16 Top Traits Leadership Values In Middle Management Candidates

Moving into a middle management role is a pivotal transition in one’s career, requiring the ability to lead teams while executing company strategy. But what qualities make a candidate truly stand out to an organization’s high-level decision-makers?

If you’re looking to take this next step in your professional journey, understanding what leadership prioritizes in middle management can give you a competitive edge. Below, 16 members of Forbes Human Resources Council share the key traits that can help you strengthen your presence and increase your chances of securing that next big management opportunity.

1. Relationship Management

I personally think one of the most important skills that a leader should have is relationship management. This is the ability to build and maintain healthy relationships. A great leader uses these relationships to work with and influence others to achieve common goals and build a shared vision. This skill can be an important aspect of team building and allows leaders to enact meaningful change. – Robyn Arville, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

2. Mentorship Of New Employees

It’s essential to seek candidates with proven leadership capabilities, especially those who can motivate teams and nurture talent growth. Middle managers must focus on mentoring new employees and developing their problem-solving abilities. When evaluating leadership candidates, be sure to request specific examples of how they’ve successfully guided and grown team members in previous positions. – Paaras Parker, Paycor

3. Active Listening

It’s a simple question but a difficult answer. Can you be an active listener—closing your mouth, listening with your ears and not internally responding before you understand the current state, what the future state might look like and what strategy you can implement with tactical action steps? It starts with active listening, which is a skill most do not have the discipline to execute upon. – John Pierce, John Pierce Consulting

4. Effective Communication

Middle managers are at a critical level in an organization where it is important to communicate up, down and across. This can be challenging, as middle managers may not often be the decision maker on key decisions, but are often the messenger in cascading communications and leading change with their teams. Effective communication with all stakeholders is vital to their success. – Daniel Bordeleau, Interface Systems

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5. Emotional Intelligence

Personally, I think emotional intelligence is the key to any middle management role, or really any role. Technical skills can be taught, but emotional intelligence is harder to develop. Prioritizing EI in hiring leads to a more harmonious, engaged and high-performing workplace. EI isn’t just about what candidates say—it’s also about what they don’t say and how they say it. – A Kirby Cole, EyeCare Partners

6. Adaptability

In the evolving world of work, nothing is more important than being adaptable. This one trait requires some critical skills, the chief of which is the skill of learning. If you can learn and adapt, you can tackle any challenge and demonstrate the ability to lead and grow. – Christopher Courneen, M S International, Inc. (MSI)

7. Humility

Humility is key. Middle managers must balance reporting to leadership while effectively leading their teams. A humble candidate can take direction, inspire collaboration and prioritize the success of the group. – Ahva Sadeghi, Symba

8. Ability To ‘Carry The Culture’

We hear so much in studies about the “squeezed middle,” where the top-down and bottom-up issues seem to meet. Given this, a key quality is their ability to “carry the culture” at their level. This means transparent and honest communications from them both up and down the organization, navigating complex issues, aligning organizational goals with team requirements and creating time for their team. – Charlotte Sweeney OBE, Charlotte Sweeney Associates (CSA)

9. Learning Agility

Leadership often seeks learning agility in middle management candidates—the ability to rapidly learn and apply new skills in dynamic environments. This trait enables managers to navigate complex challenges and drive innovation. The Center for Creative Leadership identifies learning agility as a key skill for middle managers. – CJ Eason, JobFairGiant.com

10. Resilience

Resilience is the most demanded leadership quality in a modern, fast-paced commercial environment. The ability to face upcoming challenges with emotional intelligence, integrity and determination is invaluable. This quality will help leaders build trust, ethics and commitment within the team and be proactive. – Dr. Nara Ringrose, Cyclife Aquila Nuclear

11. Ability To Translate Goals Into Plans

Effective middle managers are strategic leaders who translate business goals into actionable plans for their teams. They think beyond their own team, recognizing its impact on the larger business. Building cross-functional partnerships is crucial to driving the business forward. Through collaboration, clear communication and support, they empower teams to take ownership and deliver results. – Amy Garefis, ZipRecruiter

12. Transparency With Leadership

Transparency is key. Middle management can be a difficult role because they’re often communicating and implementing directives from the C-suite. If something isn’t working, the best middle management professionals are open about it and share their take on why that may be. Too often, middle managers can be apprehensive about sharing bad news with the C-suite. But they need to hear it to run the company. – Nicky Hancock, AMS

13. Upskilling And Reskilling Capability

A key quality that every candidate needs to possess is the ability to upskill and reskill. The only constant in our world is change. Individuals who are able to keep up—or better yet, stay ahead—are the individuals you want in your organization. AI is exponentially increasing the rate of change. Those who can’t upskill and reskill will be left behind. – Oksana Lukash

14. Ability To Learn From Failure

Everyone is hiring mostly for continuity, culture fitment or growth and I do not consider any of them essential (they help, but…). My ultimate quality is the ability to question our choices, accept our failures and learn from them. I always ask, “Tell me your biggest failure and what did you learn from it.” A clear understanding of this question is what sets apart exceptional talent from the average. – Ashutosh Labroo, SuccessionIQ

15. Strategic Thinking

Leadership should prioritize strategic thinking when selecting middle managers. This skill enables managers to translate senior leadership’s high-level strategy into actionable plans for frontline employees, make complex decisions considering long-term impacts and identify opportunities using data-driven approaches. Strategic thinking ensures managers can navigate complexities and drive success. – Trevor Higgs, Catalyzr, Inc.

16. Ability To Recognize And Capitalize On Opportunity

Critical to the success of middle managers is their ability to manage up by building business cases for change. The best at this can tangibly demonstrate how they recognized opportunity and led their team to impact near-term goals. They should be able to express this through metric changes, stakeholder alignment and revenue impact. – Alex Cooke, Phase 3 Search