We have several middle managers who are excellent at their technical jobs but lack executive presence and strategic thinking. How do we use the tools we learn with you to groom them for the leadership team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Grooming middle managers for the leadership team requires moving them from a purely tactical mindset to an executive level of thinking. We achieve this by cascading the core tools of the system down through your organization.

We start by ensuring your managers are running their own Level 10 Meeting™ with their respective departments. This discipline teaches them how to run productive meetings, track their own departmental Scorecards, and solve problems locally using the IDS® process. This immediately takes the pressure off your executive team and builds operational independence.

We also evaluate their fit using the GWC™ tool. We look at whether they truly understand their seat, want the responsibility, and have the capacity to deliver. If they show gaps in strategic thinking, we do not just accept it as a permanent limitation. We use the quarterly Rock process to assign them specific development goals, helping them build executive skills over time.

By giving your managers a structured environment to practice execution, you build a deep bench of leadership talent. When the time comes to expand your executive team or prepare for an exit, you will have capable leaders ready to step up.