Middle management is a very fine line and it is possible to create a situation where your are respected by the people below you working for you and the senior management above that you report to - not everyone is able to do this and it probably comes down to personalties...
The key is respect, there is often a situation where you are not liked, and you just have to live with that, but respect is a must if you need to succeed.
I haven't worked for an airline yet where the CP hasn't had some logger head coming together with the Flight Ops Director....