July 8, 2015

The Downside of Management Consultants

Many companies are starved for effective leadership, and as a result the demand for great interim executives who will come in and do the work is increasing. Consider this passage from the book Traction:

The inability to make a business vision a reality is epidemic. Consider it a new take on an old quote: Vision without traction is merely hallucination. All over the world, business consultants frequently conduct multiple-day strategic planning sessions and charge tens of thousands of dollars for teaching what is theoretically great material. The downside is that after making you feel warm and fuzzy about your direction, these same consultants rarely teach you how to bring your vision down to the ground and make it work in the real world.

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April 13, 2015

The New Category of Interim Executive Management

We’ve been thinking recently about GT Dave, an entrepreneur who dropped out of high school and founded GT’s Kombucha at age 17. His parents swore by the health benefits of Kombucha tea and while GT’s homemade recipe was the foundation for a new company, what he actually did was create an entirely new category. GT Kombucha holds an estimated 60% of a $600M market, and it’s still growing strong.

Creating a new category requires two things above all else: an unwavering sense of mission, and devotion to quality. The challenge is that paving a new path does not always translate to instant success and understanding. At the Association of Interim Executives we believe in the power of interim executive management and have taken on a mission to be the voice of the specialty and to help companies around the globe succeed because of access to world class executive talent.

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March 27, 2015

Private Equity Solve Portfolio Company Challenges with Interim Executive

Interim executives benefit companies dramatically: high-level expertise drops in quickly to do the tough jobs — powerfully and without bias or politicking — to help a company improve. Soon after, they ride off into the sunset to the next assignment. Think of an interim executive as a modern-day John Wayne without the cowboy hat.

Mark Sullivan, founder of Lineage Capital Investment, knows how it works. His private equity firm recently dropped an interim CFO into a manufacturing business amid a turnaround. Monetary villains — so to speak — threatened the corporate ranch and outside help was essential to clean out the threat.

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November 26, 2014

When Do You Bring In an Interim Executive?

When do you bring an interim executive in to a company? In this video two veterans, John Collard, Chairman of Strategic Management Partners and Robert Jordan, CEO of the Association of Interim Executives, give a quick description. Do interims always replace existing management? Decidedly — no. Many times interims complement the existing team

September 17, 2014
Robin Liebowitz

The Interim CMO – A Master Bridge Builder

Robin Liebowitz | Interim CMO

Elusive growth, global market fluctuations, rapidly changing technology, and fragmented buyer behaviors are just some of the dynamics driving the need to have the right marketing leader in place. The question for many organizations often becomes when should such a leader be brought into the organization? Finding the right CMO takes significant recruiting resources and often more time than anticipated. Not all organizations are ready to make this commitment given their stage of development.

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January 14, 2014
Mark Palmer

Three Ways an Interim CSO Creates a Strong Foundation for Your Permanent Leader

Mark Palmer | Interim CSO

Engaging an interim executive isn’t something new. However, the current business environment makes the prospect more appealing to many business owners.

The disparity between the number of top-level vacancies and highly effective talent to fill them is one motivating factor behind the increased willingness to seek temporary executives. Another is frustration with a sales force that consistently fails to meet performance goals.

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June 13, 2013

Write Yourself Into The Script

As the summer movie season begins, last summer’s romantic comedy, Celeste and Jesse Forever, is worth remembering. While it has absolutely nothing to do with interim executives, the story behind the movie’s creation spotlights a practice that is critical for interims.

First, a quick look at the movie’s backstory:

The Plot

Last August, a New York Times article, Breaking the Mold by Writing a Part for Herself, spelled out how actress Rashida Jones wrote herself into Celeste and Jesse Forever.

Also one of the movie’s two screenwriters, Jones knew that directors tended to see her in roles where she was the pleasant counterpart (girlfriend/wife/friend). But the character of Celeste isn’t that person, and Jones wanted that role for herself.

One studio that considered purchasing the script wanted to reserve the right to cast someone else if finances dictated. She said no. Ultimately, the film was made in 23 days for less than $1 million.

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June 8, 2013

Fifteen Solutions Interims Provide

Interim executives come in many flavors, according to functional specialties and industry specializations. They bring experience from companies of different sizes and in various stages.

Their ultimate mission, however, is often much the same: to leave a company in significantly better shape than it was upon entry.

Here are 15 solutions interims provide:

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May 16, 2013
Robert Jordan

Temping at the Highest Levels: Meet the Interim Executive

Robert Jordan | CEO, Association of Interim Executives

Fifteen years ago I ran into a friend at a conference who was about to hand me yet another business card. As I took the new card, I tried to crack a joke, asking him “Can’t you hold down a job?” Then I read:

Philip Monego
Interim CEO
Yahoo

Yes, the card actually read Yahoo and Philip really was the first CEO.

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April 25, 2013

Does Your Company Need a Chief Learning Officer (CLO)?

By: Neil Grant
CLO

“The right people, at the right time, and in the right place” makes a big difference.

Most of us are aware of the massive losses incurred by BP following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – running into the billions. And we can probably refer to fabulous entrepreneurs who have generated billions in corporate value. But on a more day-today basis, individual mangers can motivate great levels of performance from employees, and those employees can choose to build value through their commitment to high productivity. The opposite is of course also true, where organizations lack high calibre leadership, don’t invest in the development of their management, and underestimate employee engagement.

Getting the “people” bit of any organization right is essential for immediate and long term gain.

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