The impact of middle managers’ leadership on engagement performance: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Middle managers play a crucial role between an executive’s vision and a company’s actual results. Despite this, there remains a lack of scientific research on how their leadership influences performance through engagement. This study presents a systematic literature review of 66 peer-reviewed articles published between 2006 and 2025 to synthesize current knowledge on the impact of middle managers’ leadership on engagement-driven performance. Point out the upper echelons theory and integrating insights from social exchange theory, the resource-based view, and dynamic capabilities theory, the study develops a conceptual model explaining how leadership styles and managerial characteristics shape organizational outcomes. The results suggest that engagement is a key factor linking leadership to behavioral, strategic, and organizational outcomes, including innovation, strategy integration, and firm performance. Middle managers demonstrate this connection through their ability to implement top management strategy, coordinate processes, and influence employees. Furthermore, research suggests that leadership effectiveness is contextual and is influenced by organizational culture, environmental factors, and technological change. By integrating the review components into a theoretically integrated framework, this study clarifies the relationship between leadership, engagement, and performance, providing a structured framework for future empirical research.