liang et al. (2018); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Collaboration | De Nobile (2019); Do and Nuth (2019); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Grootenboer et al. (2019); Grootenboer and Larkin (2019); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2019); Merenkov et al. (2019); Thornton (2020); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Interpersonal & relationship skills | Basuki (2020); Kieran et al. (2020); Liang et al. (2018); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Expertise & professional credibility | Bassett and Shaw (2018); Do and Nuth (2019); Gurr (2018); Irvine and Brundrett (2019); Li et al. (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2020); Merenkov et al. (2019); Thornton (2020); Wei (2018); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Administrative, operational, & managerial skills | Basuki (2020); Liang et al. (2018); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Administrative, operational, & managerial skills | Chilvers et al. (2018); De Nobile (2019); Grootenboer et al. (2019); Gurr (2018); Irvine and Brundrett (2019); Li et al. (2018); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Decision-making | Basuki (2020); Liang et al. (2018); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Change leadership & management | Bryant (2018); De Nobile (2019); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Grootenboer et al. (2019); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Ong and Yaqiong (2018); Thornton et al. (2018) |
| Change leadership & management | Kieran et al. (2020); Liang et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019); Way et al. (2018) | Interpersonal & relationship skills | De Nobile (2019); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Gurr (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2020); Lipscombe et al. (2019); Ong and Yaqiong (2018);Wei (2018) |
| Collaboration & teamwork | Basuki (2020); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Trust-building | Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Gurr (2018); Irvine and Brundrett (2019); Li et al. (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2019); Thornton (2020); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Creativity & innovation | Basuki (2020); Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Building & leading teams | De Nobile (2018); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Thornton (2020); Wei (2018) |
| Self-awareness & self-control | Basuki (2020); Kieran et al. (2020); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Developing others & building capacity | Bryant (2018); De Nobile (2019); Do and Nuth (2019); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018) |
| Sensemaking | Basuki (2020); Kieran et al. (2020); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Strategy | De Nobile (2019); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Thompson and Wolstencroft (2018); Thornton (2020); Wei (2018) |
| Strategic thinking | Basuki (2020); Kieran et al. (2020); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Emotional intelligence | Bryant (2018); De Nobile (2018); Gurr (2018); Lambert (2020); Lipscombe et al. (2020); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Strategic implementation | Alamsjah (2020); Inyang et al. (2018); Kieran et al. (2020) | Communication | De Nobile (2018); Do and Nuth (2019); Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Gurr (2018); Thornton (2020) |
| Growth mindset & learning orientation | Kouzes and Posner (2019); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Culture building | Do and Nuth (2019); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Thornton (2020) |
| Conflict management | Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Decision-making | Chilvers et al. (2018); Irvine and Brundrett (2019); Lipscombe et al. (2019); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Developing others | Lleo et al. (2020); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Influencing | De Nobile (2019); Do and Nuth (2019); Gurr (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2019) |
| Influence & persuasion | Basuki (2020); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Vision-setting | De Nobile (2019); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018); Lipscombe et al. (2020) |
| Knowledge sharing | Berraies (2020); Hoang et al. (2020) | Advocacy | Bryant (2018); Gurr (2018); Li et al. (2018) |
| Motivating others | Mazanek et al. (2018); Sudirman et al. (2019) | Coaching | Bryant (2018); Grootenboer et al. (2019); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Professional expertise | Liang et al. (2018); Mazanek et al. (2018) | Developing peer networks | Bryant (2018); Harris et al. (2019); Lipscombe et al. (2019) |
| Trust-building | Berraies (2020); Lleo et al. (2020) | Motivating others | De Nobile (2019); Do and Nuth (2019); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Vision setting | Basuki (2020); Mazanek et al. (2018) | Sensemaking | Bryant (2018); Gurr (2018); Wei (2018) |
| Achievement & results orientation | Sudirman et al. (2019) | Strategic resource allocation | Bryant (2018); De Nobile (2019); Gurr (2018) |
| Analytical thinking & planning | Sudirman et al. (2019) | Agility, flexibility, dynamism | Lipscombe et al. (2020); Wei (2018); |
| Coaching | Alvesson and Jonsson (2018) | Creativity & innovation | Li et al. (2018); Ong and Yaqiong (2018); |
| Courage | Basuki (2020) | Facilitating | Grootenboer et al. (2019); Wei (2018) |
| Cultural intelligence | Berraies (2020) | Mentoring | Bryant (2018); Grootenboer et al. (2019) |
| Fair judgment | Basuki (2020) | Results orientation | Li et al. (2018); Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Information seeking | Sudirman et al. (2019) | Time management | Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Irvine and Brundrett (2019) |
| Insight | Basuki (2020) | Self-awareness & self-management | Edwards-Groves et al. (2018); Thornton et al. (2018) |
| Integrity | Sudirman et al. (2019) | Analytical thinking | Wei (2018) |
| Networking & developing peer relationships | Kieran et al. (2020) | Business awareness | Wei (2018) |
| Positivity | Mazanek et al. (2018) | Conflict management | Thornton (2020) |
| Risk management | Mazanek et al. (2018) | Employee engagement | Ong and Yaqiong (2018) |
| Empowerment | Lipscombe et al. (2019) | ||
| Engaging senior leaders | Bryant (2018) | ||
| Goal setting | Irvine and Brundrett (2019) | ||
| Growth mindset & learning orientation | Ong and Yaqiong (2018) | ||
| Integrity | Thornton (2020) | ||
| Managing expectations | Do and Nuth (2019) | ||
| Negotiating | Grootenboer et al. (2019) | ||
| Open-mindedness | Bryant (2018) | ||
| Proactivity & taking initiative | Irvine and Brundrett (2019) | ||
| Systems thinking | Ong and Yaqiong (2018) | ||
This literature review included middle leadership competencies appearing in both the business and education literature since having appeared in both domains validates their importance. The researcher limited the scope of this study to the business domain, so the researcher also included middle leadership competencies unique to the business literature. The researcher did not elaborate further on the middle leadership competencies mentioned in only the education domain. This following sub-sections of the literature review will address the competencies in the order of emphasis in which each competency appeared in the business literature.
Communication
In the business literature, scholars (Alvesson & Jonsson, 2018; Basuki, 2020; Berraies, 2020; Liang et al., 2018; Mazanek et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019) mentioned communication as a middle leadership competency more than any other competency, although scholars in the education domain (De Nobile, 2018; Do & Nuth, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Thornton, 2020) also identified communication as important for middle leaders. Berraies (2020) asserted middle managers should be strong communicators to cultivate a culture of dialogue, trust, and knowledge sharing. Mazanek et al. (2018) found communication skills were particularly important for middle managers. De Nobile (2018) specifically identified communication as a critical middle leadership competency for facilitating employee performance. Similarly, Sudirman et al. (2019) found 85% of high-performing middle leaders possessed a strong communication competency. Alvesson and Jonsson (2018) argued middle leaders with a communication competency better inspire employees toward ideas and change.
Interpersonal and Relationship Skills
In both the business and education literature, interpersonal and relationship skills were among the top five competencies scholars mentioned middle leaders require to influence employee performance (Basuki, 2020; De Nobile, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Kieran et al., 2020; Liang et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2020; Lipscombe et al., 2019; Mazanek et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019; Wei, 2018). De Nobile (2018) suggested middle leaders cannot be functionally effective without interpersonal and relationship skills as it is a competency through which middle leaders execute their roles. Basuki (2020) also emphasized middle leadership requires interpersonal skills. Both Mazanek et al. (2018) and Ong and Yaqiong (2018) identified interpersonal and relationship skills as a core competency for middle leaders. Liang et al. (2018) also found interpersonal and relationship management skills are crucial for middle managers to engage effectively with subordinates and influence their performance.
Kieran et al. (2020) asserted a middle leader’s relationship competency is necessary for creating an inclusive team culture in which subordinates raise issues and engage in sensemaking, both of which are factors supporting improved employee performance. Li et al. (2018) also found, in high-performing organizations, middle managers cultivate strong interpersonal relationships, which suggested this is a core competency for middle leaders. Lipscombe et al. (2020) focused on the unique position middle leaders hold in the middle of the organizational hierarchy, where building sustained positive interpersonal relationships is a critical competency for effectively influencing employee performance.
Administrative, Operational, and Managerial Skills
In both the education and business literature, administrative, operational, and managerial skills were among the top three competencies required for middle leaders to influence employee performance (Basuki, 2020; Chilvers et al., 2018; De Nobile, 2019; Grootenboer et al., 2019; Gurr, 2018; Irvine & Brundrett, 2019; Li et al., 2018; Liang et al., 2018; Mazanek et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019). Despite the increasingly strategic nature of the middle leadership role, strong managerial competency is still necessary for middle leaders to influence employee performance (Basuki, 2020; Liang et al., 2018; Mazanek et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). De Nobile (2018) agreed, asserting increased demand for leadership competencies among middle managers does not diminish the necessity for middle leaders to also possess strong management competencies. Similarly, Alvesson and Jonsson (2018) argued to lead employees effectively, middle managers must also possess strong managerial competencies to manage the high volume of email, meetings, reports, and other administrative tasks and interactions associated with the middle manager role. Lleo et al. (2020) also demonstrated middle managers who exhibit managerial competency (e.g., planning, coordinating, supervising work) in conjunction with leadership competency build trust with their employees that improves employee performance. Management competencies demonstrate middle leaders are reliable, organized, and good financial stewards of organizational resources (Thornton et al., 2018).
The specific competencies encompassed in the administrative, organizational, and managerial category take numerous forms. Sudirman et al. (2019) included organizing, planning, and financial management in this competency category. Ong and Yaqiong (2018) included human resource management, service management, resource allocation, and cost control. Merenkov et al. (2019) included organizing and coordinating collection action as a managerial competency. Mazanek et al. (2018) identified the ability to organize subordinates’ work as the top managerial competency for middle leaders. Li et al. (2018) identified planning and organization, including developing clear policies, along with being an administrative leader who can align roles and responsibilities.
Decision-making
Scholars in both the business and education domain mentioned decision-making as an important middle leadership competency (Basuki, 2020; Chilvers et al., 2018; Irvine & Brundrett, 2019; Liang et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2019; Mazanek et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019). Chilvers et al. (2018) asserted middle leaders make the majority of decisions affecting employee performance, which suggested decision-making is a critical middle leadership competency. Irvine and Brundrett (2019) agreed, identifying a “co-dimensionality” between decision-making, goal setting, and trustworthiness as overlapping competencies improving employee performance (p.76). Lipscombe et al. (2019) elaborated on the decision-making competency for middle leaders, asserting the conditions in the middle of the hierarchy require a collegial approach to decision-making that empowers subordinates, which in turn influences improved performance. Basuki (2020) and Liang et al. (2018) both mentioned decision-making as a critical competency for middle leaders. Mazanek et al. (2018) found decision-making as the second-most important competency for middle managers exerting leadership. Sudirman et al. (2019) also identified decision-making as a crucial ability for middle managers influencing employee performance.
Collaboration and Teamwork
Scholars referenced collaboration and teamwork among the top five competencies for middle leaders in business (Basuki, 2020; Mazanek et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019); and collaboration as the number one competency for middle leaders in education (De Nobile, 2019; Do & Nuth, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Grootenboer et al., 2019; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2019; Merenkov et al., 2019; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). In the education literature, scholars framed the notion of teamwork in terms of a middle leader’s ability to build and lead teams versus participating as a member of a peer-level team as it is described in business (De Nobile, 2018; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018; Thompson & Wolstencroft, 2018; Wei, 2018). Basuki (2020) described collaboration and teamwork as willingness to cooperate. Li et al. (2018) found high-performing organizations have middle leaders who are highly skilled in collaboration as middle managers develop common purpose and draw on diverse groups and stakeholders to foster a sense of shared ownership. Sudirman et al. (2019) also differentiated collaboration as a critical ability for middle leaders to identify related stakeholders and build commitment toward common goals. Do and Nuth (2019) similarly noted the multi-directional nature of middle leadership required a strong competency in collaborating with colleagues at multiple levels across the organization. Edwards-Groves et al. (2018) described middle leading as a set of “intricate ecologically interconnected practices” that demand creating spaces defined by collaboration and creativity (p. 319). Grootenboer et al. (2019) also singled out collaborating as a necessary competency for middle leaders to bridge the variances among cultures, groups, and individuals in an organization.
Creativity and Innovation
Several scholars noted creativity and innovation as an important competency for middle leaders in the business literature (Basuki, 2020; Mazanek et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019) and in the education literature (Li et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). Sudirman et al. (2019) found 29% more high-performing middle leaders possessed a competency for innovation compared to average-performing middle leaders. Ong and Yaqiong (2018) also found middle leaders with an innovation competency measured performance improvement among their subordinates. Both Basuki (2020) and Mazanek et al. (2018) identified imaginative thinking and creativity thinking as competencies for middle leaders.
Self-awareness and Self-Control
Self-awareness and self-control appeared in both the business (Basuki, 2020; Kieran et al., 2020; Sudirman et al., 2019) and education literature (Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Thornton et al., 2018) as a middle leadership competency. Thornton et al. (2018) asserted self-awareness is an important competency for middle leaders in terms of discerning when it is appropriate to ask for help versus delegating work to others. In contrast, Kieran et al. (2020) argued middle leaders need to cultivate self-awareness to discern personal versus organizational impacts while leading employees through organizational change. Edwards-Groves et al. (2018) also connected self-awareness and self-control to an overarching category of managing self as a means of building relational trust with colleagues. Basuki (2020) and Sudirman et al. (2019) also both included self-control as a competency for middle managers exerting leadership.
Sensemaking
Sensemaking is a middle leadership competency included in both the business (Basuki, 2020; Kieran et al., 2020; Sudirman et al., 2019) and the education literature (Bryant, 2018; Gurr, 2018; Wei, 2018). According to Kieran et al. (2020), middle manager sensemaking as a leadership competency relates to strategy formulation and implementation, learning, innovation, problem-solving, issue-selling, crisis management, and human resource management (HRM). Kieran et al. (2020) also noted middle managers who engage in sensemaking with their leaders and their peers are twice as likely to engage in sense-giving with their employees, which generates positive employee performance related to strategic change. Bryant (2018) discussed middle leadership sensemaking competency in terms of interpreting policies, taking a principled point of view, and negotiating between stakeholders. Gurr (2018) also indicated middle leaders require the ability to interpret system requirements and translate those into best practices to enhance performance and outcomes. Wei (2018) emphasized the competency of sensemaking as it relates to the strategic process when middle managers obtain information and synthesize, analyze, and evaluate it before integrating it with the current environment.
Strategy, Strategic Thinking, and Strategic Implementation
Middle leader competencies related to strategy, strategic thinking, and strategic implementation were emphasized in both the business (Alamsjah, 2020; Basuki, 2020; Inyang et al., 2018; Kieran et al., 2020; Sudirman et al., 2019) and education literature (De Nobile, 2019; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018; Thompson & Wolstencroft, 2018; Thornton et al., 2018; Wei, 2018). Alamsjah (2020) stated middle manager competency in strategic implementation directly impacts business results via employee performance, making it a critical leadership competency for cultivating a competitive advantage. Alamsjah (2020) also noted a middle manager competency in strategy implementation relies on other middle leadership competencies including collaboration, organizing, motivating, culture building, and balancing strategy and performance. Wei (2018) also emphasized the importance of middle leaders possessing the ability to implement organizational strategies as departmental goals and direct employee performance toward those goals.
Thornton et al. (2018) demonstrated possessing a long-term strategic vision is important for middle leaders. Kieran et al. (2020) argued middle leaders’ strategic role is crucial to operationalize senior leaders’ vision, which requires a strategic competency. Thompson and Wolstencroft (2018) described the middle leader as a “corporate agent” who must be able to contribute both to strategy formation and implementation (p. 216). Inyang et al. (2018) uniquely observed, while middle managers with leadership competencies are crucial to implementing strategic change, middle managers who lack leadership competency are a leading cause of strategic failure. Inyang et al. (2018) then argued, the mere presence of a middle manager in a leadership position does not guarantee strategic success; but rather, the middle manager must possess specific leadership competency in strategy implementation.
Change Leadership and Management
The emphasis on leading change as a middle leadership competency was significantly greater in the education domain (Bryant, 2018; De Nobile, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Grootenboer et al., 2019; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Thornton et al., 2018) than in the business domain (Kieran et al., 2020; Liang et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019; Way et al., 2018). Thornton et al. (2018) argued middle managers as leaders are crucial to organizational success in times of rapid change. Kieran et al. (2020) agreed, asserting middle leadership is central to the realization of strategic change because middle managers are the filter through which strategic change is interpreted, accepted, and implemented by the rest of the organization. Bryant (2018) also described middle leaders as advocates, interpreters, and central actors in organizational change leadership. Both De Nobile (2019) and Edwards-Groves et al. (2018) emphasized the conditions middle leaders with a competency for leading change create for influencing change, thus becoming strategic actors in the organization. Gurr (2018) asserted influencing change initiatives is a major role for middle leaders and thus, is a middle leadership competency. Li et al. (2018) also agreed, asserting middle leaders are pivotal in influencing subordinates’ receptivity toward change and constructing implementation strategies enhancing employee performance and organizational outcomes. Way et al. (2018) uniquely observed middle managers’ position in the organizational hierarchy often requires middle managers to implement change initiatives amid organizational realities that do not align with senior management’s desires.
Growth Mindset and Learning Orientation
Possessing a growth mindset and a learning orientation is a competency for middle leaders mentioned briefly in the business domain (Kouzes & Posner, 2019; Sudirman et al., 2019) and education domain (Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). Kouzes and Posner (2019) asserted middle managers with a growth mindset engage in effective leadership behaviors more often and improve their leadership competencies with greater significance than managers with a fixed mindset. Sudirman et al. (2019) also identified a middle leadership competency of self-learning orientation as being aware of one’s own abilities and the need to develop them, as well as the individual commitment to continuous learning to increase one’s own knowledge, skills, and abilities as a leader. Ong and Yaqiong (2018) referenced a middle manager’s drive for continuous learning as a leadership competency.
Conflict Management
Scholars in both the business (Mazanek et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019) and the education (Thornton, 2020) literature acknowledged conflict management as a skill middle leaders need to maintain a productive environment. Mazanek et al. (2018) identified the ability to solve conflicts in their top ten skills middle managers require. Sudirman et al. (2019) also included conflict management as part of an overall skillset related to managing the work employees engage. Thornton (2020) discussed managing conflict in the context of building collegial relationships and cultivating a team culture supporting active employee engagement and productivity.
Developing Others
Scholars identified the ability to develop others as a leadership competency for middle managers less frequently in the business literature (Lleo et al., 2020; Sudirman et al., 2019) than in the education literature (Bryant, 2018; De Nobile, 2019; Do & Nuth, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018). In the business literature, Sudirman et al. (2019) briefly noted developing others as important for middle managers; however Lleo et al. (2020) elaborated on this skillset by arguing middle managers who exhibit competency in developing their employees (e.g., invests time and effort into increasing employee competency and autonomy) build trust with employees that increases employee performance. In the education literature, scholars placed significantly more emphasis on middle leaders’ competency for developing others as a means of increasing capacity for improved performance (Bryant, 2018; De Nobile, 2019; Do & Nuth, 2019; Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018). Bryant (2018) argued developing employees’ capacity for improved performance is central to the middle leader role, thus possessing the ability to develop others is crucial for middle leadership effectiveness. De Nobile (2019) asserted a capacity for developing others makes facilitating the strategic aspects of the middle leader role easier to execute. Do and Nuth (2019), Edwards-Groves et al. (2018), Gurr (2018), and Li et al. (2018) all identified developing others as a core leadership competency for middle managers facilitating improved employee performance.
Influence and Persuasion
Scholars in the business domain (Basuki, 2020; Sudirman et al., 2019) noted influencing and persuasion as competencies for middle leaders, but more scholars in the education domain (De Nobile, 2019; Do & Nuth, 2019; Gurr, 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2019) discussed influencing as an important competency for middle leaders to possess. Basuki (2020) highlighted influencing as a top five leadership behavior for middle managers. Sudirman et al. (2019) expressed influencing in terms of persuasiveness and included the ability to produce clear expectations and be well-prepared to convince others and generate buy-in for their ideas by leveraging tactics such as reasoning, explaining advantages, and utilizing experts to support one’s argument. De Nobile (2019) identified influencing and persuasion relative to a middle leader’s strategic role and gaining buy-in toward implementing their vision. De Nobile (2019) also suggested middle leaders who build strong interpersonal relationships are likely to have stronger influencing competency as positive relationships create optimal conditions for effective influencing. Do and Nuth (2019) and Gurr (2018) both discussed influencing as a middle leadership behavior in contrast to a middle management behavior. Lipscombe et al. (2019) elaborated on influencing as a middle leadership competency and differentiated between direct influence via formal organizational structures, and indirect influence via individual relationships.
Knowledge-sharing
Knowledge-sharing is a middle leadership competency two scholars in the business domain (Berraies, 2020; Hoang et al., 2020) identified, but was absent in the education domain literature. According to Berraies (2020), knowledge-sharing as a competency for middle leaders is critical for stimulating innovation. Middle leaders who are skilled at building trust and fostering dialog on teams demonstrated a competency for cultivating knowledge-sharing (Berraies, 2020). Hoang et al. (2020) reflected a different perspective on knowledge-sharing as a competency, demonstrating middle leaders with a skillset for sharing their own knowledge with subordinates have a significant positive influence on employee performance.
Motivating Others
Motivating others is a middle leadership competency mentioned in both the business (Mazanek et al., 2018; Sudirman et al., 2019) and education literature (De Nobile, 2019; Do & Nuth, 2019; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). De Nobile (2019) identified motivating others as part of the middle leader’s strategic ability to persuade subordinates to adopt and implement change. Similarly, Do and Nuth (2019) closely tied motivating others to a middle leader’s change leadership competency, as well as collaboration and communication. Ong and Yaqiong (2018) discussed middle managers’ ability to motivate others in terms of engaging employees toward their best performance. Sudirman et al. (2019) also asserted motivating employees was an important middle leadership competency for influencing employee performance.
Professional Expertise
Professional expertise is identified as a middle leadership competency by only two scholars in the business domain (Liang et al., 2018; Mazanek et al., 2018); however it was the second most frequently identified middle leadership competency in the education domain (Bassett & Shaw, 2018; Do & Nuth, 2019; Gurr, 2018; Irvine & Brundrett, 2019; Li et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2020; Merenkov et al., 2019; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Thornton, 2020; Wei, 2018). Liang et al. (2018) asserted professional expertise and knowledge of systems, policies, and procedures build professional credibility and is important for middle leaders to influence employee performance. Bassett and Shaw (2018) agreed, arguing middle leaders most often rely on referent power or expert power to exert influence because their position in the middle of the organizational hierarchy frequently lacks positional power or authority. Other scholars (Do & Nuth, 2019; Gurr, 2018; Irvine & Brundrett, 2019; Li et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2020; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Thornton, 2020; Wei, 2018) identified professional expertise as a competency for middle leaders for the purpose of being a role model. Only Merenkov et al. (2019) noted professional expertise alone does not equip a middle manager to be a middle leader; rather, a middle manager must possess other leadership competencies to be able to replicate their work and behavior in others.
Trust-building
Only two scholars in the business domain (Berraies, 2020; Lleo et al., 2020) identified trust-building as a critical middle leadership competency, whereas seven scholars in the education domain (Edwards-Groves et al., 2018; Gurr, 2018; Irvine & Brundrett, 2019; Li et al., 2018; Lipscombe et al., 2019; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018; Thornton, 2020) emphasized middle leaders’ ability to cultivate trust as critical for influencing employee performance. Berraies (2020) mentioned trust-building as an important competency for middle leaders at the individual, group, and organizational levels. Lleo et al. (2020) elaborated significantly on the importance of middle leaders’ competency for building trust, identifying 55 individual trustworthy behaviors middle leaders exhibit to enhance employee performance.
Edwards-Groves et al. (2018) argued facilitating a culture of trust among team members is a crucial middle leadership competency. Li et al. (2018) agreed, citing a middle managers’ ability to create a culture of trust on a team is critical to employee performance. Gurr (2018), however, focused on the importance of trustworthiness as an individual middle leader trait as opposed to cultivating trust as a team culture. Irvine and Brundrett (2019) and Thornton (2020) both asserted building trust as an essential skillset for middle leaders. Lipscombe et al. (2020) demonstrated trust-building as a foundational middle leadership competency by connecting it to other middle leader competencies, including interpersonal skills, collaboration, and influencing. Finally, Ong and Yaqiong (2018) demonstrated middle leaders who are able to build trust with employees and between team members increase employee performance.
Vision Setting
Vision setting as a middle leader competency was briefly mentioned in both the business literature (Basuki, 2020; Mazanek et al., 2018) and the education literature (De Nobile, 2019; Gurr, 2018; Li et al., 2018). Basuki (2020) noted a requirement for middle leaders to cast a vision and develop a strategy to achieve it. Mazanek et al. (2018) also identified the ability to construct an attractive vision of the future is a key skill for middle leaders to motivate their employees.
In education, De Nobile (2019) argued middle leaders require less of an ability to cast vision and more of an ability to generate buy-in toward a vision created by senior leaders. Gurr (2018) provided another perspective that middle leaders must be able to work collaboratively with other middle leaders to create a shared vision toward which the entire department works together to achieve. Li et al. (2018) also put emphasis on the importance of middle leaders’ competency for creating shared vision and Lipscombe et al. (2020) asserted the ability to generate vision, mission, and values are key leadership competencies for middle leaders.
Achievement and Results Orientation
Possessing an achievement and results orientation is a middle leaders competency scholars briefly mention in both business (Sudirman et al., 2019) and education (Li et al., 2018; Ong & Yaqiong, 2018). Ong and Yaqiong (2018) noted the presence of results orientation as a core competency for middle leaders; however, Sudirman et al. (2019) determined nearly 90% of high-performing middle leaders possessed an achievement orientation. Similarly, Li et al. (2018) identified middle leaders who set high performance standards and expectations, and have the ability to support employees to achieve them, influence improved employee performance.
Analytical Thinking and Planning
Sudirman et al. (2019) found 69% of middle leaders with high-performing teams in business environments possessed a competency for analytical thinking. In education, only Wei (2018) briefly mentioned analytical capabilities as an important skill for middle leaders, but did not elaborate on how this skillset impacts performance. No other authors in the literature review identified analytical thinking and planning as a middle leadership competency.
Coaching
In the business literature, Alvesson and Jonsson (2018) explored the role of the coaching leader, thus elaborating on coaching as a critical middle leadership competency. No other scholars in the business literature identified coaching as a middle leadership competency. In the education literature, Ong and Yaqiong (2018) identified coaching as a critical competency for middle leaders as a method for improving subordinates’ performance. Bryant (2018) also found coaching to be a leadership competency middle leaders employ for building employee capabilities, whereas Grootenboer et al. (2019) emphasized middle leaders leverage coaching as a leadership practice for increasing productivity.
Courage
Only one scholar in the business literature identified courage as a skillset for middle leaders. Basuki (2020) argued developing and exerting courage enables middle leaders to navigate the competing priorities inherent to the middle of the organizational hierarchy. No scholars in the education domain identified courage as a middle leadership competency.
Cultural Intelligence
Only one scholar in the business literature identified cultural intelligence as a middle leadership competency. Berraies (2020) studied the effect of middle managers’ cultural intelligence on employee and organizational performance. The study concluded increased globalization of business requires middle managers develop cultural intelligence along with cognitive, emotional, and social intelligence to cultivate knowledge-sharing and innovation among their employees and teams (Berraies, 2020). No scholars in the education domain identified cultural intelligence as a middle leadership competency.
Fair Judgment
Only one scholar in the business literature identified fair judgment as a leadership skillset for middle managers. Basuki (2020) argued cultivating and exhibiting fair judgment enables middle leaders to develop trusting relationships between the multiple stakeholder levels middle leaders connect. Literature in the education domain did not identify fair judgment as a middle leadership competency.
Information Seeking
Only one scholar in the business literature identified information seeking as a leadership skillset for middle managers. Sudirman et al. (2019) found information seeking was the fourth most common leadership competency middle managers with superior-performing teams exhibited. No researchers in the education domain identified information seeking as a middle leadership competency.
Insight
Only one scholar in the business literature identified insight as a middle leadership competency. Basuki (2020) asserted all middle leadership behavior is the result of acting upon insight; thus, developing the ability to cultivate wide insight up, down, and across the organization is critical to middle leadership effectiveness. No researchers in the education domain identified insight as a middle leadership competency.
Integrity
Integrity as a middle leadership competency was briefly mentioned once in the business literature (Sudirman et al., 2019) and once in the education literature (Thornton, 2020). Sudirman et al. (2019) observed integrity as a competency in middle leaders in relation to encouraging ethical behavior among subordinates. Thornton (2020) asserted integrity as a competency is essential to middle leadership; however, Thornton failed to elaborate on how integrity manifests in terms of middle leadership behavior and its impact on employee performance.
Networking and Developing Peer Relationships
Networking and developing peer relationships was identified by one scholar in the business domain (Kieran et al., 2020) and emphasized slightly more by three scholars in the education domain (Bryant, 2018; Harris et al., 2019; Lipscombe et al., 2019). Kieran et al. (2020) asserted the importance of middle leaders networking effectively among their peers is to build supporting relationships. Bryant (2018) argued middle leaders must be able to develop strong peer networks to facilitate stakeholder engagement supporting performance objectives. Harris et al. (2019) and Lipscombe et al. (2019) both emphasized middle leaders’ ability to develop peer networks related to improving their subordinates’ learning and development, which indirectly supports their performance.
Positivity
Positivity was identified only once in the business literature as a middle leadership competency. Mazanek et al. (2018) connected positivity to a middle leaders’ ability to motivate employee performance. Literature in the education domain did not identify positivity as a middle leadership competency.
Risk Management
Risk management was identified only once in the business literature as a middle leadership competency. Mazanek et al. (2018) identified a middle manager’s ability to carry risk and manage it well is important for middle leaders. Literature in the education domain did not identify risk management as a middle leadership competency.
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