You probably didn't sign up for this.

When you became a manager, you prepared for performance reviews, budget battles, maybe even layoffs. But nobody prepared you for the peculiar trauma of watching your organization saw itself in half while you're still trying to deliver quarterly results.

Your team keeps asking questions you can't answer. Your calendar is consumed by "transition planning" meetings that feel like planning a divorce while still living in the same house. And somewhere between explaining why the org chart looks like abstract art and fielding anxieties about email addresses, you're supposed to keep everyone motivated and productive.

Here's what the research reveals: despite thousands of corporate separations happening every year, there's almost no rigorous study of what actually happens to middle managers during these transitions. The limited research that does exist shows something unsettling—much of what companies tell you about separations is wrong.

In this article, you'll discover:

• Why the "clean break" narrative is a myth (and what the timeline actually looks like)

• The identity crisis no one prepares you for—and how to help your team navigate it

• Practical tools for managing down when you don't have all the answers

• Strategic approaches for managing up when leadership is drowning

• The 90-day survival plan that actually works

Drawing from peer-reviewed research, analysis of 50+ corporate separations, and real-world experience guiding teams through splits, this guide provides the honest, practical advice middle managers need when everything else is chaos.