At the heart of the middle manager experience these days there’s a tension between high expectations and limited capacity which creates overwhelm. This article explores how the psychological safety of the coaching call helped a client – let’s call her Misha – move from being overwhelmed and reactive to working more intentionally.
Misha’s experience reflects a set of challenges that are very common for managers in the public sector, particularly those experiencing the “transition shock” of stepping into more senior, complex roles. This HBR article talks more about these challenges. I call it the muddle in the middle.
Am I good enough?
One of Misha’s core challenges is confidence and self-belief. Despite being appointed into a senior role, she worries about whether she is “good enough,” particularly when following a well-liked predecessor. It takes time to develop trust and psychological safety with peers and new managers. Her sense of imposter thinking is compounded by past experiences which are acute and triggering. The seniority of her new role means there’s less frequent contact with her line manager and therefore a lack of regular validation. This leaves her questioning her value even when evidence suggests she is capable and making an impact.
Capacity is an issue
Alongside this, she is experiencing overwhelm and workload pressure. Her role is demanding, with constant emails, complex issues, and competing priorities. Funding cuts, unrealistic planning and near constant staff sickness have contributed to a lack of capacity in the system. This is felt particularly acutely in her public-facing department. She describes feeling demoralised when she cannot keep up, particularly when her inbox becomes unmanageable. This creates a cycle where she feels she is failing, despite working hard and already implementing good time management strategies.
There is also a strong theme of over-responsibility. She feels she needs to drive everything, often stepping into a “rescuer” role rather than enabling her team to take ownership. At the same time, she wants to develop her team and create a more empowered culture but finds it difficult to step back in practice.
The emotional load
Another challenge is balancing wellbeing with professional demands. She recognises that long hours, back-to-back meetings, and constant pressure are unsustainable, yet finds it hard to set and maintain boundaries. This is a common experience in public sector roles, where there is often a strong sense of duty and limited resources.
These challenges would resonate widely, were she to share them. Many public sector managers experience similar pressures: feeling stretched and questioning their capability. They try to do too much themselves, and struggle to move from operational delivery into more strategic leadership. The emotional load—combined with structural constraints such as funding cuts—makes these issues even more acute. But Misha doesn’t share how she feels because there’s a lack of psychological safety in the structure. She’s no longer one of the team, but not yet one of the board. And deep down there’s a (limiting) self-belief which says that it’s somehow her fault! Welcome to the muddle in the middle.
The value of a safe thinking space
Coaching offered Misha a powerful type of support – a safe thinking space. Psychological safety is the environment in which everyone feels safe to belong, to learn by asking questions, by contributing their own views and to challenge those of others without fear of judgement. It’s a key component of coaching meetings, phone and video calls. For me, it means that I ask questions to help the client to perceive differently, not because I don’t believe her or because I’m making a judgement about her capabilities. I encourage her to take a risk by looking at a situation in more detail or from a different perspective. And I ensure that there are no negative consequences when she does so, only affirmation.
Creating psychological safety helped Misha to think more clearly, enabling her to step back from the noise and reframe what was actually achievable. It also supported a shift in mindset, such as moving away from perfectionism and “good girl syndrome” towards prioritisation and self-compassion.
Importantly, she had already built a strong relationship with her line manager. They had established open lines of communication, and high levels of trust. He normalised coaching as developmental rather than corrective, which in turn dismantled some of the imposter syndrome feelings that Misha carried from previous line management relationships. Shout out to enlightened managers!
Ultimately, coaching helped Misha develop practical strategies —from setting boundaries and managing her time more effectively, to delegating and building team ownership. It also provided a space to rebuild her confidence, challenge her limiting beliefs, and recognise the value she brings to both work and personal situations. Over time, coaching supported Misha to move from feeling overwhelmed and reactive to feeling more intentional, confident, and in control of how she leads.
It takes courage to ask for help, and strength to put boundaries in place, particularly when they don’t solve problems immediately. If you’d like to share your muddle with someone who has been there and can support you as you navigate your way through it, please get in touch.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash