This is why middle managers have the least psychological safety (and it's not their fault)

"Most afternoons, I came home to an empty house, let myself in with my own key, and figured it out-homework and snacks. There was inherent trust from my parents that I'd figure it out, and everything would be alright. You learned fast. If you got stuck, you improvised. If you were scared, you got practical. If you needed help, you decided whether it was "worth" bothering anyone. And if you were the oldest-if you were parentified-you were given responsibilities without guidance, expected to "just know.""

"Thirty years later, I'm watching middle managers experience the exact same thing. We hand them keys instead of house rules, responsibilities instead of resources, and expectations instead of authority-then act surprised when they're exhausted, disengaged, or quietly looking for a way out. Harvard Business Review recently reported that middle managers feel less psychologically safe than their bosses and their teams. That should stop us in our tracks, because middle managers are the layer we rely on to translate strategy into reality-and reality into feedback"

Many children learned to manage after-school responsibilities alone, improvising when stuck and deciding when asking for help was worth it. Middle managers now undergo the same pattern: given responsibility without guidance, authority, or resources. Organizations hand keys instead of rules, responsibilities instead of resources, and expectations instead of authority, leading managers to become isolated, underresourced, and blamed when things break. Harvard Business Review reports that middle managers feel less psychologically safe than both their bosses and their teams. This undermines their ability to translate strategy into operational reality and to provide useful feedback to leaders, increasing exhaustion, disengagement, and turnover risk.

Read at Fast Company