Seventy-seven percent of CHROs lack confidence in their leadership bench strength. Meanwhile, 40% of middle managers are planning their exit.

Your leadership pipeline isn't empty because of a talent problem—it's empty because you're burning out your current leaders before they can develop.

In this episode, you'll discover:

→ Why the gig economy changed everything about middle manager retention (28% of knowledge workers are already freelancing)

→ The Five Executive Actions Framework that reduces burnout without requiring board approval

→ How to have the hard conversation with your board about "doing more with less"

→ The career-risk decision every executive faces: hit targets by destroying your team, or build something sustainable

If you're an executive watching your middle managers struggle while your board demands more with less, this is your wake-up call.

The Five Executive Actions Framework (Colby Morris)

Action 1: Audit Actual Workload Compare each middle manager's actual responsibilities—direct reports, meeting commitments, deliverables—against research-based effective spans of control (5-7 direct reports for complex work, 8-10 for straightforward work).

Action 2: Kill One Initiative Identify and eliminate one running initiative delivering minimal value, freeing capacity and demonstrating willingness to make trade-offs.

Action 3: Create a Stop-Doing List Work with middle managers to identify and actually stop producing unused reports, attending unnecessary meetings, and maintaining obsolete processes.

Action 4: Fix One Structural Problem Address the system, process, or tool creating the most friction in middle managers' daily work.

Action 5: Have the Board Conversation Directly address sustainability with board members: current middle managers are doing the work of 2-3 people, requiring either added resources or reduced expectations.

When to Apply This Guidance

Use the Five Executive Actions Framework when you observe:

Leadership pipeline gaps with no clear successors for critical roles
Middle manager retention issues or increased turnover at the manager level
Consistent feedback about unsustainable workloads across your management layer
Board pressure for results with simultaneous resource constraints
CHROs reporting low confidence in leadership bench strength

Diagnostic Questions for Executives

How many direct reports does each of your middle managers have, and how does that compare to research-based effective spans of control?
Which running initiative delivers the least value relative to the capacity it consumes?
What reports, meetings, or processes are your middle managers maintaining that no longer serve a clear purpose?
Are you asking your middle managers to do the work of 2-3 people while simultaneously discussing talent development?

Resources Mentioned

Research Cited:

DDI Global Leadership Forecast (2024) - Leadership stress, bench strength, and turnover data
MBO Partners Independent Worker Research - Gig economy growth and high-earning freelancer statistics
Upwork Freelance Forward Report - Knowledge worker freelancing trends

About The Things Leaders Do

The Things Leaders Do is a leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, COO at Apex Medical Management Partners and Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show provides practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for leaders at all organizational levels, with episodes designed as 18-23 minute comm

Your Middle Managers Are Drowning (And You Know It)