Interim CEO may not be the best choice

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We’ve had a few new potential clients wonder how our CXO assistance would fit into their firm.  Not that they doubted we could provide excellent Chief Financial, Chief Executive, or Chief Research Officer capabilities, but how we could interface with their folks and improve their operations long-term.

Interim CEO may not be the best choice

Given that, we decided that we could explain it via my blog. And, then whenever someone else asked that question, we could refer them to this piece- and also let folks we hadn’t contacted see why they really need our services, too.

Many of our clients- and probably your firm, too- have promoted their great performers to management positions.  But, those great performers were engineers, scientists, production workers, and the like.  Where they had specific skills that they honed and with which they provided their outstanding performance.

Now, these folks are no longer working in as specialized a sector.   They may be dealing with finance, advertising, HR (human relations), and the like.   And, given that most firms have cut management layers, the extent of these additional skills that are needed can be vast.

So, when we come in and shadow those folks (sometimes, they shadow us), we not only perform the tasks required for the position, we train these promoted folks in the skills they lack or with which they feel less comfortable.   (We ask what they would do, and how they arrived at that decision; then, we ask other questions so they can determine why their parochial views (the ones that worked in their previous professional area) need expansion and how that knowledge gets developed.)

We also occasionally have to remind these folks that their functional duties (the ones that got htem their promotions)  need to be left to those working under their supervision; now, they are more responsible to devise strategy, set priorities for their group, and harness their staff to implement the goals and strategies of the firm, than performing the specific task.   So, besides helping them learn the new broader skills, delegation strategies are also developed.

After periods ranging from six months to two years (depending upon the stage of the company and the staffer), our services are no longer needed.  That person is more than capable of handling the daily tasks- as well as the unexpected blips that routinely appear.

And, over the years, we’ve seen those companies meet and exceed their goals.  And, that’s profits- because gross revenue is nice, but what counts is what shows up in the ownership’s pockets!

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