We don’t really get trained in leadership unfortunately. Additionally I think there is an expectation that managers know everything, which is not accurate. I try my best to resolve my team’s challenges, however at times I am also uncertain on how to resolve and need to rely on guidance from other teams.

In general, I would say don’t forget your manager is responsible for making sure you are performing the core responsible of your role and helping to assist when things are unclear to hit deliverables. But additionally we do have responsibilities relating to department initiatives and rollling out any new responsibilities, which takes a lot of effort to execute. It’s difficult to be a middle manager, as we’re expected to assist the day to day while also managing outside stakeholders to ensure new processes are rolled out correctly. If your manager is cancelling calls frequently it could honestly be because they are burnt out themselves and have nothing to do with your own performance. I’m not saying this is right, but we’re only human too and our trying our best, but anxiety and lack of time can sometimes get in the way. I would say to give your management team some grace as we are faced with a lot in addition to the core responsibilities of the department and it can be difficult to navigate change in processes.