Whenever ethics in organisations is discussed, ethical leadership appears to be the default topic of choice irrespective of the media used to convey authors’ and speakers’ messages and their intended audiences. Unfortunately, content that addresses ethical leadership often treats it as a blanket statement. It is therefore often interpreted to refer to leadership at either the highest levels of institutions or organisations, or to ethical leadership in general, with the assumption that it applies to leaders generally. Ethical leadership is thus often viewed as the domain of societal leaders, Boards (governing bodies), executives, and sometimes senior management. Middle management rarely features as a significant role player in such discussions, or is simply assumed to be covered by the broad brushstroke of ‘leadership’.

Can we then accept that middle management is only somewhat responsible for the ethical ‘tone at the top’, as a colloquially favourite expression? It is not that simple, however. Perhaps Mervyn King provided the answer when he referred to an organisation as an orchestra consisting of the tone at the top, the tune in the middle and the beat of the feet at the bottom.

Playing the tune in the middle is often experienced as being caught between a rock, represented by senior leadership, and a hard place, represented by the rest of the employees. This clearly poses problems for middle management in their obligation to pursue the inculcation of an ethical culture in the organisation.

Let us firstly consider how precarious the position of middle management in the organisation could generally be, though. Being a middle manager is often described as one of the most challenging positions in any organisation. In a sense, they are the forgotten people – forgotten because those in executive management positions, nowadays sometimes pretentiously referred to as the C-suite, and other GMs and senior managers soon forget what life is like in the middle once they get promoted and receive substantially higher salary packages than others. Management in the upper echelons may even be located in separate, more lavish office environments, where they rapidly lose touch with the realities faced by managers and employees in the rest of the organisation.

Middle managers, including upper middle management, middle management proper, junior managers and supervisors, are frequently caught between the expectations of senior leadership and the realities faced by employees on the ground. This position can create considerable tension and is, in many ways, an uncomfortable place to operate.

Although they form the link that aligns frontline employees with the goals and strategies of upper management, their authority is limited, and the range of decisions they can make is often restricted. They may feel that they have all the power, but also no power. They have influence, yet ultimately operate under someone else’s authority. That authority can be withdrawn or adjusted at any time. For many, it feels like permanently existing in a grey zone, positioned between authority and subordination, challenge and reward.

In walking the tightrope between expectations for performance from the top, while still functioning as the glue that holds the organisation and its outputs together, they either consciously, but often unconsciously, resort to the role of hard taskmaster. They also realise that, in order to climb the corporate ladder, they will ultimately be judged by output and results.

They often do not tolerate weakness. To ensure achievement of the unrealistic targets they may set, they practice management styles marked by micromanagement, exploitation, and even coercion, bullying, and intimidation to get the job done, thus engaging in unethical behaviour. Furthermore, a fixation on results may cause unethical behaviour by their subordinates to be overlooked in the pursuit of performance targets. Managers are often told to ‘lead ethically’ while chasing targets, but are quietly rewarded for cutting corners in pursuit of such targets. The life of a middle manager is to consistently maintain a firm understanding of the bigger picture, both results and ethics. This could become practically untenable.

Actually, the middle management band forms the backbone of the maturity of the organisational ethical culture that their behaviour may shape. Time and time again, organisational research has demonstrated that middle management either ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ ethical culture. Pressure to perform may thus hamper them in their role as ethical culture carriers, a role that is also expected of them. As such, they find it difficult to make ethics real for those whom they manage. Middle managers often suffer from ethical lethargy; they are aware of a general ethical obligation but are not sure what to do and eventually fail to act at any level. Most likely, they need to learn to balance competing commitments of right versus right by balancing expectations of different stakeholder groups.

When leaders are asked what they could practically do to build an ethical culture in their organisations, that is, doing justice to playing of the tune in the middle, the default and instinctive first reaction is ‘leading by example’. Easier said than done. Managers could appear to act ethically yet still fall short in demonstrating an all-round ethics competence. For employees to view management as the organisation’s moral compass, their role in building an ethical culture goes far beyond merely being seen to be ‘good people’.

They need to be ethically aware by understanding and embracing the importance of ethics for the organisation, be au fait with company policies and compliance requirements, and know the ethics risks that need to be anticipated and managed. An assertive approach to speaking up and disagreeing with what they perceive to be wrongdoing, meaning decisions and actions that could harm stakeholders, is required; this shows ethical courage.

Middle managers should be empowered and supported to assist employees to convert the organisation’s ethical values into observable and measurable behaviours. They need to foster open dialogue with employees, listen to and address their concerns, and ensure that two-way communication is firmly established. Their role further includes responding to ethical issues, offering transparent feedback, and treating others fairly, consistently, and respectfully. Organisations should also provide formal and informal structures to help middle managers serve as ethical resources and support systems for their teams. Probably most importantly, they need to hold both employees and themselves accountable for ethically questionable behaviour by applying standards consistently, openly and fairly.

Organisations should take the fact seriously that managers do not automatically possess superpowers to enact ethical competence. They require continuous ethics training, with specific emphasis on:

1) Recognising ethics blindspots and the identification of ethical challenges, including those that are not immediately discernable as being potentially ethically problematic.

2) Solving dilemmas that range from those with obvious solutions to others that require complex ethical analyses and decision-making.

3) Responding to those who raise ethical concerns with empathy and taking appropriate action.

4) Besides identifying and acting upon wrongdoing, also ‘catching those who do right’ by recognising employees that make sound ethical decisions or even save costs for the organisation or prevent reputational damage.

5) Acquiring an understanding that everyday decisions and actions send signals to employees that could either enhance or undermine their perceptions of the ethical culture that exists in the organisation.

Middle management do not have to be caught between a rock and a hard place. By acquiring ethical legitimacy, they can contribute more meaningfully to both the financial success of the organisation and its ethical culture and consequently, its reputation. Playing the tune of ethical leadership in the middle does not have to be a compromise between delivering results and doing the right thing; it should be viewed as an enterprise in harmony.

Leon van Vuuren is Executive: Organisational Ethics at The Ethics Institute. He is an adjunct professor in Organisational Psychology at UCT and an extraordinary professor in Industrial Psychology at Stellenbosch University.