Are financial services middle managers stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Culture starts at the top, shaped by the words and actions of senior management. However, it is middle managers and client-facing staff who live and breathe a firm's culture day-to-day. Culture is therefore organic: it adapts to the pressures of the working environment as it spreads throughout an organisation.  Therefore, senior managers should not assume that the behaviours experienced by staff and clients necessarily reflect the values leadership desires. When there is a disconnect between the culture leaders say they aspire to create and the reality experienced on the ground, f...