Ever wondered what it would be like to go from being an armchair executive to the role of executive director or CEO of a major (or minor) organization for a limited time? Does having the power to decide on the policies and vision that, in your opinion, would best guide your employees to peak efficiency in providing whatever service or good to the market your association serves, and then jump back out, sound like a dream job?
If so, you might want to consider training to become an interim executive. But before you do, there are a few things you should probably get straight, such as the fact that you shouldn’t be in it for the power.
What’s in a title?
Many organizations in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds go through periods of staff fluctuation, and this hits all levels, including upper management. When an unexpected void occurs at that echelon, a board has a couple of options: choose to plunk in a new, long-term head honcho toute suite and hope for the best, or use an interim executive to sail the ship adroitly until a permanent hire can be found.
Greg Petkovich, president of Atticus Interim Management in Toronto, has spent nearly 20 years working as an executive – both full-time and interim – across a range of sectors and for organizations of all sizes. For him, the logical place to start talking about interim management is with its definition.
“An interim manager comes into an organization that either wants to take advantage of a new opportunity or must deal with a challenge, and lacks the internal resources to address the issue in a timely way,” he says. “Sometimes, interim managers are used when a business needs an executive with a specific experience, such as being a COO, to come in and run a department while a search is being conducted for a permanent replacement. When the project is completed, or the full-time hire located, an interim manager leaves.”
Sounds simple enough, but Petkovich warns that one needs not only a special mentality to succeed in the role; he or she should also have loads of experience.
“We look for people with about 20 years of management experience, including five or more years at an executive level. They must be flexible and adaptable in different business situations,” he says. “They need to possess excellent communication and leadership skills.” Petkovich adds that all interim executives hired by his firm are “experienced practitioners and implementers, not simply theorists who write a report for someone else to implement.” In other words, they aren’t ‘consultants’, they’re hands-on professionals.
When it comes to the voluntary sector, Petkovich concedes that interim executives should exude more patience, as nonprofits often operate with different restrictions and unique leadership objectives.
“Generally speaking, nonprofits move much more slowly than for-profit businesses. There is more committee discussion and striving for consensus, especially in nonprofits that are driven by volunteers and a volunteer board,” he states. “They are well-meaning and care deeply about the work of the nonprofit, but may not be as familiar with what needs to be done in a business. A nonprofit is a business and ought to think of running its operation as such. This is the biggest challenge an interim manager or executive faces when retained by a nonprofit.”
In the interim, be patient
Mel Gill, president of Synergy Associates Inc., an Ottawa consulting firm specializing in governance and organizational development, likens the interim manager to a medical practitioner.
“The first premise of the Hippocratic Oath is ‘First, do no harm’,” he says. “A lot depends on the specific mandate of the interim leadership arrangement. It may be a clean-up/fixer/diagnostic role or simply a caretaker role.”
In the latter, Gill says, it’s crucial for an interim executive to stay objective and remember why they were hired without becoming drunk on power.
“Don’t get married to the job. Remember you’re a caretaker, so take care of what’s under your stewardship. Pay particular attention to mending or building relationships, as the case may be. Plan a modest, if any, legacy. Leave things better if possible, but never worse than you found them. Stick to the role. If it’s as diagnostician, then diagnose and get board affirmation and mandate before attempting the fix,” Gill states.
Petkovich concurs, citing his experiences as an interim.
“Maybe the most important thing I’ve learned is to remember the trust the client has placed in me,” he says. “I focus on helping the client’s team thrive, and the best engagements are those where everyone working in the company gets to claim success. Beyond this, it’s important to think like an employee and fit in with the company’s culture rather than trying to make the culture fit me. I work hard to coach the people I’m working with and pass on to them the knowledge I’m bringing to the assignment. After all, I depart when the mandate is completed, but they stay and have to keep doing what they’ve learned. Finally, it is vitally important to steer clear of any internal politics.”
Impressing the boardroom
In Toronto, Peter Oakes currently sits on numerous boards and is the vice chair of the finance and investment committee at Ontario’s Heart & Stroke Foundation. Previously, he was on the board of IOF Prevention of Child Abuse Funds for the US and Canada.
With more than 30 years of executive-level management experience across sectors, Oakes says boards often have three notable misconceptions about interim managers: that they’re not effective; are only seeking a way to gain access to the position permanently; and will cost more.
In Oakes’ opinion, all three are wrongheaded.
“Organizations find it difficult to understand how an ‘outsider’ can be parachuted into a position and be effective,” he says, adding that they tend to think they are better off enduring a vacancy in their executive ranks instead of filling the position on an interim basis.
“Good interim managers are well qualified and often over qualified to do the job,” he states. Additionally they are mostly “not looking for permanent employment. They are comfortable with temporary assignments [and] actually prefer them.”
As for the expense, that too is nullified when a board truly understands what they’re getting in an interim executive, Oakes says.
“The payback is that an interim manager eliminates the risk to an organization from shorthanded management ranks. The organization is then able to pursue a proper hiring process to fill the vacancy on a permanent basis,” he says. “In the case where the incumbent will return to the position, the organization avoids all the implications of hiring a temporary employee. Finding temporary employees takes time and temporary employees may leave for a permanent position before the assignment is over. There could also be costs associated with terminating the temporary employee.”
Prepping for the interim
When asked how an interim executive can expect to succeed if they know their time is limited in the role, Petkovich explains that it’s all about proper preparation. For his employees, every job begins with an assessment of the organization from top to bottom, which often results in the discovery of other opportunities to help them. The future interim executive will employ a range of research techniques including, scouring the organization’s website, reading about the organization in newspaper archives, finding relevant publications, and talking with people who may know about the organization. All this ensures that the interim manager is “already up to speed” when she takes her position.
“Very often, what a client called us in for originally is only part of the issue or opportunity and the assessment will reveal this,” Petkovich says. He adds that it’s important to also draft a working plan, with deadlines, benchmarks and deliverables, so the client and interim executive agree on the scope of the assignment. Success is measured “in seeing a project achieve its objective, on time, on budget and [in making] a positive contribution to the organization.”
Referring specifically to nonprofits, Petkovich counsels that they should have a basic understanding of what they want the interim executive to do before making a hire.
Oakes says there are four things an interim manager should do when approaching the board and after getting the job.
- Be open and honest. Be forthright and do not colour your judgment with the political climate of the organization. An interim manager is ‘independent’ of the politics of the organization.
- When making recommendations, give options and the support for each. Stay neutral. The assignment is for a short period. The decision-maker has a better understanding of the organization and is best at making the decision. However, if asked for a personal opinion on options, do so.
- Give regular updates on your progress. At least weekly, give a verbal report on what you have accomplished. If the assignment is for several months, a written monthly report should be provided in addition to the weekly reports.
- Solicit feedback. An interim manager needs regular feedback to remain effective and efficient. Assignments are for specific periods of time and one cannot wait for an annual or semi-annual review.
Interim by any other name…
Gill offers a final, cautionary tale for those on the interim executive path.
“My brother was once asked to come back from retirement for three months to tide over a Saskatchewan health authority until they could replace the CEO they’d just fired…turned out to be a six-year stint,” he recalls.
The lesson: interim managers should be aware that they may need to renegotiate terms of reference as circumstances change, even though, typically, the interim executive role lasts anywhere from three to nine months.
Top 4 reasons organizations look for interim managers
- They’ve identified a problem or an opportunity.
- They’ve tried to find a solution or approach, without success.
- They discover that they do not have access to the right resources.
- They are unhappy with where the organization is and need to deal with it immediately.
–From Greg Petkovich
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is president of WordLaunch professional writing services in Toronto. He can be reached at andy@wordlaunch.com.
