Many leaders instinctively look to senior leadership or frontline employees.
But what if the real pressure point is somewhere in between?
In this episode of Culture Over Coffee, Beth Sunshine explains why middle managers are the "load-bearing beams" of an organization's culture and why the health of your culture often depends on how well they're supported.
The short answer is this:
Middle managers translate vision into action, coach employees through change, and shape the day-to-day employee experience. When they're overwhelmed or disengaged, the effects ripple throughout the organization long before they show up in performance metrics.
Culture isn't experienced in the boardroom.
It's experienced in the everyday interactions employees have with their managers.
Middle managers are the ones who:
They're constantly balancing two realities:
That makes them one of the most influential groups in any organization and one of the most vulnerable.
The latest research from ENGAGE 2026: The Company Culture Report paints a concerning picture of the middle management experience.
According to the report:
That's not simply a retention challenge. It's a culture challenge.
The very people responsible for creating engagement often aren't experiencing it themselves.
Middle managers face pressure from every direction.
From leadership, they're expected to:
From their teams, they're expected to:
Meanwhile, many managers don't feel fully equipped to meet those expectations.
Beth highlights several challenges from the ENGAGE 2026 report:
Managers aren't just leading through change. They're absorbing it while helping everyone else navigate it.
One of the biggest takeaways from the episode is that middle manager disengagement rarely announces itself.
Instead, it quietly shows up as:
By the time those challenges become visible in performance data, they've often been building for months.
Beth offers several practical ways organizations can strengthen this critical layer of leadership.
Managers can't reinforce a vision they don't fully understand or believe in.
Clear expectations make confident leadership possible.
Development shouldn't stop when someone becomes a manager.
Continue investing in coaching, leadership skills, and professional growth.
Managers need the time, resources, and decision-making authority to do more than simply manage tasks.
Managers can't create clarity for their teams if they aren't receiving it themselves.
The more informed and aligned managers feel, the better equipped they are to support everyone around them.
If you're focused on improving engagement and culture, consider asking:
Often, the answers explain why broader culture challenges exist.
Middle managers are one of the strongest indicators of organizational health, but they're only part of the story.
The ENGAGE 2026 Company Culture Report examines the key drivers of engagement, trust, leadership, communication, and people development across today's workplaces. It provides practical insights to help leaders identify where culture is thriving (and where it needs attention).
Download the report to better understand what's shaping engagement, retention, and performance across every level of your organization.
Middle managers connect leadership strategy with employees' everyday experiences. They're responsible for reinforcing values, coaching teams, communicating change, and maintaining engagement.
Organizations often experience slower execution, inconsistent coaching, declining engagement, higher turnover, and weaker communication—even if senior leadership remains highly engaged.
Focus on providing clear expectations, ongoing development, coaching support, decision-making authority, and consistent communication. Supporting managers enables them to better support their teams.