March 02, 2026

Helping The Squeezed Middle Manager with Gary Cookson

29 minutes

Lucinda welcomes special guest Gary Cookson, an expert in leadership development and author of the upcoming book, The Squeezed Middle, to talk about the evolving and often invisible role of middle managers, who act as vital buffers and translators between senior strategy and frontline execution.

They explore how modern shifts like hybrid work, AI integration, and a greater organisational focus on individual well-being have transformed the middle management profile from a process-driven role into one defined by "learnership," high emotional intelligence, and lateral influence.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Middle managers are the "value zone" of an organisation where abstract strategy is translated into practical reality and organisational culture is truly embodied through daily interactions.

Remote and hybrid work have moved management from sensory observation (eyes and ears) to digital data processing, requiring managers to master asynchronous communication and new ways of gathering information.

There is an increasing demand for managers to treat employees as unique individuals rather than a collective group, necessitating high interpersonal skills and the ability to navigate individual well-being and career aspirations.

With the rapid onset of technologies like AI, managers are no longer expected to have all the answers; instead, they must model "learnership" by being open to unlearning old habits.

BEST MOMENTS

"If you want to know the true value of a middle manager, get rid of them. See what doesn’t happen as a result, and see what does that they're not there to stop happening."

"Strategy becomes reality, plans become real... it's a very misunderstood and often quite intangible role."

"It’s never important to have all the right answers; it’s more important to have all the right questions."

"You can't expect people to just swim when you throw them in the water for the first time... if you throw somebody in the water for the first time and they drown, that's on you, not on them."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The HR Uprising Podcast | ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠Stitcher⁠

⁠The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group⁠

⁠How to Prioritise Self-Care (The HR Uprising)⁠

⁠How To Be A Change Superhero - by Lucinda Carney⁠

HR Uprising Mastermind - ⁠https://hruprising.com/mastermind/⁠

⁠www.changesuperhero.com⁠

⁠www.hruprising.com⁠

Get your copy of How To Be A Change Superhero by emailing at ⁠[email protected]⁠

CONTACT GARY

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garycookson/

Pre-order 'The Squeezed Middle': https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9783111713748/html

ABOUT THE HOST

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“If you look up, you rise up”

CONTACT METHOD

Join the LinkedIn community - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/⁠

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Linked In: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/⁠

Twitter: @lucindacarney

Instagram: @hruprising

Facebook: @hruprising

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. ⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

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By Lucinda Carney

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