Your strategy is clear.
Your people are capable.
So why does execution keep stalling?
The problem is not your strategy. It is not your people. It is the layer in between. I call it The Flabby Middle.
Your strategy is clear. Your people are capable. So why does execution keep stalling?
The problem is not your strategy. It is not your people. It is the layer in between. I call it The Flabby Middle.
The pattern I see in every struggling organization
The CEO sets direction. Clear. Ambitious. Well-communicated.
The frontline teams are capable. Skilled. Willing to deliver.
But somewhere between the boardroom and the project floor, things change shape. Decisions slow down. Priorities collide. Information gets filtered. Talented people get promoted into management and discover that nobody taught them how to lead. They work harder. They stay later. They produce better reports. And the gap gets wider.
I have spent 12 years inside this pattern. First as a project manager at Renault and Volvo, watching it happen around me. Then as an organizational development consultant, diagnosing it in companies across the Nordics.
The problem is always the same. Six structural gaps that form in the middle layer of the organization. I call them the Six Gaps. And together, they create what I call The Flabby Middle.
The Six Gaps
Every organization has a version of these. Most have never named them. Once you can see them, you can fix them.
The Clarity Gap
When “figure it out” becomes the operating system. Leaders held accountable for outcomes they were never clearly set up to achieve.
The Alignment Gap
Why effort does not turn into outcomes. Teams are capable and committed, but priorities collide and trade-offs stay implicit.
The Accountability Gap
When responsibility outpaces authority. Middle managers own results without owning the inputs, decisions, or consequences.
The Trust Gap
When people protect themselves instead of collaborating. Vulnerability is punished, so honesty goes underground.
The Feedback Gap
Why problems persist even when they are discussed. Conversations happen, but behavior does not change.
The Influence Gap
When leadership no longer follows the org chart. Results depend on cooperation that cannot be mandated.
Three ways to strengthen your organizational core
The Flabby Middle Keynote
For your leadership event, strategy day, or company kick-off. I put the Six Gaps framework in front of your team and let them see the pattern in their own organization. 60 to 90 minutes. Or a half-day workshop with live diagnostic exercises.
The Organizational Core Diagnostic
A 4-to-6 week assessment of your middle-management layer. I deploy the Six Gaps Assessment to 15-25 people, conduct executive interviews, and deliver a report that maps exactly where the gaps are, how deep they go, and what they cost. No guesswork. No generic recommendations.
The Organizational Core Program
A six-month intervention that closes the gaps. Built around your diagnostic results, not a generic curriculum. Monthly workshops, individual coaching, peer accountability, and a full reassessment at the end showing measurable change. For 15-25 middle managers.
Trusted by leaders at
“Working with Florin, I quickly realized how effective his approach was. I learned how to recognize and adjust my communication to fit the styles and needs of others, which has helped me connect in a more meaningful way.”
About Florin
I spent 12 years inside the organizations I now help fix.
At Renault and Volvo, I coordinated international engineering teams across cultures, time zones, and matrix structures. I watched talented people get promoted into management and discover that nobody had taught them the hardest part of the job: leading without authority, giving feedback in conflict-avoidant cultures, and translating strategy into action when the strategy keeps changing
I saw the same pattern everywhere. Not a people problem. A structural one.
That pattern became The Flabby Middle. A framework for diagnosing and fixing the six gaps that form in the middle layer of every growing organization.
Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, Trainer, and Speaker (11+ years). Cialdini Institute Certified Professional (founding member). Currently writing the book: The Flabby Middle.
Does this sound like your organization?
If your strategy is clear but execution keeps stalling, if your best technical people struggle when you promote them, if you spend your own time on problems your team leads should handle, then we should talk. Not a sales call. A diagnostic conversation. I will tell you what I see, and you decide if it is worth exploring further.