Juggling in the middle : Middle managers’ perceptions on leading through the complexity of change

Abstract: Dealing with change is crucial for organizations in order to survive in today's constantly changing business environment, such tasks are included in the role of the middle managers’. There are plenty of studies made on change and how managers’ successfully should lead through change, but managers’ own perceptions and considerations of what is important when proceeding with change, seems less researched. The aim of this paper is to contribute with a better understanding of how middle managers’ perceive their own position and leadership in change. A case study was conducted on a large international company within the construction and property development industry. The study is based on significant competences and procedures required by middle managers’, when leading through change. The methodology used was a deductive and qualitative approach, and contain in-depth interviews on middle managers’ perceptions on change. In total, 18 middle managers’ was interviewed and the interviews were then transcribed, thematized and presented through quotes. Our results indicate that middle managers’ perception of leading teams through change is a difficult process due to the often short time frames, high expectations coming from above and leadership norms shaped in society. From a learning perspective, a change process is suggested to be less focused on the leader and rather enable the whole team to manage change. The most neglected aspects of learning was to take the time to reflect and to consider mistakes as part of a learning process.