In an era of rapid change and increasing complexity, organisations are turning to interim leaders to provide stability, expertise and momentum precisely when it matters most. Whether you are navigating a leadership transition, driving transformation or addressing a critical business challenge, the way you engage and support your interim executive will determine the success of the assignment. From defining objectives and ensuring cultural fit to preparing your team for their arrival, asking the right questions at the outset is key. This article outlines the most important considerations for clients looking to maximise the impact of their interim leader and achieve lasting value for their organisation.
Who will the interim be working with?
It’s important to understand where the interim leader will fit within the organisation and key stakeholders they will be working with. How their role is communicated throughout the organisation requires planning to ensure they are effective as quickly as possible.
What are the precise objectives and deliverables for the six-month plan?
Interims usually deliver on specific goals within six months or can extend their engagement depending on the organisation’s circumstances. Whatever the timeframe, it is critical to define, and if necessary redefine, the business needs and exact legacy required.
Who is ‘sponsoring’ the role internally?
A key internal sponsor is essential, and for many interims we work with this is the CEO or Chair. Having the formal support of the Chair and board, or executive committee is key to ensure the interim is empowered to make the changes needed to move the dial for the business.
What is the culture of the organisation?
Defining organisational culture is a key success factor. This is critical for identifying the right interim leader in terms of personality as well as leadership style. Interim leaders work with clarity, execution excellence and impartial delivery, with objectives delivered in a challenging or authoritative style, or through a more nuanced approach. Skills, experience, sector knowledge, leadership style and personality must all be mapped onto organisational culture.
How do we know when to bring in an interim leader?
Interim leaders are engaged for very specific tactical or strategic reasons. For example, for a mid-sized family business, bringing in an interim is a very effective way of transitioning the business to the next generation, either a family member or an external appointee. The interim leader brings the family on the journey and provides valuable objectivity on the best way forward. A transition figure, the interim respects the achievements of the current CEO while creating a comfort zone for all generations to engage in professional succession planning.
For mid-sized, PE backed or international organisations there are many reasons to engage an interim leader. This could be to prepare a business for sale, opening up in new territories, lack of available internal talent, headcount/budgetary restrictions, the need for specific skills, business or departmental transformation, distressed business, investor or stakeholder expectations, or a period where a senior leader is transitioning into a new role or exiting the business.
How do we prepare for an incoming interim leader?
The interim leader needs as much information on your business as possible prior to joining to ensure they are effective as swiftly as the first few days of their engagement. If the client is open with them they will have a deeper understanding of the key issues or challenges the organisation is facing to allow them to diagnose the issues and start to formulate a plan of execution.
The communication ‘set up’ is as important as defining the deliverables. Your interim expert should have extensive experience in collaborating with clients to lay the right foundations, with the right cultural approach, and the willingness to remain as an insightful mentor throughout the interim leader’s engagement.
How do I identify the right interim expert to help me as a new client?
A heritage provider, such as Boyden, helps a client to define the brief, and gives access to their firm’s network of interim executives built up over years. The best providers today have deep networks of proven interim leaders across all industries and C-suite functions including finance, operations, marketing, general management, human resources and technology. These networks are constantly refreshed, particularly given that a proportion of interims are often already engaged. Boyden’s interim experts individually meet hundreds of interim leaders per year.
Reputation is critical in today’s market as interim leaders share with each other their own experiences and are select about who will represent them and brief them for opportunities in the most comprehensive way. This is a fast-moving, highly organised and results driven world. Interim experts are magnets for excellence and will identify experienced interim leaders who want to work on interesting and challenging mandates.
Collaborative interim and executive search teams can be a significant advantage for clients. Executive search colleagues often share profiles of exceptional interim candidates that pure interim teams would never see. With search and interim experts working together, the knowledge and insight on clients is deeper; the approach to leadership resourcing is broader, with sequential or combined talent capabilities (where an interim stays to onboard a permanent leader, for example); and planning, decision-making and communications is three-dimensional.
Why interim support can be so key for your organisation
Interim leaders thrive on the difficult problems of commercial life, the issue-led challenges and ‘missions impossible’. In effect, interim leaders work as ‘player managers’ leading from the front, driving strategic value creation.
Next Steps
Engaging an interim is a strategic opportunity to accelerate change and strengthen your leadership team. By setting clear objectives, fostering cultural fit and actively supporting your interim leader, you will maximise the value of the engagement and position your organisation for future success.
If you would like to discuss your interim management needs or explore how interim leadership can support your organisation, please connect with me directly. I would be delighted to help you find the right solution for your business.
