Between the Millstones: A Narrative Account of the Vulnerability of Middle Managers’ Storying

Abstract

This article seeks to illuminate our understanding of the lives of middle managers by considering the special pressures on them to tell stories about their organization that make sense to three different audiences; their superiors, their subordinates and themselves. Each of those audiences will demand to hear a convincing account, but the senior audience may trample unaware on middle managers’ stories, the junior audience may view them with scepticism or hostility, and the self audience may be fearful of losing the plot. Illustrated by four middle management storytelling situations, the article offers a narrative understanding of the peculiar loneliness, precariousness and vulnerability that characterize middle management, and suggests why these characteristics may be debilitating for middle management practice.