Welcome to SHRM Global Radio, the podcast where we share insights and analyses on how work, workers, and workplaces are evolving worldwide. Today we’re talking about one of the most misunderstood tribes in modern business - managers. 

Ok, first off, let’s grant managers one thing: they pull off a fine balancing act every day against heavy odds but are expected to pretend it was smooth sailing all along. Not unlike a duck that appears to float serenely on water when, in fact, it is paddling away under the surface. That’s right, I compared managers to ducks. But I mean well, I promise. 

Managers, especially middle managers, live between strategy and execution, between leadership vision and frontline chaos. In a world that is reimagining the workplace and the people who run it, managerial roles are being stretched, rewired, and, in some cases, reinvented entirely.