Managing Middle Managers Help valuable middle managers bring out the best in your business.

A decade ago, middle managers were reviled as resource-hogging deadwood, and companies eliminated countless middle management jobs in a frenzy of de-layering. Today, however, that's turned around, and entrepreneurs such as Brad Heath are making sure that their managers in the middle are numerous, skilled and motivated enough to help their companies grow.

"They're very important because I can't focus on all the different areas that they do and give those adequate attention," says Heath, founder and CEO of VirTex Assembly Services Inc., a $10 million Austin, Texas, electronics manufacturing company that includes a dozen middle managers on its 45-person payroll. "If I try to do that, I can't focus on my mission, which is charting the direction of the company," explains Heath, 44.

One reason for middle managers' renaissance is that millions of baby boomer midlevel managers will soon be reaching retirement age, says Vince Thompson, a Los Angeles middle manager and author of Ignited: Managers, Light Up Your Company and Career for More Power, More Purpose and More Success. Another is the realization that they play key roles in helping companies manage change and communicate with customers--two areas of concern today. "They're more critical to the success of a company than ever before," says Thompson. "And they're in shorter supply than they have ever been."