It was 5 am on a Thursday morning.

I crept downstairs to not wake my wife and three kids to make some coffee. My body was tired, but mind was restless thinking through the work I wanted to accomplish for the day.

At around 11:30am that day, I knew I needed to give a status update to my upper leadership on a project I’ve been lead on. This one has been tough to manage because of the direct reports expressed concerns with the timelines and lack of understanding of how it all works together.

I was feeling the pressure from my upper leadership to execute on a vision, helping bring the project in to reality.

The squeeze in the middle was real.

As I banged the old coffee grounds from the filter into the compost, I felt a sense of identity attachment to the filter. Just like this coffee filter, I am a filtration system for the organization to strengthen the flow for strategies become operational and the operations to impact the strategy.

Everything about this project is passing through me: communication, information, urgency, emotions, ambiguity, decisions.

When that filter is working properly, clarity moves through the system. Teams understand priorities. Leadership receives accurate feedback. Work flows with direction and trust.

When that filter is neglected, the opposite happens. Messages become distorted. Stress spreads unnecessarily. Teams lose confidence. Leaders above receive incomplete or overly polished realities that prevent them from making sound decisions.

The quality of leadership in the middle is often determined by the condition of the filter. If I am that filter, I need to make sure it stays clean and effective.

You may already realize that fact… but do you know how to maintain it to make your leadership effective?

Let’s talk about it!

The leadership filter is not a communication skill alone. It is a combination of internal and external disciplines. Every message that moves through a leader is shaped by:

Leaders do not simply pass information forward. They interpret meaning for either their one-ups or direct reports. And interpretation always carries influence.

I don’t want you to see that as “middle managers need to be completely an utterly emotionless and neutral.” We are not robots. However, our goal should be to move with intention.

A clean leadership filter does not remove pressure. It processes pressure before passing it forward.

When middle managers maintain clear filters:

In contrast, organizations with neglected middle leadership filters often experience misalignment, disengagement, and decision bottlenecks. The breakdown rarely starts at the top or bottom. It happens in the translation space between them.

I believe we want to create transformational experiences for our teams to perform at a high level. Our filtration system can increase that experience as a faster rate.

Our filter has to maintain cleanliness for effectiveness. And no, we should not be banged against a compost bin.

But, here are some practical ways we can sustain our filter in a form of of daily maintenance habits that determine whether we amplify clarity or confusion.

One of the fastest ways a filter becomes clogged is when leaders combine what was said with what they believe it means. Ambiguity is common in organizations. When leaders rush to fill that ambiguity with assumptions, they often pass down incomplete or inaccurate direction.

Before communicating any directive, decision, or update, leaders should ask:

Action Step: Write messages in two sections before sharing them:

This simple exercise prevents speculation from spreading as truth.

Middle managers absorb emotional pressure from multiple directions. Senior leaders may communicate urgency, frustration, or anxiety. Team members may express fear, resistance, or burnout.

If leaders do not process these emotions internally, they transmit them unintentionally. Teams rarely absorb urgency productively; they absorb tone.

Action Step: Before relaying high-stakes information, pause and ask:

If emotional intensity is high, delay communication long enough to respond with clarity instead of reaction. Even a short pause creates better leadership outcomes.

Pressure and complexity often disconnect teams from the reason behind decisions. When leaders communicate tasks without purpose, they create compliance rather than commitment.

A clean filter translates directives into meaning. It answers the question most teams silently carry: Why does this matter?

Action Step: Attach one sentence of purpose to every new initiative, change, or directive:

“This matters because…”

When teams understand the larger context, confusion decreases and engagement increases.

Many middle managers unintentionally pass confusion when they communicate requests without explaining decision boundaries. Teams become frustrated when they do not know whether input is welcomed or whether decisions are already finalized.

Action Step: When communicating direction, clearly identify:

Clarity around authority reduces resistance and builds trust.

Middle managers are not couriers of information. They are translators of strategy. Raw information often lacks relevance at the team level. Effective leaders adjust language, examples, and expectations so teams understand how strategy connects to their daily work.

Action Step: When delivering information, consistently answer three questions for your team:

This translation process reduces overwhelm and increases execution.

Leadership filters do not clog suddenly. They degrade gradually through accumulated stress, unclear expectations, and unprocessed responsibility. Over time, leaders begin carrying pressure that was never meant to stay with them.

This often leads to:

Intentional reflection prevents this slow deterioration.

Action Step: At the end of each week, reflect on one question:

“What pressure did I absorb this week that was not mine to carry?”

Leaders who regularly release unnecessary emotional and organizational weight remain clearer, more confident, and more effective.

Being a middle manager is not simply about managing tasks or supervising people. It is about stewarding meaning in motion. Leaders in the middle are responsible for how strategy feels, how direction is understood, and how pressure is experienced across the organization.

Cleaning the leadership filter is not additional work. It is foundational work.

Every conversation, directive, and decision passes through a leader before reaching others. The clarity of those interactions shapes culture more than most formal initiatives ever will.

The question for every leader in the middle is simple:

But even as you answer this question, we know that perfection will never be achieved. Our focus should be how well we are progressing to reach high performance through our leadership

If you want to strengthen your impact immediately, you do not need new authority or new strategy.

You need cleaner filters. And clean filters are built through intentional awareness, disciplined communication, and consistent reflection.

This is how pressure becomes clarity. This is how our middle leadership becomes transformational leadership.

Let’s continue to lead well from the middle out,

— Ray

And speaking of “transformational leadership,” tomorrow I am dropping the news about the Leader’s Lens Lab that I spoke about in this issue!

I am really excited for the chance to design leadership systems in a community built for and designed with Mid-Level Leaders like you in mind.

To get in on the update, email me the word “Lab” and you will be on the list!