When a CEO or CFO leaves, an executive interim manager can be the solution to an acute leadership gap. But more and more companies today are using interim leadership for another reason: they need specific experience to solve a concrete task, and they need it quickly.
It can be a reconstruction, transformation, integration after an acquisition, carve-out, international expansion, or scaling up or down a business.
In these situations, it is not always a matter of a business lacking a leader. It may be that it lacks experience of the particular situation it is in.
As Geir Erik Lian, Partner at Incepto Executive in Norway and part of the Valtus Alliance, writes:
“What experience do we need? How fast do we need it? And how long do we need it?”
This is an interesting way of looking at leadership capacity. Not all businesses need the same skills all the time. In some situations, it may be more relevant to quickly bring in an experienced leader who has done something similar before, takes operational responsibility and drives the task forward.
Interim leadership is therefore less and less about just filling a vacant position and increasingly about linking the right leadership experience to the right situation.
Läs Geirs artikel om varför interimsledarskap håller på att bli en naturlig del av verktygslådan för modernt ledarskap.
#InterimManagement #Leadership #Transformation
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By Geir Erik Lian, Partner, Incepto Executive
Interim leadership has long been associated with filling a temporary leadership gap. But something is changing. More and more organisations are using experienced interim leaders strategically when a specific challenge needs to be addressed, the pace of change is high, and the right experience needs to be in place quickly.
For many years, interim leadership was primarily associated with one situation: a CEO, CFO or other key executive leaves. The organisation cannot wait for a permanent recruitment process. Someone needs to step in quickly.
That need still exists, but interim leadership is increasingly being used in entirely different situations. Not because a chair has suddenly become vacant but because the organisation is facing a challenge that requires experience, capacity and execution capability right now.
That represents an interesting shift.
From filling a gap to solving a challenge
Across several European interim markets, this development has been evident for some time. Interim leadership has evolved from primarily being a solution to an acute leadership need to also becoming a strategic tool when organisations are facing demanding change.
This can include:
- a restructuring or turnaround
- a major transformation
- post-acquisition integration
- a carve-out
- international expansion
- rapid growth or scaling
- major technology or ERP programmes.
The common denominator is not necessarily that the organisation lacks a leader. It may lack experience from the specific situation it is facing. That is an important distinction.
The value of having seen it before
One of the most valuable things an experienced interim leader can bring is precisely experience from similar situations. A leader who has previously led a restructuring, integrated an acquisition, scaled an organisation or delivered a major transformation starts from a different point than someone encountering the challenge for the first time.
That does not mean they arrive with all the answers, no two organisations are alike. But experience makes it easier to know which questions to ask, which signals to look for and where the pitfalls are likely to be. And perhaps most importantly: an interim leader does not primarily come in to tell the organisation what it should do. They step into the line organisation, take operational responsibility and personally drive the execution. That is a fundamental part of the model.
When time becomes a critical factor
Another driver is speed.
Technological shifts, geopolitical uncertainty, changing value chains and an accelerating pace of change mean that organisations increasingly need to respond quickly.
A traditional recruitment process for a senior leadership position can take months. Sometimes an organisation has that time, sometimes it does not. When a transformation has lost momentum, an integration is not working, or results are moving in the wrong direction, the cost of waiting can be significant. At that point, perhaps the question should not only be: Who is the right permanent leader? but also: What leadership experience does the organisation need right now?
Does all leadership capacity have to be permanent?
This brings us to what I think is one of the most interesting aspects of this development.
We are used to thinking about leadership capacity as something an organisation builds through permanent hires. But does all leadership expertise have to be permanent?
An organisation may need a highly experienced CFO during a restructuring without needing the same profile once the business returns to normal operations. A growth company may need a leader who has previously built the structures required for international scaling – but primarily during this particular phase. A company that has completed a major acquisition may need significant integration experience for the next nine months, but not necessarily for the next five years.
Interim leadership makes it possible to connect specific leadership experience to a defined challenge and a defined period of time. That gives organisations greater flexibility in how they build leadership capacity.
Not just for the largest companies
There is still a perception that this type of leadership capacity is primarily available to large corporations. I believe that is worth challenging.
Interim leadership is certainly used by large organisations, including for major transformation programmes. But the model is also used by mid-sized companies, owner-led businesses, private equity-backed organisations and rapidly growing companies.
For a smaller organisation, the logic can actually be particularly compelling. It may not need – or want – to employ highly senior or specialised leadership expertise on a permanent basis. But having access to that experience during a critical phase can create significant value. It is therefore less about the size of the organisation. It is more about the situation it is facing.
Leaders are making different choices too
The development is happening on the other side of the table as well. More experienced senior executives are seeing interim leadership as a deliberate career choice.
After many years in operational leadership roles, some want to use their experience in a different way: step into demanding situations, solve specific challenges, deliver results and then move on to the next challenge.
But the role should not be romanticised either. An interim leader often enters when the situation is already demanding. Time is limited, expectations are high, and the mandate is clear.
They need to understand the organisation quickly, build trust and start creating momentum. The professional literature highlights precisely this combination of professional freedom and the high expectations that come with this way of working.
It is not for everyone. For others, that is exactly what makes it attractive.
From alternative solution to part of the leadership toolkit
Perhaps, then, the development of interim leadership is about something bigger than the growth of a market. It is about how organisations think about leadership capacity.
The traditional question has been: Who should we hire? That question will remain important. But I believe more organisations will also ask three other questions:
What experience do we need?
How quickly do we need it?
And how long do we need it?
Sometimes the answer will be a permanent hire. In other cases, the answer may be an experienced leader who comes in quickly with a clear mandate, solves the challenge and moves on when the job is done.
That is why I believe interim leadership is moving from being an alternative solution to becoming a natural part of the toolkit for modern leadership. Not because permanent leaders are becoming less important, but because organisations need more ways to access the right leadership when they need it.
The right experience. In place quickly. For as long as the need exists.
#InterimManagement #Leadership #Transformation