Blog, culture and engagement | Ambition In Motion

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 25 July 2025

When considering the appropriate number of direct reports to manage within a team, the easier answer would be to follow the rule of seven. While this rule encouraging managers to not exceed 7 direct reports appears to be a simple solution, it isn’t always the right answer. Depending on various factors, such as the complexity of work, experience of team members, and supporting systems in place, managers may be equipped to manage more or fewer numbers of direct reports.

Why does having too many direct reports matter?

When teams are comprised of too many direct reports, both engagement and performance may suffer. Overly large teams may struggle to have enough tasks that allow team members to contribute in a meaningful way. Without stimulating tasks that encourage direct reports to take ownership of their work and observe their own impact, they may feel their work isn’t important and lack motivation.

Other consequences of too many direct reports that a team may encounter include communication complications and missed development opportunities. With a large quantity of direct reports, maintaining clear and effective communication may pose a challenge. The more people there are, the more people that need to be kept in the loop for the team to function properly. Furthermore, more direct reports leads to less opportunities for them to experience direct mentoring and coaching by their manager, thus causing their development to suffer.

Not only does a large number of direct reports negatively impact the team, but it has direct implications for the manager as well. More reports require more time dedicated to oversight and mentoring. Managers with too many direct reports to oversee may experience higher stress levels, ultimately leading to burnout and decreased productivity.

Why does having too few direct reports matter?

Managers with too few direct reports are more susceptible to micromanaging their reports. With fewer people to focus on, these managers may become more compelled to hold unnecessary check-ins and become overly involved in the work of their direct reports. Micromanaging employees will only slow down productivity and create a more stressful work environment.

Another complication for managing too few direct reports is the potential for consolidation. Upper management may perceive managers with few direct reports as nonessential because it creates too many redundancies in the management hierarchy. Organizations looking to make a flatter structure will more likely remove these management positions with few direct reports.

What factors should be considered when evaluating the ideal number of reports?

Complexity of Work: Teams with more complex and varied work will need more guidance from their manager. Given the more involved nature of complex work, managers should have smaller teams to allow for ample time spent on guiding their direct reports.
Employee Experience: Experienced employees with higher skillsets require direct oversight, allowing for more direct reports. Conversely, less experienced employees will require more hands-on management, preventing managers from taking on more direct reports.
Manager Experience: Managers with experience that allows them to effectively manage, lead, and communicate with their teams give them the ability to take on more direct reports.
Support Tools: Managers with access to strong performance management tools and efficient communication software have more streamlined information sharing, allowing them to manage more direct reports.
Type of Work: Highly collaborative teams often benefit from fewer direct reports, since there is more communication within the team and coordination required. Whereas direct reports that work more autonomously may thrive with more direct reports to help divide the work.
Time Constraints: More direct reports equate to more one-on-ones per week. Holding more individual meetings along with team meetings, managers' work, mentoring/ coaching, and other unexpected issues that arise can really limit a manager's time. Consider if the additional time for one-on-ones makes sense in addition to all other time requirements in a given week.
Industry Specific Considerations: Industries that are more labor-heavy may require less oversight when compared to industries requiring more knowledge and expertise. The latter may require managers to be more involved, thus limiting the number of direct reports able to be managed effectively.

What is the best method to apply these considerations?

McKinsey devised a method to determine an ideal range of direct reports depending on 5 categories of manager archetypes: player/coach, coach, supervisor, facilitator, and coordinator.

Here is a short synopsis of the 5 archetypes:

Player/Coach

This managerial archetype requires a considerable amount of individual responsibility as well as extensive expertise.

Recommended amount of direct reports: 3-5 direct reports

2. Coach

A coach archetype requires individual responsibility and leads to self-sufficiency through structured apprenticeship.

Recommended amount of direct reports: 6-7 direct reports

3. Supervisor

A moderate level of individual responsibility while incorporating a standard work process.

Recommended amount of direct reports: 8-10 direct reports

4. Facilitator

A facilitator's main responsibility is managing the day-to-day work of their direct reports, as work is mostly standardized.

Recommended amount of direct reports: 11-15 direct reports

5. Coordinator

The work overseen by coordinators is highly standardized, and direct reports perform similar work.

Recommended amount of direct reports: 15+ direct reports

As the team evolves and new tools are introduced, don’t be afraid to adjust the number of direct reports. Just because a certain number of direct reports is more standard for a specific work style, doesn’t mean managers should be constrained by these recommendations. Continue to evaluate the optimal balance of direct reports that is most appropriate for work responsibilities.

by Ritika Vijay

Fri 25 July 2025

In early March, weeks after a difficult round of layoffs at Finverity, a mid-sized fintech firm based in Austin, Chief Operating Officer Daniel Kim sat quietly in his office, reviewing an email draft for the third time. The company had just let go of 40 employees, nearly 20% of its workforce, as part of a necessary restructuring. On paper, the move secured another 18 months of runway and realigned Finverity toward its most profitable tools. But the human cost was palpable.

The halls were quieter. Slack messages had taken on a colder tone. Managers reported a sharp decline in employee engagement, and HR flagged an uptick in anonymous feedback about "leadership silence" and burnout. For the employees who remained, trust had cracked. Daniel knew the numbers looked better, but culture, morale, and credibility had taken a hit.

This was the moment Daniel decided to stop focusing solely on operational recovery and start leading the emotional one.

Beyond the Layoff:

When layoffs occur, many leaders default to generic statements: “We’re realigning resources,” or “This wasn’t an easy decision.” A short internal memo is sent out, a brief all-hands is held, and then leadership often attempts to return to business as usual.

But “business as usual” rarely exists after a layoff.

The absence left behind isn’t just about empty desks or missing team members, it's about the emotional and psychological aftermath. Employees are left with unanswered questions: Am I safe? Why were certain people let go? Could this happen again? What does this say about our future?

Layoffs fundamentally alter workplace dynamics. They often introduce:

Survivor’s guilt among remaining employees
Distrust in leadership due to limited transparency
Overwork as roles are consolidated without clear communication
Silence and disengagement as fear replaces collaboration

Without open, ongoing communication from leadership, that silence gets filled by speculation, anxiety, and worst-case assumptions. What could have been a moment of unity becomes one of fragmentation.

Step-by-Step: Rebuilding Morale and Regaining Confidence After Layoffs

Don’t rush into “getting back to normal.” After a layoff, what was “normal” no longer exists. The emotional toll is real grief, guilt, anxiety, and distrust often simmer beneath the surface. The worst thing a leader can do is ignore it.

Instead, create intentional space for open dialogue. Host team check-ins where employees are encouraged to share how they're really feeling, and not performatively, but authentically. Acknowledge the loss, validate the discomfort, and resist the urge to pivot too quickly into productivity talk.

Step 1: Acknowledge the Emotional Fallout

Layoffs are not just operational events—they are emotional ones. Leaders must create space to process burnout, fear, and grief. Hold honest conversations, not to fix things immediately, but to listen. This can happen through small-group meetings, anonymous feedback tools, or one-on-one check-ins. Most importantly, leaders should reaffirm their commitment to the remaining team through visible, ongoing action—not just reassuring words.

Step 2: Shift the Narrative to What’s Next

After giving space to reflect, teams need a new direction. Avoid forced optimism and instead focus on building a future grounded in clarity. Reframe the internal message from what was lost to what is now possible. Use forward-looking language like “Here’s where we’re headed,” or “This is how we’ll rebuild together.” A vision workshop or all-hands Q&A can reinforce alignment and give employees a sense of purpose in the new chapter.

Step 3: Empower Teams with Shared Purpose

Buy-in grows when people feel ownership. Invite departments to co-create goals, and connect their work back to the company’s mission. When people can see how their role fits into the bigger picture, engagement follows. Empower team leads to facilitate planning sessions that allow input from all voices—not just top-down directives.

Step 4: Replace Perks with Meaningful Connection

Morale isn’t rebuilt through pizza or ping pong—it’s rebuilt through trust and real conversation. Host “Reconnection Days” or off-site sessions that focus on culture, values, and vision. Drop the presentations. Instead, prompt teams to reflect on what they want their culture to feel like moving forward. These gatherings should prioritize honesty and shared understanding—not performance metrics.

Step 5: Track and Reinforce Progress

Rebuilding trust is a process, not a moment. Leaders must regularly check the pulse of their teams through surveys, anonymous feedback, or town halls. Share progress transparently—what’s improving, what still needs work, and what’s being done about it. Celebrate small wins, especially moments of collaboration or resilience. Progress may be slow, but consistency builds momentum—and that momentum restores belief. Using tools such as AIM Insights can help with tracking and reinforcing progress.

Leading What Comes Next

In the months that followed, Daniel Kim didn’t just regain the confidence of his team, he helped redefine what leadership looked like in a post-layoff workplace. By choosing transparency over distance, dialogue over damage control, and shared purpose over performative perks, he reminded his company that trust isn’t rebuilt through strategy decks, it’s earned through presence, honesty, and follow-through.

For leaders navigating the difficult terrain after a restructuring, the lesson is clear: the business may survive the layoff, but the culture only survives if you lead what comes next with heart.

by Julia Gonzalez

Fri 25 July 2025

Nick was the kind of employee every company dreamed of. Diligent, resourceful, and could anticipate problems before they arose, he was a core member of his department. For years, he’d poured his energy into his role, consistently exceeding expectations and becoming the go-to person for many issues. Consequently, when a senior executive position opened up at his firm, Nick–along with many of his coworkers, believed he was naturally next in line for the position.

After the first month went by, Nick’s COO and boss, Sarah increasingly delegated high-level responsibilities to him. He was doing the work, attending the meetings, and even mentoring staff on tasks that technically fell under the senior executive’s delegation.

The problem, however, was Sarah. She recognized Nick’s unparalleled value. He was her best direct report, the one who ensured everything ran smoothly. The thought of losing him and having to train someone new to fill his shoes was a burden she wanted to put off for as long as she could. Despite Nick clearly operating at a higher level, and the understanding that he was next in line for the promotion, Sarah blocked his advancement. She’d praise his indispensability, reiterate how crucial he was in his current role, and subtly undermine any attempts he made to formally transition into the senior executive position. It was a strange dynamic, akin to a professional Munchausen by proxy, where Sarah was keeping Nick “sick” in his current role to maintain her own comfort and control, denying him the very growth he deserved. Nick was trapped by the idea of being indispensable.

Navigating the Trap of Indispensability

Nick’s situation, while frustrating, is far from uncommon. Many high-performing employees find themselves in a similar bind: so valuable in their current role that their superiors resist promoting them, fearing the void they would leave. This isn't always malicious; sometimes, it's a genuine fear of disruption or a lack of foresight regarding who would fill this position next. Regardless of the intent, the outcome is the same: career stagnation for the high-performing employee. If you find yourself in Nick’s shoes, it’s time to take proactive steps to reclaim your career trajectory.

1. Acknowledge and Assess the Situation

The first step is to honestly assess whether you are indeed in this situation. Are you consistently taking on responsibilities above your pay grade? Have you expressed interest in advancement only to be met with vague responses or praise for your current performance? Is your boss seemingly more focused on your present contributions than your future potential? Once you recognize the pattern, it's easier to strategize. It's crucial to understand that your value is not the problem; the way it's being leveraged (or exploited) is.

2. Document Your Contributions and Growth

Start keeping a record of your accomplishments, especially those that align with the responsibilities of the role you aspire to. This isn't just about your current job description; it's about the additional duties you’ve taken on, the problems you’ve solved, and the initiatives you’ve led that demonstrate your readiness for a higher-level position. Quantify your achievements whenever possible.Using tools such as AIM insights, you can get data regarding your growth for the past months or even years. If you create a sort-of resume, outlining all the qualifications for your promotion, it provides tangible documentation of why you should receive it. This documentation will make your case for promotion much stronger and harder to dismiss.

3. Initiate a Direct Conversation

Once you have your qualifications in writing, It’s time to have an open discussion with your supervisor. This conversation shouldn’t be accusatory, but rather focused on your career development. Schedule a dedicated meeting, not a quick chat in the hallway. Start by expressing your commitment to the company and your desire for growth. Then, present your documented achievements, clearly outlining how you're already performing at the next level.

Frame the conversation around the benefit to the company: "I believe I'm ready to take on the senior executive role, which would allow me to contribute even more strategically to the team's success by doing X, Y, and Z. I've already been handling A, B, and C responsibilities." Be prepared for potential pushback, such as concerns about who would fill your current role. This is where you can proactively offer solutions or highlight the benefits of your advancement.

4. Propose a Transition Plan

Your boss’s hesitation often stems from the fear of losing a high-performing employee without an adequate replacement. Anticipate this and come prepared with a proposed transition plan. This could involve:

Training a successor: Offer to train a junior colleague to take over your current responsibilities. This demonstrates your commitment to the team's continuity and alleviates your boss’s burden.
Phased handover: Suggest a gradual transition of your duties, allowing for a smooth handover over several weeks or months.
Cross-training: If applicable, propose cross-training other team members so that multiple individuals can handle aspects of your current role, reducing single points of failure.

5. Seek Mentorship and Sponsorship

Look for mentors or sponsors within the company, ideally in different departments or at a higher level than your current boss. These individuals can offer advice, advocate for you, and potentially open doors to new opportunities. A sponsor can champion your promotion directly with senior leadership, especially if your direct boss remains resistant. Their perspective might carry more weight and help overcome internal roadblocks.

Additionally, look for peers and mentors outside of your organization who may have experienced similar pushback for a promotion by joining an Executive Mastermind Group. Getting perspectives from peer executives outside of the company can be critical to garnering objectivity and a clearer perspective on the situation.

6. Look Externally if Necessary

If, despite your best efforts, your current employer continues to hold you back, it might be time to consider external opportunities. While it’s frustrating to leave a place where you’ve invested so much, your career growth should be a priority. The experience and skills you’ve gained, even if unacknowledged internally, are highly valuable in the broader job market. Don't let the fear of change prevent you from reaching your full potential. Updating your resume and exploring options can provide a valuable reality check and often reveal that your skills are in high demand elsewhere.

Being indispensable can be a double-edged sword. While it’s a testament to your abilities, it can also become a barrier to advancement. By taking a strategic and proactive approach, documenting your value, communicating effectively, and being prepared to look beyond your current situation, you can break free from the handcuffs and propel your career forward. Your talent deserves to be recognized and rewarded with growth, not stagnation.

by Julia Gonzalez

Fri 11 July 2025

Many business conflicts can stem from conflicting incentive structures between executives. Take Nick, the head of HR in his organization, radiating frustration as he finds himself caught between a critical deadline and an uncompromising finance department. His mandate was clear: implement a new payroll technology by a rapidly approaching date. Yet despite his efforts for a swift and seamless rollout, the company’s finance department opted for a much more meticulous approach.

Burdened by previous failed payroll implementations, the finance department was taking everything through legal, to try and prevent yet another failed technology. To the HR executive, this felt like an unnecessary and infuriating roadblock, jeopardizing his goals. To the finance executive, it was a desperate attempt to mitigate risk and, possibly, save his job. Another flop on his watch could mean a professional reckoning.

This scenario, where individual or departmental incentives clash, is a very real and prevalent challenge for CEOs and executives. It’s a subtle form of internal business conflict that, left unaddressed, can derail critical projects and erode morale. So, how do you navigate these treacherous waters?

Fostering Integrated Teamwork

The first, and perhaps most crucial, step is to recognize that you're not managing an assembly line where each department simply passes work down the line. You're leading an ecosystem where the success of one team is inextricably linked to the success of all.

In the payroll technology example, the HR executive's initial approach, while understandable, was to view finance and legal as cogs in a larger machine, that the plan must go through to be implemented. This perspective, however, overlooks the human element and the underlying motivations. Instead, the focus should shift to fostering a truly integrated team dynamic.

Actionable Insight: The HR leader needs to initiate a proactive, collaborative meeting with both the finance executive and legal counsel. This isn't about assigning blame or demanding speed; it's about genuine understanding and problem-solving.

With Finance: "Help me understand your specific concerns regarding this implementation. Given the past challenges, I want to ensure we address every potential risk. What assurances or information do you need from the vendor or from our internal teams to feel confident moving forward?" By actively seeking out and addressing their anxieties, the HR leader can transform finance from a roadblock into a partner. The vendor will likely be more than willing to provide the necessary documentation, security protocols, or even engage in direct conversations to relieve finance's worries.
With Legal: "We have a critical deadline for this project, and I understand the thoroughness required for legal review. Is there a way we can expedite the process without compromising due diligence? Perhaps we can prioritize certain documents, or even work together on a phased review approach?" By framing it as a shared challenge with a clear objective, legal may be more inclined to speed up their processes. This might involve dedicating specific resources, providing a clearer understanding of their review process, or even offering guidance on how future submissions can be structured to facilitate faster review.

The goal here is to dismantle the "us vs. them" mentality and replace it with one that says "we're in this together". When success for one is success for all, incentives begin to align better organically.

Empathy as a Strategic Tool

The truth of the scenario – that the finance executive was trying to save her job – highlights a critical aspect of executive leadership: empathy. It's easy to get caught up in our own objectives and pressures, but truly effective leaders take the time to understand the priorities, pressures, and incentives of their colleagues.

Before any confrontational or demanding conversations, colleagues should dedicate time to stepping into the other person's shoes. Asking:

What are their biggest fears and anxieties related to this project?
What are the goals they are trying to achieve?
What historical context might be influencing their current behavior?
How does this project impact their success, or potential failure?

In the payroll scenario, the HR executive could have initiated a less formal, one-on-one conversation with the finance executive. "I understand the past implementations have been difficult, and I appreciate your diligence in preventing future issues. My goal is to make this a success for both of our departments. How can I best support you in ensuring a smooth and secure transition?" This approach, grounded in mutual respect and a genuine desire for collaboration, can disarm defensiveness and open the door to productive dialogue.

Collaboration grounded in mutual understanding can turn even the most frustrating roadblocks into shared wins. When colleagues feel heard and understood, they are far more likely to reciprocate that understanding and work towards a common goal. This doesn't mean abandoning your own objectives, but rather seeking common ground that allows both parties to achieve their desired outcomes.

Cultivating a Culture of Shared Accountability

Ultimately, addressing conflicting incentives requires a shift in company culture towards shared accountability. This isn't just about individual interactions; it’s about creating an environment where departmental disagreements are minimized, and cross-functional collaboration is maximized.

CEOs and executives should consider:

Joint Goal Setting: Where appropriate, establish shared goals and KPIs for projects that span multiple departments. If the HR and finance teams were jointly responsible for the successful and timely implementation of the payroll technology, their incentives would naturally align.
Cross-Functional Training: Encourage employees to spend time in other departments to gain a deeper understanding of their operations, challenges, and priorities.
Recognition of Collaborative Success: Publicly acknowledge and reward teams that successfully collaborate on complex projects, highlighting how diverse perspectives contributed to a shared victory. This reinforces the value of integrated teamwork.
Leadership Modeling: Executives must lead by example. When leaders demonstrate a willingness to compromise, understand diverse perspectives, and prioritize organizational success over departmental turf wars, it sends a powerful message throughout the company.
Joining an Executive Mastermind Group: Getting perspectives from peer executives outside of the company can be critical to garnering objectivity and a clearer perspective on the situation.

The conflict between the HR and finance executives is not an anomaly; it's a representation of the challenges many organizations face. By moving beyond a linear, transactional approach to internal projects and embracing empathy, integrated teamwork, and a culture of shared accountability, leaders can transform difficult roadblocks into opportunities for organizational growth and enhanced performance. The goal isn't to eliminate individual incentives, but to strategically align them so that departmental success contributes directly to the overarching success of the entire company.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 11 July 2025

As the team leader, managers play an essential role in their teams, guiding and empowering them to reach their fullest potential. Although managers are a critical component of the team they lead, challenges can arise when managers become so integral to workflows that they cannot take time off without bringing productivity to a halt. Effective managers are able to balance their strong leadership capabilities while implementing mechanisms that allow their team to function for short periods autonomously.

Managers Too Involved in Workflows Can Have Harmful Effects:

Burnout: When managers feel they can’t take time off for personal reasons such as important life events, vacations, or health reasons, they will quickly burnout. Fear of slowing down workflows can strongly influence managers not to take personal time off. Without flexibility to develop a work-life balance, managers can become incredibly exhausted within their role, leading to decreased productivity.

Bottlenecks: Workflows that are too reliant on a manager can begin to form a bottleneck, thus slowing progress down. Teams that require their managers’ approval on minor tasks create standstills in processes and potentially huge pile-ups of work when the manager takes time off.

Stunted Employee Growth: Teams with managers incredibly integral to workflows often result in environments that lack autonomy. Employees often won’t feel empowered to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Without this sense of responsibility and an increased reliance on managers, employees are unable to reach their full potential.

Organization-Wide Challenges: In addition to harming managers & their teams, managers overly integral to workflows can also damage the organization as a whole. Organizations with managers who are integral to workflows may encounter challenges if the manager switches roles or leaves unexpectedly, and valuable information regarding processes may be lost. This lack of knowledge dispersed throughout the organization has the potential to drastically impact the functionality of operations or the ability to scale them.

Given all the harmful repercussions stemming from over-reliance on managers for workflow productivity, it’s evident that this creates systemic vulnerabilities. When a manager finds themself too involved in workflows, it often stems from internal and/or external pressures. Many are driven by the fear of disrupting the team, causing deadlines to slip, or quality to decline. Some managers experience external pressure from senior leadership due to strict demands for perfect performance. Other causes may be a lack of trust in oneself, caused by impostor syndrome, or even a lack of trust in their team. Regardless of the source of the pressure, they can trap managers in a cycle of over-involvement, even when the over-involvement is detrimental to the team's long-term success.

The behaviors exhibited by over-involved managers and the pressures that cause them are similarly reflected in PTO culture. When managers feel indispensable, they and their teams will be more resistant to logging off to take personal time. Especially in organizations with “unlimited PTO”, employees may take less time off due to the implicit pressure to keep workflows progressing. Managers' modeling the expectations of constant involvement gets internalized and practiced by staff.

This team norm of manager reliance for workflows creates a cycle: managers are overloaded by workflows and feel pressured not to take time off, which increases team dependency and conveys the message that no one on the team should take time off. As a manager, it is critical to break the feedback loop and create a balanced approach that prioritizes managers’ ability to take time off without causing disruptions.

Managers who develop a more balanced approach positively impact themselves and their team. Dedicating time for personal time off works to limit the effects of burnout while also increasing personal motivation. Additionally, avoiding dependency of workflows on a singular manager can prevent costly disruptions later on for the organization. Most importantly, prioritizing managers’ ability to not overly involve themselves in workflows can foster a culture of trust and responsibility, positively impacting the team's productivity.

Strategies to Prevent Managers From Becoming Too Integral to Workflow Productivity:

Effectively Delegate

Rather than taking on all the responsibility and being involved in all decision-making processes, managers should identify tasks that can be completed by other team members to allow for more efficient progress. Delegating simultaneously distributes the workload more adequately throughout the team and encourages team members to take ownership of new tasks. Managers may be hesitant to delegate tasks; slowly delegating more responsibilities to employees helps to ease managers and direct reports into this new dynamic.

2. Cross-train Employees

Cross-training employees ensures there are multiple team members who can step up and assume some of their managers' responsibilities in their absence. Through additional training and development, team members can become equipped with a wider skillset to prepare them for additional responsibilities. Conducting continuous training works to build confidence in the capabilities of direct reports.

3. Document Procedures

An obstacle for others to assume managers' responsibilities while they take time off may simply be a lack of proper documentation. Managers with specific procedures for processes, but no documentation for said processes, create unnecessary knowledge gaps. Accessibility of proper documentation removes reliance on memory and expertise, allowing other team members to conduct sufficient procedures without constant direct oversight.

4. Effective Management Software

Utilizing performance management software can streamline tasks and promote team collaboration. AIM Insights, a performance management software, utilizes monthly surveys to uncover gaps between team sentiments and managers' perceptions. These monthly surveys, along with AIM’s goal benchmarking capabilities, can transform managers' ability to delegate and better understand their teams' needs.

Teams shouldn’t encounter a scenario in which the team cannot exist if someone takes the day off. Not only does this pressure from extreme team reliance harm managers, but the organization as a whole. Managers who recognize they are so integral to the workflows that they cannot take time off must reevaluate why these sentiments are held and how they can adapt their management style to allow their team to function adequately on its own at times.

by Grace Tripathy

Fri 11 July 2025

Just six months into Mason’s promotion to Chief Marketing Officer at a Fortune 500 company, the company was acquired by a private equity firm looking to expand the brand’s national footprint. Mason, who had been brought in for his sharp eye for digital transformation, was quickly looped into boardroom discussions that questioned the future of the company’s founder and long-time CEO, Greg.

While Greg had built the Fortune 500 company into a beloved regional staple, the board viewed him as resistant to innovation, stuck on past successes. Revenue growth had plateaued. Customer retention was slipping. And internal surveys showed a workforce that, while loyal, was uninspired.

After a series of tense meetings and back-channel conversations, the board made its move: Greg was fired.

And Mason? He stayed.

The Fallout: "If They Fired the CEO, Who's Next?"

The morning after the announcement, the corporate Teams chats were silent. Mason’s calendar filled with 1:1’s, but not the kind you hope for.

From the brand manager in Atlanta to the warehouse supervisor in Colorado, the message was the same: “If Greg wasn’t safe, how do I know I am?”

Suddenly, Mason wasn’t just the CMO tasked with scaling the brand. He was the face of corporate change—and to many, the face of corporate betrayal.

What happened at the Fortune 500 company isn’t uncommon. Founders get pushed out and boards act decisively. But the mistake many leaders make in these moments is assuming that business decisions exist in a vacuum.

Employees don’t clock in just for the pay. They stay because they believe in a mission, trust their leaders, and see themselves as part of something bigger. Rip that foundation out without care, and you’ve created instability—no matter how strong your business case may be.

Mason understood this. And so, instead of retreating to strategy decks and investor calls, he did something unexpected: he got personal.

How to Lead Through the Acquisition Transition

1. Rebuild the Narrative (Before Rebuilding the Brand)

What Mason did:

He gathered the entire team—virtually and in-person—and didn’t lead with a PowerPoint. He led with honesty.

“Greg built something incredible. That doesn’t go away. But for us to grow, we need to evolve. And I want to do that with you, not to you.”

Why it works:

When people understand the “why” behind a decision—and feel like they’re included in the “what next”—they’re far more likely to re-engage. Leaders must humanize transitions, especially when legacy figures are involved.

2. Prioritize 1:1’s with a Purpose

What Mason did:

He scheduled 30+ one-on-one meetings over 3 weeks. Not to give performance feedback, but to listen.

Each meeting included three key questions:

“What do you wish leadership would stop doing?”

“What’s one thing you love about working here?”

“What would make you proud to stay for the next 5 years?”

Why it works:

Top-down change feels threatening unless it’s paired with bottom-up understanding. People don’t need to be coddled—they need to be heard. These conversations help rebuild psychological safety and show that leadership isn’t operating in a silo.

3. Anchor Culture in Something Bigger Than a Person

What Mason did:

After Greg’s exit, morale dipped because the culture was too tied to him. Mason helped the team co-create new guiding principles—ones not reliant on a single figure, but rooted in shared values like “playful excellence” and “growth through curiosity.”

They even introduced a new employee recognition system where peers could reward each other with digital tokens for living those values, redeemable for team experiences.

Why it works:

When identity is built around one person, their departure creates a vacuum. A value-based culture, co-designed by the team, gives people a new anchor—a reason to stay, belong, and contribute.

4. Share the Strategy—But Keep It Simple

What Mason did:

Instead of vague statements like “We’re going to scale,” Mason created a one-pager with clear, actionable priorities. Each team could map their work to one of the three goals:

Increase repeat visits by 20%

2. Launch two new national locations

3. Improve employee engagement scores by 15%

Each goal had a team lead, a monthly update cadence, and an open feedback loop.

Why it works:

In times of uncertainty, clarity is comfort. People need to know where they’re headed and how their role contributes to the mission. A transparent, measurable roadmap builds buy-in and momentum.

5. Celebrate Micro-Wins to Regain Confidence

What Mason did:

He celebrated the first time a regional manager improved customer reviews. He highlighted a tech intern who built a new booking tool. These weren’t PR stunts—they were authentic stories shared across the company’s intranet and weekly all-hands.

Why it works:

Wins rewire the team’s mindset. When a company goes through a shakeup, people assume failure is next. But seeing progress—even in small doses—starts to shift the narrative toward hope.

How Do You Build Culture When Stability Is Uncertain?

When employees don’t know what tomorrow holds, they stop focusing on performance and start scanning for risk. They wonder if they’ll be next to go, whether their work still matters, or if leadership can be trusted. In this fog of doubt, building—or more accurately, rebuilding—culture must become an urgent priority.

Mason realized that creating a healthy, resilient culture in an unstable environment wasn’t about keeping everyone happy. It was about reinstating meaning, rebuilding trust, and creating consistency where there was none. He couldn’t offer long-term guarantees. But he could create an environment where people felt heard, seen, and supported.

Here’s how any leader can build culture even when the ground is still shifting:

Five Ways to Build Culture Without Stability

Practice Transparent Leadership with Curiosity, Not Control
When uncertainty looms, the instinct is to “tighten the reins”—but real leadership starts with curiosity over control. Instead of hiding behind decisions, embrace curious leadership by saying,

“Here’s what we’re trying, here’s what we’re learning, and here’s where we want your ideas.”

Ambition In Motion’s Executive Mastermind Groups emphasizes how asking better questions—not giving more answers—builds trust, especially during change. This transparency makes teams feel invited to shape the future, not just endure it.

2. Foster Meaningful 1:1s—Not Performance Reviews in Disguise
In unstable environments, people need connection, not evaluation. That’s where AIM Insights comes in. It helps leaders create data-informed, emotionally intelligent 1:1s that don’t just measure performance but nurture resilience, motivation, and clarity.

Use these meetings to ask:

“What’s something you’re proud of this month?”
“What’s one thing you’d change if you could?”

Leaders who listen this way make employees feel psychologically safe—even if everything else is shifting.

3. Create Micro-Rituals to Anchor Belonging
Culture isn’t built through big speeches. It’s built through small moments repeated consistently. Small, purpose-driven rituals can reinforce team connection and reinforce values.
Consider:

A weekly “wins” Teams thread
A monthly peer-nominated award for someone who lives the company’s values
A shared moment of gratitude to kick off all-hands
These rituals remind employees: we may be in transition, but we still show up for each other.
Use Peer Feedback to Drive Real-Time Culture Development
During uncertainty, top-down feedback often falls flat. But when feedback flows laterally—peer to peer—it builds trust and agency.

Ambition In Motion’s AIM Insights platform facilitates 360° feedback loops that help leaders and employees understand how they’re perceived, and what behaviors they need to adjust.

It’s not about “scoring” culture—it’s about co-creating it in real time.

5. Tie Every Role Back to Purpose and Personal Development
When the future feels blurry, people look inward. They ask: “What am I learning? Where am I going?” Ambition In Motion’s mentoring programs and leadership tracks help employees develop personal clarity even when the organization is evolving.

Encourage your team to connect their work to their growth goals—not just company metrics. A great place to start:

“What skill do you want to master this quarter?”

“How can we align your role with where you want to be in a year?”

Culture is sustainable when it invests in people’s future—not just the company’s.

The Takeaway for Business Leaders: Lead With People, Not Just Plans

Mason didn’t save the Fortune 500 company with a rebrand or a viral campaign. He rebuilt it through trust, transparency, and human-centered leadership.

For any leader facing instability after an acquisition, a founder's exit, or internal restructuring, here’s the truth: compensation alone won’t motivate your people. In fact, the more uncertain things feel, the more employees crave purpose, connection, and clarity.

Leaders like Mason prove that when you lead with empathy and intention, even the most jarring transitions can become launchpads for something better.

by Ritika Vijay

Fri 11 July 2025

On the surface, Maya seemed to have it all under control. As CEO of Vireon Labs, a fast-growing AI-driven data analytics firm, she was known for her composed presence in boardrooms and her fierce commitment to innovation. Investors praised her strategic vision. Employees admired her sharp decisiveness. But beneath the calm surface, Maya had been grappling with a quietly growing concern: the company’s churn rate for enterprise clients had increased over the past two quarters, and recent customer feedback suggested dissatisfaction with post-sale service.

It wasn’t a crisis yet, but it could be. Then came the investor call that dropped the curtain.

A Question Without Answer

During a routine quarterly meeting, one of Vireon Labs’ long-standing investors raised concerns about declining client retention and recent dissatisfaction from referred accounts. The question caught Maya off guard. While she had seen the warning signs of the rising churn rates and lukewarm feedback, there wasn’t yet a concrete solution in place.

Instead of deflecting, Maya acknowledged the issue head-on. She recognized the gap, explained that the leadership team was aware of it, and committed to making it a top organizational priority. Her response was honest and unguarded, a clear shift from the polished answers typically expected in investor settings.

Surprisingly, the investor welcomed the transparency and expressed openness to working through the next steps together. Rather than losing confidence, the admission became a starting point for deeper alignment and collaboration.

Vulnerability as a Strategic Lever

What Maya demonstrated in that moment wasn’t a lapse in leadership; it was strategic vulnerability.

In many organizations, vulnerability is still viewed through a narrow lens: as weakness, oversharing, or a lack of control. But in reality, when vulnerability is paired with accountability and clarity of intent, it becomes one of the most powerful levers a leader can use to foster trust, unlock collaboration, and drive meaningful change.

In Maya’s case, acknowledging she didn’t have a fully formed solution didn’t erode her credibility; it strengthened it. By confronting the issue head-on, she signaled to both investors and employees that honesty would take precedence over image management. She took full ownership of the gap, but she didn’t shoulder it alone. Her candor invited others into the problem-solving process, creating space for shared responsibility and engagement.

In the broader workplace, vulnerability plays a similar role. When leaders are open about challenges, whether it's slipping metrics, internal friction, or external market shifts, they create a culture where truth can surface without fear. That transparency fuels psychological safety, the foundational element of high-performing teams.

Moreover, vulnerability accelerates alignment. Rather than wasting time on maintaining appearances or managing assumptions, teams can spend their energy addressing root causes. It builds resilience by normalizing adaptive problem-solving over perfectionism.

In today's rapidly shifting business environment, where complexity and ambiguity are constant, vulnerability isn’t just an emotional quality; it’s a strategic necessity. Leaders who embrace it set the tone for agility, accountability, and authentic connection, all of which fuel long-term performance.

Turning Transparency Into Traction: A How-To for Business Leaders

Vulnerability in leadership doesn’t end with the admission of a problem; it begins there. Leaders who know how to move from honesty to execution can use vulnerability as a launching pad for cultural transformation and business results. Here’s how:

State the Problem Clearly and Directly

The first and most critical step is to name the issue with clarity. Avoiding euphemisms or downplaying the problem sends mixed signals and creates confusion. When leaders are direct about what’s going wrong, they foster alignment around what needs to change. Clear articulation of the problem ensures that everyone in the organization is solving for the same thing and understands its importance to the business.

Share Ownership Across the Organization

Once the issue is identified, it must not be treated as the responsibility of one team or individual. When top-down directives follow transparency, it often limits creativity and isolates the burden. But when leaders distribute ownership and emphasize that the issue affects the broader organization, they invite cross-functional collaboration and more diverse problem-solving perspectives. For instance, if customer retention is declining, that may stem from issues in sales handoffs, onboarding, product usability, or customer support. Collective momentum builds when each group understands how its work influences the outcome.

Create Psychological Safety for Honest Dialogue

Vulnerability at the top sets a tone, but it needs to be matched by psychological safety at every level. For transparency to translate into traction, employees must feel safe speaking up about what isn’t working. If team members fear backlash or judgment, critical insights remain buried. It involves consistent behaviors, asking for input before solutions are drafted, publicly recognizing those who raise concerns early, and responding constructively to hard feedback.

Launch a Time-Bound Discovery Sprint

To avoid stalling in analysis or endless meetings, leaders should introduce structure through a focused, time-bound discovery phase. A sprint format, typically lasting 2 to 4 weeks, allows organizations to explore root causes quickly and collaboratively without disrupting day-to-day operations. During this period, cross-functional teams can gather data, conduct interviews, map processes, and identify systemic gaps. It’s important to assign a facilitator or project lead to maintain momentum and synthesize findings. At the end of the sprint, teams should deliver insights and proposed next steps in a format that drives action, not just discussion.

Convert Insights Into Targeted Action

Transparency becomes transformational when it leads to change. The final step is translating the insights from the discovery sprint into specific, measurable improvements. These actions should be prioritized based on impact and feasibility, and communicated widely to the organization.

Leaders must establish clear accountability for implementation, set timelines, and track progress against defined outcomes.

Closing the Loop

Months later, when stakeholders revisited the issue, the conversation looked very different. It wasn’t just about metrics or performance updates; it was about progress and perspective. What had shifted most wasn’t just the numbers and how the company approached challenges.

Rather than trying to have all the answers from the outset, the leadership team had embraced a new rhythm: one centered on open dialogue, faster iteration, and shared accountability. The organization had become more agile, not because every issue was solved perfectly, but because problems were addressed more collaboratively and transparently.

In the end, the most valuable outcome of the experience wasn’t just operational, it was cultural. Vulnerability had become embedded in the company’s DNA, turning what could have been a liability into a long-term advantage.

by Grace Tripathy

Tue 1 July 2025

Innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a business imperative. While companies pour millions into R&D departments and flashy brainstorming retreats, they often overlook the simplest, most powerful tool for innovation: curiosity.

Curiosity is the mindset that drives teams to ask better questions, challenge stale assumptions, and pursue creative problem-solving when the way forward isn’t clear. But in many companies, curiosity is unintentionally suppressed. Metrics, meetings, and margin pressures often overshadow the quiet (but vital) work of wondering what if.

Take Claire, a mid-level manager at a growing company in Chicago. A few years ago, her team was tasked with improving user retention for their core product. Rather than jumping straight into solution mode, Claire took a different approach. She encouraged her team to spend a full week doing nothing but asking questions—about user behavior, onboarding friction points, and customer psychology. No answers, just curiosity.

At first, leadership questioned her methods. Wasn’t this a waste of time? Why not just try something and see what happens? But Claire stuck to her guns. And by the end of the week, her team discovered a completely overlooked friction point in the account setup flow. They implemented a simple fix and saw a 38% increase in user retention within three months.

The takeaway? Curiosity creates space for meaningful insights—and in turn, real business growth.

Why Companies Need a Culture of Innovation

An innovation culture goes beyond fancy slogans or hackathons. It’s a systemic commitment to exploration, experimentation, and learning. Companies with strong innovation cultures consistently outperform their peers. According to McKinsey, organizations that invest in innovation are 2.4x more likely to deliver top-quartile revenue growth. This is because they are agile, adaptable, and capable of responding to change before it becomes a threat.

At its core, an innovation culture starts with leadership. Leaders who embrace curiosity signal to their teams that it’s okay to take risks, ask questions, and admit they don’t know everything. This kind of psychological safety isn’t just feel-good fluff—it’s directly linked to higher engagement, creativity, and performance.

Yet many leaders shy away from uncertainty. They want proven playbooks and predictable outcomes. But here’s the thing: innovation isn’t predictable. Thomas Edison famously tested over 1,000 different materials before inventing the working light bulb. Imagine if he’d been an entry-level engineer at a Fortune 500 company—how many quarterly reviews would he have survived?

Fortunately, he was the CEO of his own operation. He had the freedom to fail forward.

That’s the kind of grace today’s leaders need to practice when the answer isn’t obvious. Giving grace means allowing space for trial, error, and reflection. It means rewarding effort and learning—not just outcomes.

When curiosity is embedded into company culture, the outcomes speak for themselves:

Faster problem-solving: Teams that feel safe to question the status quo find better solutions, faster.
Stronger talent retention: Employees are more likely to stay when they feel their ideas are heard and valued.
More adaptive strategies: Curious cultures are more resilient in the face of change because they treat disruption as an opportunity, not a threat.
Competitive differentiation: In saturated markets, the most innovative ideas often come from unexpected questions, not expected answers.

Claire’s story is a perfect example of how one curious leader can transform a team—and a company’s bottom line. By modeling curiosity and championing grace, she created a ripple effect that not only improved customer retention but inspired cross-functional teams to adopt similar discovery-first mindsets.

It’s not enough to say curiosity is valued. It has to be baked into how we lead. Here are three ways leaders like Claire can embed curiosity into everyday management practices:

1. Use Curious Language in Feedback

Instead of:

“Why didn’t this work?”
Try:
“What did you learn from this experience?”
“What surprised you most during this project?”

This encourages team members to reflect, not retreat. Ambition in Motion’s executive coaching for leaders and teams helps leaders build these kinds of reflective habits—transforming feedback conversations into moments of growth, not judgment.

2. Add Curiosity Metrics to Performance Reviews

Performance shouldn’t only be about execution—it should also reflect exploration. Try incorporating prompts like:

“What’s one assumption you challenged this quarter?”
“What question did you ask that led to new insight or opportunity?”
“How have you helped others think differently?”

This communicates that curiosity is not just tolerated—it’s expected. Tools like AIM Insights make the performance review and metric-tracking process simple and insightful for managers.

3. Make 1:1s a Safe Space for Wondering

Claire made curiosity part of her weekly 1:1s. She’d ask:

“What’s something weird or unexpected you’ve noticed lately?”
“If you had more time, what problem would you love to dig into?”
“What’s something we should stop doing that no longer makes sense?”

Over time, her team began coming to those meetings not just to report on tasks, but to explore ideas. That’s when innovation becomes not just a moment—but a movement.

by Grace Tripathy

Fri 13 June 2025

It’s almost halfway through 2025, and the ripple effects of last year’s economic distress is still felt across America. Countless companies—big and small—were forced to restructure, tighten budgets, and let go of team members. While layoffs might have been necessary to stay afloat, they’ve left behind a quieter, more cautious workforce. And the result… employees are hesitant to take risks, propose bold new ideas, or challenge the status quo.

Why? Because employees are unsure if anyone is listening—or if speaking up might put them at risk of being laid off.

But here's the critical truth: if your company isn't innovating, it's falling behind. As leaders, it’s time to move beyond the triage of layoffs and begin cultivating a resilient, forward-looking, and innovative culture once again.

In the aftermath of layoffs, companies often experience a psychological freeze. Talented employees begin to question their value. Communication gaps grow wider. New ideas are seen as risks instead of opportunities. And leaders, scrambling to stabilize, often neglect a key ingredient of success: psychological safety.

Bob manages a cross-functional team at a mid-size tech company in Chicago. In Q4 of 2024, his company cut 20% of its workforce. While Bob retained all his team members, the atmosphere shifted drastically.

Where once his team ideated freely in brainstorming sessions, now meetings were filled with silence. People stopped volunteering for stretch projects. Even casual Slack messages became more formal and distant.

When Bob reached out to HR and upper leadership, they were just as unsure. The company still hadn’t solidified its 2025 goals. Some departments were moving in different directions, and communication was fragmented. Leadership was nervous about clashing visions—so they avoided committing publicly to any strategy.

Bob realized two things:

His team felt like they were walking on eggshells.

2. His company was drifting, lacking clarity and cohesion.

So he decided to lead from where he stood.

Step 1: Clarify the Vision—Even If Others Don’t

One of the biggest mistakes post-layoff organizations make is failing to reset the vision. Employees are left wondering: “Why am I here? What are we even trying to accomplish?”

This is especially frustrating for employees still waiting to hear what the company’s goals are—even though we’re halfway through 2025.

Bob decided to take initiative. He sat down with his leadership team and asked:

“What are our top three business priorities for the next six months?”

“Where does our team fit in delivering on these?”

“Who is responsible for communicating this company-wide?”

Once he had clarity (even partial), he shared it with his team in a direct, transparent way.

Step 2: Remind People Why They Are Still Here

After layoffs, employees often feel “lucky” to still have a job—but that sentiment quickly shifts to anxiety. Why wasn’t I laid off? Am I next? This leads to disengagement, not gratitude.

Bob took a personal approach. He scheduled 1-on-1 goal-setting meetings with each team member and shared:

Specific reasons why they were retained

Their unique strengths and value to the team

What growth he envisioned for them in 2025

This wasn’t empty praise. It was rooted in truth. By reinforcing their purpose, Bob helped rebuild his team’s confidence.

Step 3: Rebuild Psychological Safety Through Action

Telling people they’re safe to speak up isn’t enough. You have to prove it—with your reactions, your language, and your culture.

Bob noticed that in meetings, people rarely spoke first. So he started modeling vulnerability. He admitted when he wasn’t sure about a decision. He actively solicited pushback. And most importantly, when people did share ideas—even ones that wouldn’t work—he thanked them and asked follow-up questions.

Soon, others followed suit.

How-To: Create Micro-Signals of Safety

Say “that’s a great insight—tell me more” instead of “we already tried that.”
Praise effort, not just outcomes.
Reward calculated risk-taking, even when the idea doesn’t pan out.

Step 4: Make Internal Mobility Real

Another innovation killer? Stagnation. After layoffs, promotions and lateral moves often freeze. But people need momentum to feel hopeful and motivated.

Bob worked with HR to reopen some cross-functional project opportunities and mentorship pairings. In addition, he encouraged members of the leadership team to join executive mastermind groups to be paired with executives in other companies and departments to gain fresh perspectives, share best practices, and rebuild their strategic confidence by learning how peers were navigating similar post-layoff challenges.

He encouraged employees to:

Apply for internal task forces

Shadow teams in other departments

Suggest projects aligned with strategic needs

Step 5: Break the Silence From the Top

Bob also recognized a broader issue: employees were afraid to share new ideas because they weren’t sure what leadership actually wanted.

So, he escalated this concern. He advocated for the C-suite to host a company-wide Town Hall where they could:

Publicly share the 2025 goals

Reinforce shared values

Invite input and questions from all departments

This meeting was a turning point. It didn’t answer everything, but it showed employees that leadership wasn’t hiding in silence. That alone helped shift the culture from fear to openness.

The Results

By Q3 2025, Bob’s team was not only more confident—they were creating again. They launched a pilot product feature based on employee input. They beat sprint deadlines. And they had the highest employee engagement scores in the company.

All of this came from clarity, connection, and a culture of safety.

Bob didn’t wait for top-down permission. He led from where he stood, and in doing so, re-ignited a team that was once paralyzed by fear.

by Kayla Ambrose

Fri 13 June 2025

Throughout the initial half of 2025, there have been widespread reductions of middle management roles, drastically shifting the structures of corporations. Various sectors are implementing flatter organizational structures to promote efficiency and cost reductions. This shift, sometimes referred to as the “Great Flattening”, leaves middle managers in a challenging position, whether to remain with their current employer and adapt to the structural changes or seek new opportunities.

When a company initiates large-scale structural changes to reduce management positions, it can be difficult to understand what the implications are for current roles. With this increased uncertainty and changes in workloads, managers must reflect on whether it’s strategic for their career progression to remain with their current organization and work to adjust to the role they end up in after the structural shift, or if they should explore other opportunities.

Staying and Adapting: Benefits

When undergoing structural changes, the responsibilities of management roles may be condensed into one position. While this allows a more straightforward chain of management, it simultaneously increases the workload of the manager who remains. This manager is now tasked with a heavier workload than they originally signed up for, and often does not receive additional wages to compensate for it. Stuck in a situation such as this one, staying with one's current employer presents many positives and drawbacks.

A benefit of sticking out the position during these organizational changes is familiarity with the company culture. While the company is making changes, having an understanding of the workplace environment is a unique benefit of staying. It can take a while to adapt to a new environment and immerse oneself in the culture of a new organization.

Additionally, taking on increased responsibility from other roles demonstrates adaptability and strong leadership. Displaying such skills can highlight capabilities, potentially leading to promotions later on. If upper management recognizes these leadership skills, staying and adapting to the new corporate structure can lead to impactful career growth.

Staying and Adapting: Drawbacks

While the benefits associated with remaining in the organization are certainly appealing, the reduction in other middle management positions will leave gaps within the organization. These gaps will result in the remaining managers being left to fill the gaps. Managers might be expected to learn new skills, assume more direct reports, and lead unfamiliar initiatives. Furthermore, these shifts in roles can lead to unclear expectations, making daily workloads to become more challenging. Ultimately, this uncertainty may cause burnout and increased stress.

Given that the organization has already undergone structural changes, it’s possible that changes may persist in the near future. The organization is still adapting, which may lead to more roles being removed or replaced. It’s important to consider role security as well as career progression. With fewer management roles available within the organization, be realistic when considering the future pay for promotion.

Insulating Oneself from Layoffs

Given the organizational changes, prioritize becoming indispensable to the organization. While the changes may already be in effect, that doesn’t necessarily mean more changes won’t occur in the future. Using this time as an opportunity to demonstrate strengths to upper management can build a strong foundation for career advancement later on.

A strong capability of a good leader is embracing cross-functional teams. With fewer managers in the organization, it is critical to leverage cross-functional teams to fulfill objectives. Cross-functional teams encourage collaboration throughout the organization, which can increase morale as well as create more efficient operations. Drawing on the departmental expertise can promote better solutions since certain areas are now lacking expertise from managers.

Another strategy to demonstrate value to upper management is through developing specialized expertise. Leaning into new responsibilities and gaining important insights about specific organizational practices or initiatives can truly set someone apart. Being able to not only take on new roles but thrive in doing so demonstrates strong adaptability and willingness to learn.

To gain insights on direct reports and continue to develop leadership skills, utilize performance management tools. Not only will such tools support management duties, but they will also help create solutions to better manage teams and improve leaders’ performance. Performance management tools are a strong asset for managers looking to set themselves apart following large structural changes.

Considerations for Seeking New Opportunities

While staying and adapting to the organizational changes presents opportunities to grow in responsibility, seeking a new opportunity may be the more advantageous solution. With the removal of other middle managers, roles will shift drastically, resulting in considerably more work and new workplace challenges to navigate. Electing to seek a new position can allow for a career that has more defined responsibilities and expectations.

Additionally, seeking a new opportunity allows for the ability to find a role with a more adequate workload.

Seeking a position elsewhere is not without challenges. Entering a new organization will entail transitional challenges as well as potential for underemployment. Consider what to prioritize when navigating whether to stay or go.

Navigating the Decision-Making Process

When determining whether to stay amidst a reduction in middle management, utilize resources to weigh the options. Reach out to horizontal mentors and executive mastermind groups to gain their insights on the situation and learn from their shared experiences. Mentors may have a meaningful perspective or key considerations to help guide the decision-making process.

During this time, it’s critical to identify career aspirations to consider how the next step could help or hinder these goals. Be introspective and identify what aspects of an organization are most important for the next phase of your career.

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