When a managing director drops out or a leadership position stays vacant, the business keeps running and someone has to decide. A permanent appointment takes time. Interim leadership bridges it, if the company settles three points beforehand.
The mandate
What should be different at the end of the assignment? Merely holding a position brings the company little. A mandate with milestones brings more: key figures introduced, sales set up anew, the integration after an acquisition completed.
The authority
Whoever leads a line must be allowed to decide on budget, staff and customer contact. If the person only recommends, that is consulting. Both have their place, but the difference belongs on the table before the start.
The end
An interim assignment ends with a handover. Who follows, how is the successor introduced, what is documented? The handover belongs at the beginning of the planning and not at the end.
Two forms
For a vacant position, I lead full-time for a limited phase. If a company needs experience but not a full position, I take responsibility on two to three fixed days a week. The second model is called fractional leadership.
From my practice
As COO of the US subsidiary of a corporation, I held full profit and loss responsibility with seven direct reports, and I led the integration after a cross-border acquisition. I have also run my own businesses for years with budget and staff responsibility.
Anyone who wants to fill a position on an interim basis can start with these three questions. The first conversation takes 30 minutes and is free and without obligation. More at interim management and fractional leadership and succession and acquisition.
Source: the author's own professional and mandate experience.