If asked to name a 2020 business leader, you might say Jeff Bezos (Founder/CEO/President of Amazon), Mary Barra (Chair/CEO of General Motors), Ginni Rometty (Char/President/CEO of IBM), or Tim Cook (CEO of Apple). Notice these are all people at the top of an organization.

This can be misleading as some studies show that as much as 99% of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization. Some people in middle management may be good in one direction. For example, they have influence with their boss, but alienate the people who report to them. Or they are great with their team, but do not get along with their peers. And some people are very productive, but lack influence with anyone in the organization.

In his book, The 360-Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere, John Maxwell addresses the issue of how to be an effective leader if you are in middle management. He believes that if you find yourself trying to lead from the middle of the organization, as the vast majority of professionals do, you have a unique opportunity to exercise influence in all directions if you practice 360-degree leadership.

To be a 360-degree leader, you should be able to:

lead up - influencing your leaders

lead across - influencing your peers

lead down - influencing those lower down the organizational hierarchy.

The Assignment

For this skill development assignment, use your current position/role or a previous one you have held. Then focus on how you can become a 360-degree leader. You do this by answering these five questions.

Question 1

What is the position/role you are focusing on?

Question 2

Many middle managers wear many hats where you have to deal with multiple shifting priorities - many times with limited time and resources. How many hats does the position/role you identified require you wear? Be specific and give examples.

Question 3

Maxwell says "that individuals can become better leaders wherever they are... You can change people's lives. You can be someone who adds value. You can learn to influence people at every level of the organization - even if you never get to the top." In the position/role you identified, how would you rate your influence in all three directions (up, across and down)? Explain each direction (lead up, lead across, and lead down) fully.

Question 4

For the position you identified, what is the organization's vision? Mission? Code of Ethics/Values? Strategic Goals? How does knowing this information effect how you can influence in all three directions?

Question 5

What are three immediate actions you can take to improve your influence in all three directions? Identify one action for each direction and how will you measure the effectiveness of each action.