How can middle managers get ideas heard by senior leaders?

The short answer

The studies we mapped point to framing the idea in senior leaders' terms, timing it, and the standing of the person pitching it, though much of this comes from cases, theory and practitioner advice. At IBM, middle-level champions recast the case for LCDs in business terms after an earlier bet failed. A theory paper proposes that ideas fitting the firm's current focus are the ones middle managers mostly pass up. In one survey, upward influence was more strongly tied to unit performance for managers with a strong reputation, and practitioner advice drawn from research stresses timing and managing emotions.