Manager of Managers: Why HR Teams Need Dedicated Coaching Programs for This Leadership Level

Anyone who leads other leaders faces a challenge that differs fundamentally from classic team leadership: influence no longer works directly, but through multiplication. Heads of department, directors, and senior managers who are themselves responsible for teams of team leaders must simultaneously translate strategic directives, develop their own leaders, and visibly embody company culture. Yet in many organizations, this level remains systematically underserved when it comes to leadership development. Sharpist closes exactly this gap with a scalable, measurable solution that empowers HR teams to develop the "manager of managers" in a targeted way.

The Topic in a Nutshell

What Does "Manager of Managers" Really Mean?

In classic corporate hierarchies, a distinction is made between top management, middle management, and lower management. The "manager of managers" is a specific expression of middle management: heads of department, directors, or senior managers who do not directly lead operational employees, but who are themselves responsible for team leaders or group leaders. This distinction is crucial for HR teams because it requires a fundamentally different development logic than supporting first-time leaders or C-level executives.

While a team leader is still strongly involved operationally and has direct influence on daily work, the manager of managers has shifted their radius of impact outward: they lead through enablement, not through direct instruction. According to DDI, middle managers at this level are increasingly moving away from day-to-day execution and closer to strategic steering – while still needing to understand and translate the operational reality of their leaders. For HR, this means: standardized leadership programs designed for team leaders do not work here. This level requires its own development approach.

Why This Leadership Level Is Under Particular Pressure in 2026

The challenges facing managers of managers have not only failed to improve in recent years, but have intensified simultaneously across several dimensions. HR teams seeking to develop this level must understand the current pressure points in order to design targeted measures.

The Sandwich Position: Pressure From Above, Below, and Now Also From AI

The so-called sandwich position of middle management is not a new phenomenon. What is new is its intensity: managers of managers experience contradictory demands from senior management and from the leaders reporting to them at the same time, while often having insufficient decision-making authority. On top of this comes a structural threat: according to the Korn Ferry Workforce Report 2025, 41 % of employees state that their organizations have reduced management levels. This trend, referred to as "delayering" or "unbossing," is being further accelerated by the use of AI. Gartner already predicted in 2024 that by 2026, around 20 % of organizations could use AI to significantly flatten their hierarchy. For HR teams, this means: the remaining managers of managers carry growing responsibility with an increasingly larger span of control.

Growing Spans of Control and Burnout Risk

Gallup's State of the Global Workplace Report shows that the average number of direct reports rose from 10.9 in 2024 to 12.1 in 2025. At the same time, manager engagement has fallen to 27 %. Particularly alarming for L&D: managers influence 70 % of the variance in team engagement. Overburdened managers of managers therefore have a direct impact on the motivation of hundreds of employees.

The strain is more severe than many HR teams assume. According to the DDI Global Leadership Forecast 2025, 71 % of leaders report significantly higher stress since taking on their current management role, and burned-out leaders are 50 % less likely to be engaged. A recent survey shows that 45 % of middle managers report burnout – more than in any other employee group. Sharpist customers such as Palfinger achieved a 20 % reduction in absences through targeted coaching programs – direct evidence that coaching also contributes measurably to relief at this level.

The Underestimated Multiplier Effect: Why Coaching Competence Is Decisive Here

The real strategic significance of the manager of managers for HR lies in their multiplier role. McKinsey refers to effective middle managers as "talent multipliers": whoever develops coaching competence at this level cascades this effect through all leadership levels below. A head of department who leads three team leaders, each responsible for ten employees, indirectly influences the leadership quality of thirty or more people.

McKinsey's practical case study demonstrates the potential of this cascade logic: one company trained 40 managers as coaching ambassadors, who subsequently trained 300 leaders – with measurable improvement in engagement scores across the entire organization. For HR teams, this means: investment in the manager of managers is not a stand-alone measure, but a lever that multiplies throughout the entire leadership pipeline. Those who fail to develop this level leave the greatest efficiency potential in leadership development untapped.

The Self-Perception vs. External Perception Gap – And Why 360° Feedback Is Indispensable

One of the greatest challenges in developing managers at this level is a structural perception problem: leaders rate their own competencies significantly higher than L&D does. The Haufe Akademie Leadership Study 2026 (n=355, DACH) shows a gap of 20 to 25 percentage points between self-assessment and external assessment: leaders place themselves in the upper competence range 65–70 % of the time, while L&D professionals rate only 40–45 % at this level. The gap is particularly pronounced in future-oriented topics such as AI competence and adapting one's leadership style.

For HR teams, this has a direct consequence: leaders who consider themselves competent often see no need for their own development and are less likely to actively take up coaching offers. Programs for managers of managers must therefore build in data-driven self-reflection from the outset – through 360° feedback, structured competency assessments, and coaching approaches that make blind spots visible before they turn into leadership failures. The study also shows that only 24.5 % of leaders openly address being overburdened, while L&D significantly overestimates this figure at 43 %. Coaching programs must therefore proactively create psychological safety so that strain becomes visible and addressable.

What Managers of Managers Specifically Need to Be Able to Do

To design development programs, HR needs a clear competency model. Based on the frameworks from McKinsey and DDI, four core competency areas can be identified for the manager of managers that differ fundamentally from the team leader level:

Crucially, these competencies are not developed through technical training. The real problem lies in the fact that companies continue to promote people based on technical rather than interpersonal skills. What is missing is leadership development – not more technical expertise.

How HR Can Make Coaching for Managers of Managers Scalable

The most common question from L&D teams is not whether managers of managers need coaching, but how this can be scaled organizationally and financially. In-person coaching for individuals is well established at leadership level, but quickly becomes a cost problem for larger groups. At the same time, e-learning platforms typically show activation rates of only 10–20 % for this target group – too low to truly address the development need.

Cost Comparison: In-Person Coaching vs. Digital 1:1 Coaching

The cost comparison shows: digital 1:1 coaching is not only cheaper than in-person individual coaching, but also offers the highest measurability. This is decisive for HR teams that need to demonstrate ROI to the CFO or the executive board. There is also the attrition perspective: with an average annual salary of €110,000 in middle management, the replacement cost per departure amounts to €165,000–220,000. Just two to three prevented departures per year fully justify the investment in a digital coaching program.

Demonstrating ROI to the CFO and Executive Board

The PLÜCOM Trend Study Leadership Mittelstand 2026 finds that two-thirds of respondents expect the importance of leadership development to grow, while at the same time there is a significant investment gap. Leadership development must be firmly anchored as an ongoing task within strategy, planning, and budget. For L&D teams, this means: the argumentation toward senior management must go beyond activation rates and competency development and address concrete business outcomes.

Relevant KPIs for demonstrating the ROI of a coaching program for managers of managers include: activation rates compared to e-learning alternatives, competency development in defined focus areas, changes in attrition within coached teams, and engagement scores before and after the intervention. Sharpist's digital coaching platform delivers these metrics in real time via an L&D dashboard – without manual reporting effort for HR teams.

Practical Examples: How Sharpist Customers Develop This Level

The proven benefits of executive coaching become particularly clear when companies deliberately involve the middle management level. Sharpist customers report measurable results directly attributable to the development of managers at this level:

LVMH recorded a +18 % improvement in leadership competencies through the use of Sharpist – a result that directly demonstrates the impact of structured 1:1 coaching on leadership quality in middle management. IKEA Switzerland achieved a +8–10 % improved leadership index in a decentralized, international corporate context – proof of the scalability of the approach across locations and hierarchical levels.

Particularly relevant in the context of current delayering trends is the result achieved by Miro: the company achieved 100 % retention of key personnel during a comprehensive restructuring – a result that shows how targeted coaching at the middle management level prevents talent attrition during critical phases. For Airbus, Sharpist's flexible credit system enabled the coaching program to be scaled across multiple locations and hierarchical levels – exactly the challenge that L&D teams face when rolling out programs to 100+ managers of managers.

5 Steps to a Pilot Program for Your Heads of Department

A coaching program for managers of managers does not have to begin with a large-scale rollout. Success rates for coaching programs are highest when the launch is structured, focused, and equipped with clear KPIs. The following five steps help HR teams set up a pilot that is internally scalable and delivers proof of ROI.

Conclusion

The manager of managers is the most underestimated level in the leadership pipeline. They are under the greatest pressure, have the largest multiplier effect on the entire organization, and are at the same time most frequently overlooked by structured development programs. For HR teams that want to truly scale leadership quality, this level is the decisive lever.

The challenges are clear: growing spans of control, burnout risk, a structural self-perception vs. external perception gap, and pressure from organizational delayering. The solution does not lie in further in-person seminars, but in a personalized coaching approach that integrates into the workflow, delivers measurable results, and is scalable across the entire middle management level.

The Sharpist Hybrid Journey combines exactly this: 1:1 coaching with a certified business coach from the certified coach network, an AI coach for on-demand support between sessions, personalized micro tasks for learning in everyday work, and structured action items after every session. HR teams retain full visibility via the L&D dashboard – without administrative effort, with real-time analytics, and with the data needed to demonstrate ROI to senior management.

FAQ

What Distinguishes a "Manager of Managers" From a Team Leader?

A team leader directly manages operational employees and is still strongly involved in daily task execution. The manager of managers, by contrast, leads other leaders – for example team leaders or group leaders – and thus operates indirectly through enablement rather than direct instruction. This level requires different competencies: strategic thinking, coaching ability as a leadership style, and the ability to make corporate strategy translatable for operational leaders.

Why Is Coaching Particularly Effective at This Leadership Level?

Because the effect multiplies: a manager of managers who develops coaching competence passes this ability on to the leaders reporting to them, who in turn lead their teams better. McKinsey therefore refers to this level as "talent multipliers." At the same time, according to Gallup, managers influence 70 % of the variance in team engagement – overburdened or poorly developed managers at this level therefore affect hundreds of employees.

How Can Coaching Be Scaled for 50 or 100 Heads of Department Without Exceeding the Budget?

Digital coaching platforms offer a decisive advantage here over in-person individual coaching: lower overall costs, minimal downtime, and significantly higher activation rates than e-learning alternatives. With its hybrid approach of human coaching, AI coach, and micro tasks, Sharpist achieves 80–90 % activation rates compared to the typical 10–20 % for pure e-learning platforms. The flexible credit system enables demand-based resource allocation across different departments and hierarchical levels.

How Do I Measure the ROI of a Coaching Program for Middle Management?

Relevant KPIs include activation rates, competency development in defined focus areas, changes in engagement scores within coached teams, and attrition rates at the team leader level. The attrition perspective is particularly compelling for CFOs: with average replacement costs of €165,000–220,000 per middle management departure, just two to three prevented departures per year fully justify the investment in a digital coaching program. Sharpist delivers these metrics automatically via the L&D dashboard, with no additional reporting effort for HR teams.

How Do I Get Started as an HR Team With a Coaching Program for Managers of Managers?

A structured pilot with the group that has the most urgent development need is recommended – identified via existing engagement data or attrition rates at the team leader level. A pilot with 15–25 managers, clear focus areas, and a baseline measurement at the start delivers the first measurable results after 90 days, which can be used for internal scaling arguments. Sharpist supports HR teams from pilot design through to organization-wide rollout – with minimal administrative effort thanks to the platform's zero-admin principle.