written by Nick Roud, Leadership Development Coach. Nick Roud Coaching. February 2026/
In boardrooms, open-plan offices, and Zoom calls across the world, middle managers are reaching a breaking point. Numerous global studies and recent survey back this evidence up.
The space they occupy sandwiched between executives demanding strategic outcomes and teams delivering day-to-day results has never felt tighter. In 2026, this role is simultaneously the hardest, the most misunderstood, and paradoxically, the most influential layer in any modern organisation. If you are a middle manager or part of an executive leadership team this article will lay bare some of the concerns faced today. My invitation is do something about it!
Middle managers are the cultural translators of strategy. They are the bridge between vision and execution, the pulse of performance, and the emotional glue that binds teams together. Yet they are also burning out faster than any other cohort.
The Most Pressured Layer in the Workforce
Several global studies confirm what many already feel intuitively: middle management is under strain. In Harvard Business Review’s 2025 Global Leadership Study of 600 mid-level and senior leaders, 87% of those in middle management roles reported experiencing burnout at least once a week. This burnout manifests across dimensions — emotional fatigue, reduced empathy, decision paralysis, and disengagement.
Alarmingly, only half of respondents said their organisation provided meaningful support for mental well-being. That leaves a significant leadership gap at the very layer responsible for shaping team morale, engagement, and performance. In some of our clients staff engagement surveys that we completed back end of 2025, results showed team morale to be significantly low, based on less staff, remote working and lack of direction from above!
In Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trend survey, organisations that prioritise human capabilities such as self-awareness, collaboration, and emotional intelligence are nearly twice as likely to have employees find their work meaningful and just as likely to report stronger performance outcomes. These findings reinforce what executive coaches have long observed: well-being, resilience, and human-centered leadership aren’t soft skills; they are strategic differentiators.
2026: The Perfect Storm for Middle Managers
If 2025 was the year of hybrid fatigue, 2026 has become the year of transformation pressure. Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from a buzzword to an operational reality. Entire workflows are being redesigned, roles are shifting, and expectations are intensifying. Only yesterday in a CEO coaching session the CE was discussing a whole raft of organisational change due to the effectiveness of AI and supporting its customers. Interesting times don’t you think?
Middle managers are now expected to:
- Translate AI-led strategy into team level actions while managing uncertainty.
- Action Needed; clear concise communication from executive teams.
- Navigate hybrid models where team cohesion and accountability risk erosion.
- Action Needed; Teams to reset it’s purpose and value to the organisation in line with 2026 executive teams vision.
- Lead talent who increasingly value purpose, flexibility, and psychological safety.
- Action Needed; create your own value / non-negotiable and ensure you are sharing these with your team
- Deliver consistent performance despite tighter budgets and shifting markets.
- Action Needed; regular interaction/communication with your direct manager. Adopt a no surprise approach
Middle managers are expected to hold everyone else the executives above them and the teams below while often receiving little coaching or renewal themselves. One senior manager put it succinctly during a recent coaching conversation with me here in New Zealand:
“I’m holding everyone together, but no one’s holding me.” Middle Manager Engineering Company February 2026
This dynamic creates what I call the pressure sandwich relentless demand from both sides, with limited outlets for recovery or reflection. It’s little wonder that burnout, disengagement, and turnover among middle managers are rising faster than any other leadership tier. As an executive how are you really supporting your middle managers to navigate today?
The Hidden Cost of Middle Management Burnout
Let’s be brutally clear. Burnout at this level doesn’t just hurt individuals; it costs organisations dearly. The World Health Organization estimates that workplace stress and burnout result in global economic losses exceeding $1 trillion annually in lost productivity. In reality, the ripple effects are far deeper:
- Decision making slows as overwhelmed managers avoid conflict or risk.
- Innovation declines because cognitively exhausted leaders default to the familiar.
- Culture weakens as resentment, cynicism, and mistrust spread quietly.
- Succession pipelines falter, leaving fewer ready now leaders to step up.
In my coaching practice, I’ve seen experienced managers who were once strong, empathetic, and creative begin to question their capacity to lead. When resilience is depleted, even the most capable leaders lose their spark. What coaching does is to help that manager put things into perspective and remain focused on his/her own clarity.
And resilience, contrary to popular belief, isn’t about enduring more it’s about recovering faster and adapting smarter. Take a look at ultra marathon runners they spend more time sitting/laying down recovering, resting, recouping from training blocks. I have always thought that the Spanish do it well, afternoon siesta. When was the last time you did that?
Rethinking Resilience: Beyond Toughness
The word resilience is often misinterpreted as toughness or grit, sure we need a bit of grit right now, to dig in. Burnout must not be solved by simply “trying harder.” But resilience is not the same as endurance. It’s the strategic ability to sustain energy, perspective, and performance under prolonged challenge. Dr Ceri Evans talks about ‘walking towards pressure’ how many of us turn quickly away rather than towards?
Evidence Gained Here At Nick Roud Coaching Shows That Resilient leaders;
- are self-aware; they recognise their limits before crisis hits.
- Prioritize recovery as intentionally as performance.
- Practice emotional regulation in high stakes environments.
- Stay connected to their Core Purpose, not just their to do list.
- Create space mental and physical for renewal and reflection. Get outside and smell the grass and feel the sand under your feet is a wonderful way to reset. Can you put that into your daily ‘to-do-list’?
Building that skill set rarely happens through week long residential or training programs alone. It demands reflection, feedback, and personal accountability the very conditions perfected in one-to-one emerging leaders coaching.
The Power of One-to-One Coaching With Nick Roud
In over a decade of coaching CEOs, senior executives and emerging leaders across industries, from tech and manufacturing to forestry and professional services I’ve seen firsthand the profound shift that happens when a middle manager steps into a dedicated coaching space. Six months makes tremendous lasting impact for the middle manager, building confidence, gaining clarity and the tools and skills to succeed.
Coaching isn’t therapy or performance review; it’s an intentional partnership. It invites leaders to slow down, think clearly, and rediscover their best selves. It’s in those one-to-one sessions that breakthroughs occur the kind that transform not just how managers perform, but who they become. Have you considered it for yourself or your people leaders?
Three outcomes are particularly relevant to addressing burnout and building resilience:
1. Self-Awareness Before Strategy
Every conversation begins here. Burnout often blinds leaders to what’s really driving their fatigue whether it’s misaligned values, unclear boundaries, or unproductive beliefs. Coaching surfaces those patterns with compassion and honesty.
One senior marketing manager I coached last year here in Auckland, New Zealand was proud of being “always on.” Her responsiveness was a badge of honour until half way through the year her body signalled otherwise. Through our coaching work, she recognized that her habit of over-functioning came from a desire to please. Once she aligned her leadership choices with her values, she shifted from reactive busyness to deliberate leadership. The result? Clearer priorities, better delegation, and a renewed sense of control. The ripple effect took hold and her team also shifted.
2. Emotional Regulation and Empathy
Resilient leaders don’t suppress emotions they understand and channel them constructively. Coaching builds emotional intelligence not as a corporate skill but as a human one. No AI can or will ever be able to be that (human)!
When leaders learn to observe their emotional triggers, they respond rather than react essential in high-change environments. In team dynamics, this creates psychological safety, trust, and engagement. A calm, grounded manager models stability that cascades through the team, especially in times of uncertainty.
3. Sustainable Performance Habits
Resilience is sustained through micro-habits, not grand gestures. Coaching helps leaders build routines that conserve energy from mastering focus to setting boundaries, from managing transitions to celebrating progress.
Small yet consistent actions, like scheduling thinking time, practicing intentional gratitude, or disconnecting from devices at a defined hour, can transform both energy levels and leadership creativity.
Case in Point: The “Invisible Middle”
A client in the logistics sector described his role as “holding a bridge that keeps growing heavier.” He led 80 people across three countries, managing hybrid schedules and new AI-integrated systems. He wasn’t broken, but he was running on empty. Our initial coaching sessions focused on time management, priority focus and letting go of many things.
Over six months of coaching, we worked to redefine his leadership rhythm. Instead of trying to manage every detail, he built trust within his second-line managers, focused on purpose driven metrics, and implemented “quiet resets” or as some of you may have read from my previous articles “white-time”, thirty-minute blocks weekly dedicated to reflection.
By the end, his engagement scores rose, his turnover dropped, and he reported the best personal energy he’d had in years. The organization noticed too. I got an email over the Christmas break that he was promoted to a director role the following starting January 2026…..such great news for him. Coaching didn’t just prevent burnout; it helped him accelerate.
Why Middle Managers Need Targeted Support
Most organizational wellbeing programs focus either on the C-suite (high-potential succession) or the front line (wellness and morale). The middle layer often becomes an afterthought, yet it is both the operational engine and the relational glue of the enterprise.
In practical terms, middle managers need:
- Dedicated coaching support; regular, individualised sessions with a trusted external leadership coach.
- Communities of practice; peer spaces where managers can learn from one another.
- Permission to pause; organisational norms that value reflection, not just output and I don’t mean another spa day voucher!
- Clarity of purpose; alignment between what they’re expected to deliver and why it matters.
Organizations that invest here unlock exponential gains. They don’t just reduce burnout; they multiply leadership impact.
The Organizational Dividend of Coaching
Recent data from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) shows that companies offering structured coaching report:
- 70% improvement in individual performance.
- 50% increase in team performance.
- 48% better organizational outcomes.
But beyond metrics, coaching transforms culture. It seeds a language of reflection, feedback, and possibility that ripples outwards. Leaders who have experienced coaching tend to coach others. A leaders role is fast moving to one of a coach are you up for the challenge?
When a middle manager learns to manage their energy, not just their time, the benefits resonate through every conversation, meeting, and decision that follows.
From Surviving to Leading Through Change
As AI transformation accelerates in 2026, as shown in a recent PwC Regional study, leaders will need more than technical literacy. They will need the emotional stamina to inspire trust and the curiosity to lead through ambiguity. The new advantage isn’t technology it’s humanity.
Resilience and emotional intelligence are the power sources leaders will draw from most. As Peter Drucker famously put it, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Today, we could extend that: Resilience fuels culture before breakfast. (please don’t write to me saying Peter never said that………….)
Organizations that want to perform long-term must build structures that protect energy as much as they push performance. And it starts with giving middle managers the time and support to think, breathe, and rebuild. Our six month one-to-one emerging leaders coaching enables your middle manager to perform for the long term.
Building a Culture of Renewal
Here are five practical steps senior leaders can take to support their middle layers: My invitation is challenge yourself as you answer these questions
Normalize Rest and Reflection
Embed recovery into the rhythm of work. Encourage teams to slow down periodically through walking meetings, reflective Wednesday , or digital detox hours.
- Invest in Tailored Coaching
One-size-fits-all programs rarely work. The buzz of a week’s residential will soon slip away once pressure and daily life resumes. Invest in individual coaching for middle leaders spaces that are confidential, developmental, and directly relevant to their context. We offer Scholarship’s for New Zealand organisations here at Nick Roud Coaching. - Recognize Invisible Work
Middle managers often carry hidden responsibilities mediation, morale, informal mentoring. Make that contribution visible and valued. - Simplify, Don’t Stack
Audit managerial load regularly. Each new initiative should trigger an equal removal. Leaders cannot build resilience when constantly overloaded. Start to subtract not add! - Train for Empathy and EQ
Equip managers to lead humans, not just processes. Facilitate discussions about self-awareness, bias, and compassion the heart of modern leadership. Just for the record yes you can learn ’empathy’.
The Coaching Imperative
When executives ask me where to start, my answer is simple: begin with a conversation. One-to-one coaching isn’t a luxury; it’s a lifeline especially for those leading in the middle.
During coaching, leaders rediscover not just what they do, but why they do it. They learn to regulate energy, challenge assumptions, and reframe challenges through purpose. Most importantly, they stop leading from exhaustion and start leading from alignment.
A resilient leader doesn’t just endure pressure; they transmute it into clarity. That’s what our Globally Awarded coaching delivers clarity that endures long after the session ends.
What I’ve Learned from Coaching Thousands of Hours
Across more than 10,000 coaching conversations, one truth stands out: burnout often signals not weakness but misalignment.
When values and actions drift apart when a leader feels trapped between competing loyalties the resulting dissonance erodes energy faster than any workload. Coaching bridges that gap. By holding up a mirror, it helps leaders reconnect with what they stand for.
Resilience then becomes not a survival tactic, but a strategic act of choice a return to what matters most. Born again some have shared with me in our post coaching review. Now that’s what I call a result…….
Looking Ahead: The 2026 Leadership Mandate
As we move further into an AI-driven, hybrid world, middle managers stand at the epicentre of transformation. The world doesn’t need more superhuman leaders; it needs more supported humans. Humans that can read the room, feel the vibe!
Organizations that recognise this will outperform those that don’t. Not because they have better technology or strategy, but because they have leaders who can sustain creativity, empathy, and purpose under change.
Middle management burnout is not inevitable. It’s a signal one telling us to lead differently, to invest courageously, and to care intelligently.
In 2026, resilience will define real leadership. And one-to-one coaching will remain one of the most effective tools to build it conversation by conversation, leader by leader.
We look forward to helping you and your organisation across 2026
Nick Roud is the founder of Nick Roud Coaching, an executive leadership coaching practice based in Auckland, New Zealand. Nick works one-on-one with CEOs, senior, and emerging leaders worldwide to build authentic, resilient, and high-impact leadership. To explore coaching with him cal +6421375630