Middle Manager Mastery

Middle Manager Mastery helps transform Middle Managers into High Impact Leaders.In each episode, Shruti Rustagi sits down with senior leaders, founders, and experts to unpack the tools to move the managers from Execution to Influence and Impact. Real conversations. Honest insights. No fluff. Tools & Techniques on how to:→ Hone Executive Communication → Build Executive Presence→ Lead through change and disruption→ Manage Up , down and sideways→ Supercharge Productivity→ Address Imposter Syndrome→ Deal with a Difficult boss, toxic workplace→ Strengthen Emotional Intelligence

Middle Manager Mastery is a business podcast hosted by Shruti Rustagi, with 19 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Shruti Rustagi hosts Middle Manager Mastery, a business show with 19 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Middle Manager Mastery

  How to Influence Without Authority | Soumak Nasker on Building Trust, Credibility & Leadership

  Aug 17, 202625 min

  What if you could get people to listen, collaborate and take action, even when you have no formal authority over them? In this episode of Middle Manager Mastery, Shruti Rustagi speaks with Soumak Nasker, Country Lead at Publicis Health India, about one of the most valuable and often overlooked leadership skills: influencing without authority. Drawing from nearly two decades of experience across healthcare, CPG, advertising and technology, Soumak shares practical lessons on building trust, creating alignment and getting people to move toward a shared objective without relying on hierarchy or designation. The conversation explores why influence starts long before you get a leadership title, and why the first few years of your career are the perfect time to start building this skill. About Soumak: Soumak Nasker is the Country Lead for Publicis Health India, with nearly two decades of experience across healthcare, CPG advertising and technology. He has worked with global pharma, healthcare and consumer brands across India and Southeast Asia, specialising in leadership, cross-functional collaboration and influencing without authority. Timestamps: 01:10 - Meet Shaumak Naskar 01:51 - Why Authority Alone Doesn't Create Influence 03:00 - A Leadership Lesson From Singapore 05:22 - Put the Organisation at the Centre 08:28 - Building Your Social Currency 09:30 - Learning to See Problems Through Their Lens 14:07 - When Influence Goes Wrong 16:33 - From Mandate to Genuine Ownership 18:00 - Stop Making It About You 20:00 - Influencing Senior Leaders Without Authority 22:04 - Bringing Alignment Into the Room 23:26 - The Power of Pre-Binding 24:38 - Why You Should Build This Skill Early 25:00 - Practice Is What Turns Influence Into a Leadership Muscle If you're a middle manager navigating cross-functional teams, managing stakeholders or trying to make things happen without having formal authority, this episode offers practical ideas you can start applying immediately.

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  Middle Manager Mastery

  What Great Middle Managers Do Differently | Anil Srinivas

  Aug 10, 202644 min

  What does it take to become a better middle manager, not just someone who gets the work done, but someone who builds capable teams, manages priorities, and creates strong relationships across an organization? In this episode of Middle Manager Mastery , I speak with Anil Chilla , a corporate leader with 25 years of experience across digital businesses, transformations, and multi-market leadership. We discuss the realities of middle management through practical examples from Anil's career, covering delegation, coaching, prioritization, burnout, managing upwards, disagreement, and stakeholder relationships. About Anil: Anil Chilla is a bestselling author, leadership educator, and former senior executive at L’Oréal, Levi’s, and Dell with 25+ years of leadership experience across Asia. He combines practical business experience with insights from the Ramayana and Indian Knowledge Systems. Timestamps: 01:14 - Why delegation feels terrifying 02:23 - When too much delegation goes wrong 05:07 - When should a manager step in? 07:12 - Relationships vs. deliverables 09:04 - Three ways to get a project back on track 13:08 - Delegating when your team is already overloaded 13:35 - The “ball should never be in your court” principle 15:44 - Preventing burnout through prioritization 17:59 - The 70/30 rule for managing priorities 19:19 - Coaching instead of firefighting 23:02 - Why one-on-ones should start with the person 24:51 - Managing agencies and external partners 26:01 - How to disagree with leadership effectively 28:16 - A real example of “disagree but commit” 33:00 - The art of managing upwards 35:00 - How to say no without being abrasive 36:55 - Never bring a problem without a solution 38:45 - Practical ways to push back 41:24 - The biggest leadership lesson: invest in relationships 43:29 - Final takeaway

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  Middle Manager Mastery

  The Leadership Skills Every Manager Needs | Nitika Nagpal | Middle Manager Mastery

  Aug 3, 202652 min

  What separates great leaders from overwhelmed managers? Often, it's not intelligence or experience—it's the ability to delegate effectively. In this episode of Middle Manager Mastery , I sit down with Nitika Nagpal to discuss why delegation feels so difficult, how to avoid becoming the bottleneck, and what it truly means to lead high-performing teams. From micromanagement and strategic thinking to navigating organizational change, AI disruption, and authentic leadership, Nitika shares practical lessons from nearly two decades of leading global teams across P&G, MediaCom, and the LEGO Group. Whether you're a first-time manager or an experienced leader, this conversation is packed with actionable insights you can apply immediately. About Nitika:Nitika Nagpal is a marketing leader with 17+ years of global experience driving brand growth, innovation, and high-performing teams across leading companies including P&G, MediaCom, and the LEGO Group. Timestamp: 00:00 – Introduction: Meet Nitika Nagpal 01:23 – Why delegation feels so difficult 03:42 – The moment Nitika realized she was the bottleneck 05:52 – Should you step in or let your team figure it out? 08:01 – How her approach to delegation evolved over time 11:12 – Leading through AI, uncertainty, and constant change 15:16 – Communicating organizational transformation without creating panic 19:10 – Handling career progression concerns during change 21:23 – Coaching teams through AI anxiety and career uncertainty 23:29 – Honest leadership vs. oversharing 26:16 – Boosting team morale during difficult decisions 33:30 – What strategic thinking actually means 37:38 – When strategy fails: Lessons from a product launch 43:30 – How to make time for strategic thinking 47:51 – Advice for first-time managers 50:46 – Final leadership lessons: Cause good trouble

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  Middle Manager Mastery

  From Execution to Strategy: How Great Middle Managers Become Business Leaders | Featuring Yogesh Garde

  Jul 28, 202645 min

  In this episode of Middle Manager Mastery , I sit down with Yogesh Garde , Vice President of Digital Strategy & Transformation at PepsiCo. With over 22 years of experience across PepsiCo, Deloitte, IBM, and consulting, Yogesh shares practical lessons on transitioning from being an exceptional executor to becoming a strategic business leader. The conversation explores what separates high-performing middle managers from executives, how to develop strategic thinking, influence without authority, navigate AI-driven disruption, and create psychologically safe teams that innovate and grow. About Yogesh Yogesh Garde is the Vice President of Digital Strategy & Transformation at PepsiCo. Over the past two decades, he has led large-scale digital transformations, built global capability centers, scaled product organizations, and helped organizations navigate complex change through strategy, innovation, and leadership. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro & Welcome 01:16 Why strategic thinking matters for middle managers 02:15 The career shift from execution to strategy 05:25 How to build strategic thinking as a daily habit 11:15 Using OKRs to prioritize what truly matters 15:39 Influence without authority & speaking your stakeholders' language 17:51 The biggest mindset mistakes middle managers make 24:18 AI, disruption & keeping teams motivated through change 31:50 Is AI making us less creative? 36:07 Does AI free up time- or just create more work? 39:40 Building psychological safety in teams 43:45 Final leadership advice for every middle manager 45:18 Outro

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  Middle Manager Mastery

  Influencing Without Authority: The Leadership Skill Every Middle Manager Needs with Nishith

  Jul 20, 202639 min

  How do you influence people who don't report to you? How do you build trust across teams, disagree with leadership without damaging relationships, and get work done when everyone has different priorities? In this episode of Middle Manager Mastery , I sit down with Nishith Kumar , Head of Partnerships at NextHealth and former leader at Uber, to unpack the practical skills every middle manager needs to lead through influence rather than authority. Drawing from over two decades of experience across fintech, mobility, and healthcare, Nishith shares real stories about stakeholder management, cross-functional leadership, escalation, constructive dissent, and building relationships that accelerate execution. Whether you're managing projects across teams, navigating matrix organizations, or preparing for leadership roles, this conversation is packed with actionable frameworks you can start applying immediately. About Nishith: He has spent 20 years building the partnerships that move industries forward. He scaled ecosystems across fintech, mobility, and healthcare, and he knows what it takes to lead without a title in some of the world's most complex organizations. Today, as head of partnerships at NextHealth, he is writing the future of how healthcare connects. Timestamps: 00:00 - "You don't lose because your idea is wrong—you lose because you pitched it in your language, not somebody else's." 00:08 - Introduction to Nishith Kumar and today's topic: influencing without authority. 00:53 - The challenge of leading cross-functional teams without formal authority. 01:39 - The Uber connected-car story: why the idea initially failed. 02:37 - Stop selling the feature. Start selling the future. 03:23 - Speaking the language of every stakeholder. 04:00 - Understanding what keeps different teams up at night. 05:33 - Why relationships are built through work, not outside of it. 06:01 - The three foundations of strong professional relationships. 07:05 - The Christmas Day story: relationships that saved a critical deal. 08:16 - Why relationships are the infrastructure behind execution. 09:41 - Not every relationship needs the same level of investment. 11:21 - Learning the hard way: waiting too long to escalate. 11:30 - The two types of escalation every leader should know. 12:50 - Escalate outcomes—not people. 14:13 - Finding bridges instead of creating conflict. 15:23 - Shruti's framework for solving cross-functional blockers. 17:11 - Executing a strategy you don't completely agree with. 18:24 - Becoming the bridge between strategy and execution. 19:14 - Three questions every middle manager should ask before executing. 19:39 - Why global strategies often fail without local context. 21:02 - Challenge assumptions, then commit to execution. 22:08 - Focus on the intent behind the strategy. 23:03 - Why leaders must keep repeating the "why." 24:48 - The right way to disagree with leadership. 25:16 - Why timing matters when expressing dissent. 26:11 - Replace "I disagree" with "Let's stress-test this assumption." 28:22 - Bring solutions, not just problems. 29:08 - The power of thoughtful language in difficult conversations. 31:22 - Help people look good while influencing change. 33:16 - Resource constraints create clarity. 34:12 - Building a single source of truth. 36:03 – Accountability comes from clarity, not authority. 37:55 - Final advice: Assume people want the same outcome as you.

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