You only live once but if you do it right, once is enough

Before strategy takes flight.
Before transformation is visible.
Before dashboards reflect progress…

It begins quietly, with a conversation, a point of view, a decision made deeper in the ranks.
In Global Capability Centers, this management layer is often overlooked, but that’s exactly where the real acceleration lives.

Operations Managers.
Team leads.
Department & Support function heads.
The bridge between vision and execution.

These leaders are not just deliverers of tasks but are multipliers of thinking. In any transformation, we spend time crafting enterprise strategy, rolling out initiatives, and aligning senior leaders. However in the everyday trenches, where priorities shift, problems arise, and people need clarity, it’s the mid-level leaders who carry the weight of translation.

Yet, we often underinvest in them.

We train them to report.
We train them to comply.
We ask them to manage people, but not multiply thinking.

If mid-level leaders feel like they’re just implementers, we miss the opportunity to expand capacity and scale influence. It creates a ceiling on creativity and we fall back into top heavy execution models where decisions clog up at the top. However when you invest in their strategic thinking, when you give them space to lead, not just manage, they stop waiting for transformation to be handed down.

What can leaders do differently?

✅ Build strategic fluency
Train middle managers in business acumen, data storytelling, and systems thinking not just operations and people management.

✅ Create leadership playgrounds
Give them stretch assignments, not just tasks. Let them own a problem before you give them a solution.

✅ Pair visibility with voice
Bring them into stakeholder forums not just to present, but to contribute. Watch how their ownership expands when their perspective is heard.

✅ Treat them as co-designers
Involve them when defining transformation goals. They know where the gaps are and how change will actually land.

So the next time you’re designing an operating model or leading transformation…

Ask yourself not just:
“What are we asking them to do?”
But: “How are we helping them think?”

That’s where the multiplier effect begins.