Two critical questions for you

I have two questions for you: what is the unique value that you bring your world, and is this value what your world needs?

When I started teaching, the value of a teacher was to bring subject matter expertise to a classroom. Kids no longer need or value this, and in any case, Google has been the content expert for some time now.

Once, for middle leaders, it was about supervision. Now, these leaders have far more demanding roles.

Thirty years ago, Kegan and Cook-Greuter defined 9 levels of leadership associated with 9 levels of continuous human development. Three are relevant to middle leadership: The Expert, The Achiever & The Catalyst.

The Expert is assertive dominant and defined by stuff they know. Shaped by conformity, experts are focused on the pursuit of their own improvement, but as leaders are inflexible.

Accommodating focused, the Achiever has a more integrated understanding of the world, are far more open to feedback and better manage ambiguity and conflict.

The Catalyst balances assertiveness with needs. and actively facilitates and empowers the development of others.

As a middle leader, where are you now? Where are your team members? Where do you need to be, so that you are an effective leader of your team?