The Mid-Level Manager Silent Struggle to Lead and Mentor

Mid-level managers are the linchpins between strategic vision and frontline execution. They translate leadership’s objectives into operational reality while simultaneously guiding, coaching, and developing their people.

Here is the problem: most of them have never been taught how to do any of that.

These are not bad people. They are just untrained, and they often do not know where to start.

Accidental Managers

A staggering 82% of managers have never received formal training on how to lead people, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute. Most mid-level managers were promoted because they excelled as individual contributors. They know the systems. They understand workflow. They deliver results.

But managing people is a different skill set. When new managers are promoted without being taught how to lead, we create the “accidental manager”—someone who wants to succeed, wants to help their team, but is unequipped with the right tools, language, and systems to actually do it. They are often set up for failure before they even start.

This lack of training shows up in extremely specific ways:

• They are not conducting one-on-one meetings with their direct reports.
• They are not providing timely, constructive feedback.
• They are unsure how to professionally develop their people.
• They do not know what “good management” even looks like.

In a SHRM study, 84% of employees said poorly trained managers create unnecessary work and stress, and 57% believe their manager would benefit from training in people management. In other words, everyone sees the problem. Organizations just have not given their managers the solution.

Why Leadership Training is Not Happening

Mid-level managers are often buried in operational responsibilities. A McKinsey study revealed that nearly 50% of a middle manager’s time is consumed by non-managerial work—administration, reporting, and putting out fires. Developmental conversations fall to the bottom of the to-do list because they take time, emotional energy, and preparation.

Worse, many managers avoid these conversations because they feel unqualified to guide someone else’s career. They may not even feel in control of their own.

That is where a tool like You Next: A Step-by-Step Guide to Taking Charge of Your Career is a game-changer—not just for employees, but for the managers trying to lead them.

You Next—A Simple System for Career Conversations

You Next is designed for professionals to clarify their goals, understand their strengths, and take proactive steps toward their career success. But its true power emerges when managers use it as a framework for coaching their teams.

Mid-level managers do not need to reinvent the wheel. With You Next, they get a step-by-step playbook they can use in one-on-one meetings to:

• Ask the right questions to uncover employee aspirations.
• Provide actionable feedback based on goals and growth areas.
• Guide their team members through career roadmapping and goal setting.
• Foster accountability by checking progress and adjusting plans.

Instead of feeling awkward or unqualified during development discussions, managers have a conversation tool in their hands that elevates their leadership and builds trust with their teams.

Five Ways Managers Can Use You Next

1. Start Developmental Conversations Easily – Use the book’s guided questions as a template for monthly one-on-ones.
2. Assign Relevant Sections as Prep Work – Give team members a chapter to read and reflect on before each meeting.
3. Create Custom Growth Plans – Leverage the workbook to co-create career action plans with your people from the free resources at www.YouNextNow.com.
4. Support Performance Reviews with Clearer Dialogue – Use insights from the exercises in You Next to make performance reviews more collaborative and less judgmental.
5. Reignite Team Motivation – When people feel seen and supported, they are more engaged, and more likely to stay.

Why This Matters Now

We are in a leadership crisis. This is not because people do not want to lead, but because they do not know how. Organizations must recognize that promoting someone into management is not the end of a journey, it is the beginning of one.

When we provide our managers with training, mentorship, and practical tools like You Next, we transform their leadership from reactive to proactive, from accidental to intentional. We develop  them to be leaders who get the work done while elevating the people doing the work.

And that is how you build the leadership pipeline of the future.