#640 Break Through Middle Management with Authentic Leadership with Jennifer Jensen

Are you a high performer stuck in middle management, wondering why hard work isn’t enough to move you forward? 

In this episode of Talking with the Experts, host Rose Davidson speaks with leadership coach and author Jennifer Jensen about why so many talented professionals remain invisible to senior leadership and how to break through.

Jennifer explains that excelling at tasks alone doesn’t open doors to executive roles—what’s needed is authenticity, executive presence, and the ability to influence without authority. You’ll discover how to build confidence, visibility, and communication skills that make you stand out, while learning strategies to persuade, align with organizational goals, and lead authentically even without a formal title.

Equally important, Jennifer shares practical tools for avoiding burnout—delegation, time management, and self-care—so you can sustain performance while protecting your health.

This episode is your roadmap to transforming from an overlooked high performer into a visible, authentic leader ready for executive growth.

🔗 CONNECT WITH JENNIFER

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/authentic-leader-ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authenticleader.ca/

Website: https://authenticleader.ca/

📌 PROMOTION: https://www.amazon.com/Developing-Authentic-Leaders-Practical-Guide/dp/1779415672/

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Transcript

Intro | 00:00
Business insights on talking with the experts. Hosted by Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:10
The leadership gap often traps high performers in middle management due to a lack of executive presence, influence and strategic skills needed to advance. Breaking through requires shifting from task-focused excellence to mastering visibility, decision-making and relationship building with senior leaders. My guest Jennifer Jensen is going to share with us How Emerging Leaders Can Embrace Authenticity to Elevate Skills and Breakthrough Middle Management. Is an authentic, leader herself and she transforms leaders into authentic selves through one-on-one and advisory, leadership programs, and psychometric tools delivering measurable transformational results. Addressing the leadership crisis where most encounter few exceptional leaders, her engaging evidence-based approach equips next generation leaders with self-awareness and collaboration skills for complex business environments. As author of Developing Authentic Leaders, Jennifer leverages her experience leading high accountability teams without formal authority to develop emerging managers. Managers and directors. Her practical strategies bridge critical leadership gaps, fostering influence and growth. Jennifer, that certainly was a mouthful, but please, I'd love to welcome you to Talking With The Experts. I am really excited to get you to share what you know about being authentic leaders. 

 Jennifer | 01:44
Thank you so much for having me and I'm excited to be here. 

 Rose | 01:47
Wonderful. Brought you to this. Way of doing business? Why did you choose, this pathway. 

 Jennifer | 01:58
So the reason I chose it was because of being a project manager for many years and mentoring individuals and advising leaders, I found there was a huge gap. And there wasn't really anybody filling it and organizations weren't recognizing the middle managers and what they have to deal with on a day to day basis, especially since I was one of them. And so I wanted to bring that to the forefront. And that's why I wrote the book and why I started the company authentic leader. 

 Rose | 02:29
Yeah, middle managers are often the forgotten people mix in the team really aren't they I mean I was a middle manager at one time and you know you get the juniors are looked after and the in the shop floor people are looked after and the high executives are looked after but the middle management are the ones that are you know doing all the delegating and doing all the work. Get very little recognition for what they do. 

 Jennifer | 02:58
Totally. And what's really sad too is that middle managers, they're used to being the... Subject matter expert and now they're having to change their mindset and how do they do that? Especially in these environments where they're not getting the leadership training or support that they need. 

 Rose | 03:18
Yeah, absolutely. So how can we develop an executive presence? 
 You know, so high performance, you know, they need to learn how to cultivate confidence and, you know, strategic communication and visibility to stand out. How do they do that? 

 Jennifer | 03:34
So they've got to start changing their mindset, which is one of the hardest things to do. And they've got to start seeing themselves as. A business architect who sees the interconnections across all the functions not just what they were normally doing beforehand as the subject matter expert, they should be delegating that now. And so it's changing your mindset. And starting to look at the, broader picture. 
 And then you need to start to get comfortable with ambiguity. Navigating that and understanding your stakeholders. 

 Rose | 04:12
- Yeah, and that can always be challenging, you know, when you're dealing with a mixed bag of people and, you know, different personalities and, you know, different skill sets and all those sorts of things. And I think, you know, to be a manager, He's not necessarily, I think you need to be more of a leader or learn to be a leader. How do we go about doing that? 
 You know, it's not an easy transition from being a manager to a leader. 

 Jennifer | 04:40
No, and the biggest thing and foundationally is becoming more self aware, and that's understanding who you are, why you respond the way you do, so that you can be more effective, and then you can understand your team, and then start to build your team, if you understand them. And why they're responding the way they do. And so I use psychometric tools to support that. And that way we can understand who you are Like insight, there's insight and disc. I use Lumina Learning. And so we do the four colors, like those other ones. 
 And then we take it down to eight characteristics, and then down to 24 qualities. And then we look at those 24 qualities, when you're most comfortable. At home, when you're at work, your everyday and what you present to the world, and then when you're overextended. 
 And then when you're overextended, we start to do a journey to composure so that you can understand why you would respond the way you do and then how you can change some of your behaviors. 

 Rose | 05:44
It's interesting, these psychometric tools that are used like DISC and I've not heard of the one that you just mentioned. Could you tell me a little bit more about that one? 

 Jennifer | 05:56
So I did a lot of research before I got qualified in it. And what I love about it is that. They make no assumptions about who you are. And they don't, dictate what is the right answer or what you should be. For example, they'll say, you know, and you're 75% extrovert and 55% introvert. They're not going to make you go 100%. In These two areas. Or... In those other eight characteristics, they allow it to be assumption-free and you are putting who you are. And it's... I've asked at all my sessions, How accurate is this? What would you rate this percentage-wise? And it's usually around 90%. 

 Rose | 06:46
And what's the name of it? 

 Jennifer | 06:48
Lumina Learning is the organization and they do Lumina Spark and Lumina Leadership and 360 and Lumina Motion. And there's Sales Select. Different software that are different programs that I haven't got qualified on, but I'm working on those. 

 Rose | 07:07
Wonderful. Thank you. 
 So we need to learn how to master influence without authority. So how can we learn the critical skill of influencing others through, you know, using our persuasive skills, our active listening and aligning with organisational goals? 

 Jennifer | 07:23
So to influence, you listed one of them right off the bat is active listening, sitting there and being present and actually listening to the individual. And bringing them into situations where they are the ones telling you how what things are going to happen. I did this with project management. Time and time again on every project where I would bring in all the subject matter experts and get them to tell me what the timelines would be so that I wasn't dictating to them and that way I can hold them accountable because they gave me the information. And so you've just got to use different tools to get the team in there so that they feel like they're part of it. 
 And then you're influencing your team. And if you want to influence your team. Senior managers, then you've got to start showing that you are strategic, you've got the big picture, you're creating a mission, vision, values for your team that align with the organization overall. And you can pick up strategic projects so that you can show that you are a valued and a hidden gem within the organization.

 
 Rose | 08:34
Yeah, that's really important, you know. We often forget that we are, as middle managers, the hidden gem within the team. And I love your strategy about, you know, making the team come to you to tell you what their plans are rather than you dictating how the project should go. That way that they have to be accountable for their own actions, don't they? 

 Jennifer | 09:01
Totally. And it's fun to watch the team realize after you've done those sessions where you've had them tell you, and then you go, okay, well, you told me that you're going to get this done by this point. And they're like, wait a second, what? 
 Yeah, I did. And then they're like crap, I have to get this done now. 

 Rose | 09:21
Yeah. And I think that's a way of, Again, as a good leader is letting your team take control of the situation and, you know, using their own influence to get things done. 

 Jennifer | 09:36
Definitely. And food helps too. Just Because I've worked with teams where I think they were really far behind and in order to get them to get back on track with the project, I told them if they could do it within two weeks, I would buy them pizza or whatever they wanted for lunch. And I didn't expect them to do it, but they did it. 

 Rose | 09:57
It's interesting. Places I used to work, you know, they used to bring sweets, you know, like lollies, candies, and you'd have a bowl on your desk and you know, you could just eat as you wished. And there was never, It would never run out, so you could just go and fill up your bowl again. And it seemed to... That sugar rush, I think, and just the fact that the, organization was doing something even that small, brought about a sense of belonging, I think. 

 Jennifer | 10:31
Totally. And I do that even with my own organizations. Is bring in a whole bunch and I try and find different unique candies and put it in there so that they can go and try whatever they like. 

 Rose | 10:44
Yeah. One of the shops I need to go and visit is there's an American lolly store here somewhere. I'm going to find it because I miss some of the things like the Valentine's Day little cinnamon hearts. I miss those. I used to love those as a child and I'm going to go and find some more. 
 Well, maybe I'll send you some. That would be great. 
 Yeah, I love them. Okay, so a really great question is how do we avoid burnout as a middle manager because, you know... It is such a, you know, you've got the people from... Senior management and then you've got you know the people that are managing upwards how do we avoid burnout and what are some practical strategies that we can use? 

 Jennifer | 11:30
I think the key is being aware of how you're responding at home. Are you angry all the time and understanding that and how tired are you? And that flows into your office because it is coming from your office and your work environment. And so it's being aware. Aware of what's happening around you and how you're responding to situations and once you've identified that then it's you need to start setting boundaries and saying okay, I am certain point have to shut down I can't keep going and so you have to I Maybe even talk to your leader and say, "I can't keep going at this pace. We've got to do something about it." And having those conversations. I do it for myself personally and professionally, where I will say at a certain point at the time of day, I'm shutting off my technology because I don't need to be contacted right now. I need time out for myself so that I can. Be more effective. Tomorrow and the days ahead. 

 Rose | 12:34
Yeah, it's really important to take some self-care time, I think. It doesn't matter what level of management you are or, you know, what type of lady you are. It's really important to shut off the fear the phones and the computers and the laptops and the anything that's, you know, to do with technology and just even just sit in your office and just deep breathe for you know one or two minutes even is enough time sometimes just to get you back on track and It's a pity really that more organisations don't allow that to happen where people are allowed to leave their desk and take that self-care time. 
 You know, people are just expected to be at their desk for the eight or nine hours that, you know, that they're employed for. 

 Jennifer | 13:22
Totally. And it's... The world did change for a while where we had the hybrid model, and we seem to be going back to, we want people in their seats at the office. And that's unfortunate because... A lot of people were very productive at home. Because they had that time. 

 Rose | 13:42
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's, happening here too, like a lot of big bigger organisations demanding that people are bums on seats in the office. But some of the states here have actually legislated that work from home is allowed for two days a week. And they're stopping organisations from making people go back to the office full time. And I think that's a great strategy on their part because work from home, you're right, people were more productive because they were more relaxed. 

 Jennifer | 14:14
Yep. And they can, they're not interrupted all the time. I do understand going back to the office part-time because you miss those hallway conversations. And some people aren't productive. But that's where organized Organizations need to set the processes and the requirements if you are going to work from home so that you have a standard going forward. 

 Rose | 14:39
And I think it's really important that organisations set those standards from the outset of onboarding anyone and, you know, and make sure that they are understood. And if you're, you know, allowed to work from home for two or three days a week, it makes sure that, you know, that you're not. Putting on the nanny cam all the time to make sure that, you know, that their mouse strokes and their keystrokes are not monitored. Because I think that's really terrible. I think that's an invasion of privacy. 

 Jennifer | 15:10
Totally. And so if you don't trust your team, then do you have the right team? And, but one of the big things I would say is, Everybody needs to have their cameras on. When you're in meetings so that we can have those conversations and see each other because that's how you're gonna connect but I Measuring their keystrokes, that's way beyond. Then you have other issues.
 Rose | 15:36
- Of course you do. And you know, someone might not be productive for, you know, a little bit of time because, you know, something might've happened at home. One of their kids might've fallen down or something and hurt themselves and you can't, you know, There's got to be some leeway allowed. For those sorts of, eventuations, I guess. 

 Jennifer | 15:56
Totally. And if you can't, if you're going to do that, then you're not going to have a team that is going to be loyal or trustworthy. They're not going to trust you and they're not going to care. And is that really what you want?

 
 Rose | 16:09
No, I wouldn't want that in my organisation if I had one. It's for fact. Now, Jennifer can be found... On LinkedIn, on Instagram and her website. S t c d n dot Lead connect Hq.com. 

 Jennifer | 16:30
No. It's actually at AuthenticLeader.ca. 

 Rose | 16:35
Okay. I will put that in the show notes. And, People can find you at that website. And your book is available, Authentic Leaders Practical Guide on Amazon. Tell us a little bit about what's in the book, Jennifer. Jennifer. 

 Jennifer | 16:51
So this is a very different book. I did it all in bullet points, so it's not a lot of paragraphs and I did 52 topics so that and each topic is two to three pages max, so that you could do work on each. Topic once like every week you can pick a new one and you can do it or with yourself accountability partner or with your team if you want to develop them. And it's just looking at I have it broken down in several sections. One is your understanding yourself and then understanding what an authentic leader characteristics are, There's a section on communication and how to influence your team and how to build your team and then I tidbits of what could break leaders that most leaders don't do. And that's like your mission, vision, values. 

 Rose | 17:49
Sounds interesting. All right, people head over to Amazon and find out all about Developing Authentic Leaders Practical Guide by Jennifer Jensen. Give it a whirl. Is it available on Kindle as well or just written? 

 Jennifer | 18:06
No, it's on Kindle as well. 

 Rose | 18:08
Wonderful. So head on over to Amazon and grab a copy. Jennifer, it has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing with us how leaders can emerge and embrace authenticity. Hopefully, our viewers and listeners have got some value out of it and will turn around their middle management goals into something that is shiny and perfect. 

 Jennifer | 18:32
Thank you for having me on your show. 

 Rose | 18:34
Rose. Bye-bye for now. 

 Outro | 18:37
You've been listening to Talking With The Experts, hosted by Rose Davidson. Make sure you have a look at our back catalogue over at talkingwiththeexperts.com. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss out on any episode. We look forward to your company next time.