Planning Ahead: The Power of Interim Leadership

Most organizations don’t think about who will replace a leader until that leader is leaving. 

The resignation letter is submitted. The retirement date is announced.  Sometimes the departure is unexpected.  Suddenly, the question on everyone’s lips is “Now what?”

The focus is on filling the seat and keeping the organization running without missing a beat. 

The urgency is understandable.  It is also the reason so many leadership transitions are handled reactively instead of intentionally.

When I ask boards about succession plans, most will say they have one.  Often what they mean is this: if the CEO leaves, the COO will step in until we hire a replacement.  Or, we are grooming the Controller to be the CFO’s replacement in a few years.

This is succession hoping, not succession planning.

If you want to make succession planning real, you have to go deeper.

Run a tabletop exercise before there is a vacancy.

Ask the uncomfortable question in advance: if we lost one of our top leaders tomorrow, what is our best course of action?

Three Issues to Consider

There are three separate issues to work through.

First, how do we keep the organization running?  Who has decision authority? What absolutely cannot stall?

Second, how do we determine what we need in the next long-term leader?  Not who is available now.  Not how do we find a carbon copy of the leader we currently have?  What does this moment in the organization require?

And third, how do we maintain the confidence of our employees, donors, investors, regulators, and customers?  Leadership transitions send signals.  The way they are handled communicates stability or instability.

Without this level of thought, most organizations default to speed.

They temporarily promote someone while they begin the search.

They launch a search based on the old job description that may not have been updated in a decade.

They fill the seat at any cost.  Even if that cost is damaging to the future of the organization.

Placing a new leader within the organization is an investment.  As with all investments, there is a level of risk.  It could be a goldmine or a ticking time bomb.

A junior executive placed in an acting role may leave when they aren’t chosen as permanent replacement.  A rushed long-term hire can create damage that doesn’t show up immediately but compounds over time.  Stakeholders may lose confidence based not on the vacancy itself, but on how the transition is managed.

Leadership transitions are built-in opportunities.  The question is whether you choose to treat them that way.

This is why professional interim leadership should be a pre-planned course of action.

A professional interim is not simply an internal placeholder and not someone auditioning for the long-term role.  It is an objective leader with a proven methodology for assessing people, processes, systems, and culture.  Someone who is embedded and committed during the engagement but not building a personal dynasty.

Objectivity Matters

A new long-term hire will naturally begin shaping the organization toward the future they want to lead.  A professional interim leader focuses on helping the organization determine what it actually needs, then positioning it to attract and support the right long-term leader.

When interim leadership is built into succession planning as an option, it is no longer an afterthought.

The board has discussed it and understands the value.  They don’t need to be convinced. It’s already part of the plan.  The first step is to define the objectives for the interim engagement and move into the interview process.

Adding a simple line to a succession plan that says “Consider professional interim leadership” does not obligate you to use one.  It ensures the option is evaluated intentionally instead of reactively.

Interim leadership produces the best results when it is used for clarity, not just coverage.

The best time to think about how you will handle a leadership transition is before you need to.  The next best time is today.

If you’re considering going deeper with your succession planning, I’d be glad to help you think through how professional interim leadership fits into that plan.