<p><b>If you''re thinking of cutting your midlevel managers in the new world of work, think again.</b></p><p>"Middle manager." The term evokes a bygone industrial era in which managers functioned like cogs in a vast bureaucratic machine. In recent decades, midlevel managers became a favorite target for the chopping block—underappreciated, often considered a superfluous layer of the organization.</p><p>Not only does this outdated perspective need to change, but the future demands it. In <i>Power to the Middle</i>, McKinsey thought leaders Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, and Emily Field call for a profound reimagining of managers and their roles. They explain how middle managers are uniquely positioned close to the ground but with a crucial connection to company strategy, enabling them to guide their organizations through periods of rapid and complex change, as well as to help shape the new world of work.</p><p>The authors compellingly illustrate this deep shift in the work