Focal Leadership

Leadership

SMART leadership re-focused

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SMART leadership has been underpinned by the traditional definition of setting SMART goals (both for self, others, and the organization) …. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound. Or – defining work, how to deliver it, understanding resource requirements, aligning to strategy, and focusing on targets. Of course, leadership is a vast topic and there are many other ways of defining it, e.g. values, competencies, traits, etc. For the purposes to sticking with a familiar mnemonic, a re-focus of SMART is suggested for critical aspects of leadership.

Self-aware

Most research suggests that self-awareness is critical for great leadership. Being secure in knowing strengths and development areas requires considered reflection, insight, feedback, and an open mind. Leadership presence is more than charisma, it is displaying authentic, honest, and vulnerable traits which make a distinct impression. Knowing oneself and being know by others is the sweet spot for a leader who others will follow. Being self-aware enables a leader to be comfortable in their own skin, to be believable, and exemplifying integrity.

Motivated

A leader with energy, purpose, and focus, is personally motivated and motivating to others. Often leaders need to discover their own passion through personal journeys before they really come alive. For some, transitioning from college into a well-defined career is straightforward. For others, leading through repeated transitions is what fuels their motivation. Leaders are very different, but it is critical to find the field and direction that provides deep fulfilment and inspiration. A motivated leader builds enthusiasm and commitment in others, as well as having personal drive.

Agile

Everyone knows that change is constant. For leaders, developing learning agility is essential. This is defined as the ability and willingness to learn from experience and subsequently apply these lessons in new or first-time situations. Being agile in breadth and/or depth of applying learning is the mark of a leader who can roll with the punches of organizational reality. Leaders who learn from experience and use that learning to make better decisions and wiser judgments inspire followers. Another aspect of agility is to be able to flex leadership responses when faced with diverse situations. A leader needs to demonstrate self-awareness as well as a mature ability to practice different approaches in leadership style.

Resilient

Pressure to perform, lead others, and juggling a plethora of organizational challenges is the life of a leader. How to recharge, maintain composure, and build leadership muscle, are secrets that many seek. The need for leaders to maintain energy and stamina is important. A leader needs to learn how to lean on others, develop personal techniques for recharging, and demonstrate an ability to bounce back from setbacks. For each leader this learning will be different. Some are blessed with stamina and others thrive on short bursts of making an impact. Whatever the leadership style, resilience is needed to keep moving forwards and bring others along.

Teachable

Being curious, willing to learn, and constantly expanding horizons, are essential leadership traits. A recent quote from a senior leader eludes to this: “if you refer to events more than 5 years ago when asked about your career journey, you are not focused on continuous improvement.” A leader needs to build an appetite for learning, use time constructively, and engage with others in a network that stimulates learning. A leader can never stop exploring or seeking out others who can expand knowledge and experience – to do so would mean stagnation.

Being a SMART leader, according to the definition above, is not just desirable but essential to be a leader who others will delight to follow. For insight into a specific genre of SMART leaders, Rise of the Gig Leaders provides a detailed analysis of interim leadership. Please check-out the YouTube link as an introduction to the book https://youtu.be/iHMesdPFbro  

The interim leader as a change leader

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Being a change leader is not only an area of deep capability for an interim leader, it is an area of significant comfort. An interim understands change perhaps more than most leaders because of the interim’s repeated confrontations with it on the front line. The speed at which an interim is able to deliver results is a product of the interim’s experience, confidence, and resilience. An interim prefers to be the agent of change, not the subject of change. Charles Handy, in The Age of Unreason, cites “discontinuous upside-down thinking” as the way a dynamic leader impacts our changing world.  An interim leader loves to play in this sand-pit of chaos and change!

In Built to Last Collins and Porras discuss the concept of alignment; in their view, companies transform themselves into visionary companies through two key alignment processes:

1) developing new alignments to preserve the core and stimulate progress

2) eliminating misalignments that drive an organization away from its core ideology and those that impede progress toward the envisioned future

Both alignment processes are fertile ground for an interim leader. An interim is adept at managing alignment. The Confederation of British Industry states in their business guide, Interim Executive Management, “Interims are hungry for the challenge of changing the state of things and know they can do it because they have successfully done so on many occasions.”

An interim’s raison d’être is to accelerate the pace of change. If an interim can deliver on his or her accountabilities as part of organizational change then the interim will leave a legacy of value and transformation. If the interim encounters an organizational culture that is blocked by obstacles, whether the result of hierarchies, budget, or other constraints, the interim’s effectiveness and energy will lose momentum. However, since an interim has a short-term tenure with an organization, he or she often has more license than a long-term employee to navigate and challenge norms. An interim does this with an authentic interest in the organization’s growth.

When leading change an interim leader often presents a client with alternative scenarios. This process of providing clients with options helps an interim achieve buy-in for proposed changes. This is especially important when an interim delivers change at a rapid pace. An interim uses comprehensive stakeholder management to help engage support for change. Speed of change is a familiar concept for an interim. An interim is not rattled when riding the change-curve roller coaster and is unlikely to be perturbed when projects lurch in different directions. An interim’s ability to react quickly and change course, even in the face of uncertainty and shifting horizons, is an essential part of the interim’s tool kit as a change leader.

Often an interim is responsible for moving the dial to deliver a change program within a short timeframe. An interim may not be with the organization long enough to fully see the change project’s entire implementation. An interim may however be required to design processes to embed change over this longer time period and has a responsibility to leave a legacy of significant value. In many ways this is more challenging for an interim than delivering the original change project under short time pressures. To create processes to successfully embed change, an interim needs to anticipate all the variables in the organization, processes, and people to create the best conditions for successful implementation—without having the opportunity to course-correct in real time. As Robert Schaffer notes in High Impact Consulting, “Management consultants must be more than experts in their field. They must serve as effective change agents and share accountability with their clients for the ultimate outcome of their consulting projects.”

The Confederation of British Industry discusses the role of interims as change leaders in their business guide, Interim Executive Management: “Clients have found that interims are an effective strategic weapon to gain competitive advantage, through rapid and lasting change. They bring a refreshing degree of objectivity and prove excellent at building and leading internal teams and managing external suppliers – including consultants. Changes introduced in this way are far more resilient than those created and imposed by an outside agency.” It is no surprise that an interim leader shows his or her effectiveness when designing, leading, and implementing change programs for clients.

For more information, Rise of the Gig Leaders provides a detailed analysis of interim leadership. Please check-out the YouTube link as an introduction to the book https://youtu.be/iHMesdPFbro  

Interim leadership and the world of work

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Interim - multiple skills in corporate environment

Interim leadership and the changing world of work collide in ways that have been anticipated for many decades.

William Bridges looked ahead to the twenty-first century in Jobshift and predicted that today’s workers need to “forget jobs completely and look instead for work that needs doing – and then set themselves up as the best way to get that work done.” In 1994, this was indeed a radical view of the future; today, interim leaders are at the front of the pack in this new world of work. Bridges’ prophecy hasn’t accelerated as fast as he may have predicted, but the growth of temporary jobs in the workplace is a definite trend.  His observation that everyone is a contingent worker led Bridges to suggest that workers need to “develop a mindset, an approach to work, and a way of managing their own careers that is more like that of an external vendor than a traditional employee. Workers will be wise to think that they are ‘in business for themselves.’”  This applies not only to professionals and technicians, but also to leaders; interims in particular must make this transformation. As Bridges notes, employees need to consider “what it will be like to let go of the whole cluster of attitudes, expectations, assumptions, self-images, and values that went with the idea of ‘having a job.’”

In The Gig Economy Diane Mulcahy describes those who succeed in today’s workplace as shifting from “an Employee Mindset to an Opportunity Mindset.” This is a shift that interims embrace as they actively carve out their careers. Mulcahy describes how workers with Opportunity Mindsets “see themselves as active creators, builders, and architects of their own career trajectories, not the recipients of them. They accept and expect to generate their own customized version of security, stability, and identity that is separate from any one company or organization. They create their own visions of success and work to achieve it.”

Another perspective on the shifting mindset towards work and what motivates an interim leader is discussed by David Corbett in The Portfolio Life. Corbett paints a picture of mature workers who “create a balance of work, learning, leisure, family time, giving back, etc.” Certainly, as a career choice, being an interim leader dovetails with Corbett’s view of, “working in the form you want”, although his focus on this as an option instead of retirement is not how an interim sees his or her role. An Interim leader has an Opportunity Mindset. An interim is looking less to create personal balance—although an interim career offers this —but rather to align work opportunities and organizational challenges with personal and professional strengths.

“Interim Management is not working temporarily at one job while you are waiting for the next ‘proper’ job to come along — it is a career choice,” note McGovern and Russell in A New Brand of Expertise. To be an effective interim, they explain, requires an independence of thought and action that is different from that of a permanent employee who is concerned about keeping his or her job. McGovern and Russell’s observations further reinforce the reasons why an interim decides to pursue this mode of working. 

The need for interim leaders is growing.  Senior leaders are more aware of the significant value that an interim leader brings to organizations in accelerating growth and transformation. Traditional approaches to leadership are inadequate for modern organizations, and as Marshall Goldsmith suggests in his book of the same title, “What got you here won’t get you there” – old habits that once brought success are now delaying progress.

Clients need high-caliber, experienced, and dynamic leaders who take ownership of major projects, build relationships, and deliver results. An interim leader is a resource that is more readily available than ever.  In fact, many experienced leaders and subject-matter experts are taking charge of their careers by becoming interim leaders — today’s gig leaders.  An interim leader plays to his or her strengths, delivers high-value results to clients, and creates a portfolio career that works to both the interim’s and client’s advantage in the growing gig economy.

For more information, Rise of the Gig Leaders provides a detailed analysis of interim leadership. Please check-out the YouTube link as an introduction to the book https://youtu.be/iHMesdPFbro  

What is an interim leader

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The UK-based Interim Management Association defines an interim leader as:

• A top-level independent executive or project manager

• An expert in his or her field

• A high-level performer with a track record of quantifiable achievement

• A possessor of drive and energy

• A perceptive individual capable of adapting to new environments and delivering results

• Available immediately

Besondy and Travis suggest in Leadership on Demand that an interim can function in strategic or operational capacities, or both. The interim’s value is “to bridge the performance vacuum between transition events and to avoid the deep declines and valleys common with a full-time employment strategy.” While an interim is effective in either a strategic or operational role, the interim’s critical contribution is to accelerate, redefine, and deliver organizational change. This might not necessarily be the same as a “bridge”. It is important to understand the term “interim” in this context. Interim does not necessarily mean a holding, transitional role between permanent appointments. Indeed, for an interim leader this is rarely the case. The reason an interim leader brings value to an organization has a completely different dimension than to provide cover. An interim is a change agent, dynamic achiever, and motivated fixer!

When and why do organizations consider hiring an interim leader? Organizations want more flexibility. They want a resourcing model that allows for injections of expertise as well as the stability of leadership to implement long-term strategy. Organizations often consider the option of an interim leader when they need an immediate, highly experienced resource to lead acceleration and transformation. As William Bridges explains in Job Shift, “Because conventional jobs inhibit flexibility and speedy response to the threats and opportunities of a rapidly changing market, many organizations are turning over even their most important tasks to temporary and contract workers.” Hiring an interim is also a pragmatic choice; it does not disturb the dynamics of organizational hierarchies, progression, and career interests.

An interim leader engages with the client by having an “interim mindset”. This is primarily to exceed the expectations of the client in delivering the assignment, build rapport, and engage stakeholder support. It is also understood that the interim will move on from the organization once this is achieved. This is a goal-oriented mindset. It is not unusual, however, for a client to extend an interim’s contract and expand the scope of the interim’s contribution once the client has experienced the quality of the interim’s work. An interim leader is more than an intellectually bright individual who develops great solutions. An interim is a leader who is used to leading organizational dynamics at an executive level. Sometimes an interim is hired to tackle tightly-defined projects, and on other occasions an interim is instrumental in defining corporate strategy. Clients should not be surprised if the interim makes broad observations about direction, design, and culture. An interim leader brings an executive perspective, developed during years of experience and application, that renders him or her invaluable.

An interim leader works with the client organization for a temporary period of time and is not a threat to succession planning. A strong consequence of hiring an interim is to introduce talent, drive, and delivery into an organization. Having an interim leader on board inspires others to raise their game, provides excellent on-site mentoring, and disturbs any inertia that may exist. “Importing intellectual capital” is how McGovern and Russell, in A New Brand of Expertise, describe the opportunity that hiring an interim brings. An interim leader adds gravitas; an interim is a heavyweight resource who can make a significant difference.

For more information, Rise of the Gig Leaders provides a detailed analysis of interim leadership. Please check-out the YouTube link as an introduction to the book https://youtu.be/iHMesdPFbro  

Interim leaders and the gig economy

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gig economy

As the world of work changes, the need for interim leaders is growing. “We’re at a unique moment in human history where power is dispersing from organizations to individuals,” notes Taylor Pearson in The End of Jobs. This insight, together with sound research and the voices of business leaders, clients, and interim leaders, adds weight to the argument for interim leaders. As the positive impact of interim leaders becomes more evident, and the familiarity with interim leadership grows, business leaders will look increasingly at these professional leaders as a significant resource to build their organizations.

Today’s workplace values skilled, independent contractors who work alongside full-time employees. This is an ideal environment for interim leaders as well as specialists and consultants. In fact, Diane Mulcahy’s observation about the future of work, described in The Gig Economy, is consistent with the world that interim leaders have already discovered. She predicts that by the time today’s kids grow up, becoming an employee and getting a full-time job will be the exception, not the rule. Interim leaders embrace this reality and already know that having a diverse portfolio of “good work”, as Mulcahy explains it, “will be the new normal, and being a full-time employee for a single employer the exception.” This shift to a “gig economy” is a fertile context for “gig leaders”—highly skilled interim leaders.

More than ever, the vacuum of immediately available expert leaders needs to be filled. Employers and leaders must increasingly exercise foresight and agility as they resource organizations. Mike Johnson observed in the 1998 Economist Intelligence Unit report, “There is a new phenomenon sweeping the global business world: a serious shortage of qualified people to meet the fast-growing needs of corporations.” This phenomenon is even more prevalent in today’s organizations.

Engaging an interim leader is an effective approach to leading and building organizations; it is also a mark of those who embrace change. Consider Charles Handy’s insights in The Second Curve: “. . .to move forward in many areas of life it is sometimes necessary to change radically, to start a new course that will be different from the existing one, often requiring a whole new way of looking at familiar problems. Those who have been in charge of the first curve have to begin to think differently about the future, or, more often, let others lead the way up the new curve.” Handy echoes Mulcahy’s predictions about the shift to a “gig economy” when he writes, “I have often wondered why more individuals with valuable specialist skills do not step outside the organization, selling their skills or intellectual property back into the organization instead of giving it away for a salary – it may only be a matter of time before the contractual organization becomes the norm.”

An interim leader is at the cutting edge of this change in the workplace. The conventional world of work with long-standing organizational job hierarchies and impregnable leadership cliques is ineffective for competitive organizations in the twenty-first century. In modern organizations, the paradigm of effective leadership is not something as simplistic as a stable, long-standing group of leaders who have been with the organization since college.

The world of work is changing. Corporations that have entertained or embraced an interim leader as part of the solution to growth and transformation almost unanimously celebrate this option as a success. Leaders who embrace diverse leadership models and look beyond the wall of familiar solutions will be at the front of the pack. As Giles Hutchins notes in Future Fit, “The times in which we live herald paradigmic and metamorphic shifts challenging what we do and the way we do it, calling into question our sense of purpose, and demanding wholly new ways of creating and delivering value.”

For more information, Rise of the Gig Leaders provides a detailed analysis of interim leadership. Please check-out the YouTube link as an introduction to the book https://youtu.be/iHMesdPFbro