Last evening, during my usual commute from Koparkhairne to Thane, I overheard a conversation between two regular co-travellers in the local. One of them was a mid-level manager, and in just those twenty minutes, he unpacked what thousands of mid-career professionals silently go through every day.
No loud complaints.
No drama.
Just raw truth layered in tired humour.
“Uparwale bolte result lao”
He spoke about how leadership wants outcomes. Big numbers, short timelines, stretched goals.
But the teams are small, systems are half done, and clarity is a moving target.
Targets are fixed
Resources are floating
Execution is somehow expected to “just happen”
When things slow down, no one looks upward and asks why capacity is missing.
The easiest place to assign responsibility is the middle.
“Neeche wale bolte seekhna hai”
Then he mentioned juniors. Fresh energy. Curiosity. Good intent.
But they are still in the learning stage, not yet in the ownership stage.
They like to explore first
But delivery still lands on the mid-layer
Not because juniors don’t care
But because the clock doesn’t pause
So the person in the middle becomes a trainer and executor at the same time.
The crack that exposed the pressure
He also recalled one incident
A review meeting with everyone present – top to bottom
Another set of unrealistic expectations
And for barely ten seconds, his patience slipped
Not shouting
Not rude
Just honest without polishing the words
The room went silent
He said “poora saal ka pressure kisi ko nahi dikhta… par woh 10 second sabko yaad rehte”
People remember the reaction
Not the buildup
Not the weight sitting behind it
“Aur beech mein hum”
This is the part that hits the hardest
Not junior enough to be forgiven
Not senior enough to be protected
Just stuck with responsibility without full control
This is the invisible layer that keeps the system from falling apart
The silent labour no one measures
The job is not just execution
It is absorbing friction
Turning unclear instructions into workable action
Mentoring while delivering
Carrying timelines without enough people
Protecting outcomes without authority
It is emotional strength disguised as “managing work”
And yet, they keep showing up
Not because it is easy
But because if they don’t, nothing moves
As the train slowed at Thane, he got up quietly
No applause
No credit
No recognition
Just another day of showing up
And maybe they hold on because they believe this phase will change
That someday they will move upward, not downward
And when that day comes, they’ll fix what they had to survive through.
