What I Learned About Strategic Interim Executive Leadership

Reflections from a Recent Graduate of Interim Executives Academy

By Shannon Cotsoradis

At different points in my career as a nonprofit executive, I considered interim leadership as a future opportunity. But it wasn’t until I made a professional transition into a new role in philanthropy that I committed to learning more through participation in Third Sector Company’s Interim Executives Academy.

Starting the opening session, I felt eager to explore a potential future path and how leadership transition issues might help in my current role. In the first hour of class, I realized just how little I knew about strategic transitional leadership – a phrase I had never heard - despite more than two decades of experience in the field.

Before the Academy, I thought interim leadership was simply a time-limited version of permanent leadership. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

Leadership transition is a unique window of opportunity for an organization. An interim executive can help to maximize this opportunity, putting the organization and the permanent executive on a path to success.

As a result of my Academy experience, I learned:

• Interim leadership is a unique skill set with specific competencies. While qualified interim executives should bring relevant executive-level experience, experience alone may not be adequate. Professional development opportunities, like the Interim Executives Academy, give potential interim leaders the tools and methodology to achieve remarkable results.
• Interim leadership takes a methodical, iterative approach. A qualified interim leader brings strategies and tools to their time-limited engagement that leverage the staff and board members in defining and redefining the path forward together.
• The role of an interim leader includes stewarding the organization’s finances and programs while actively nurturing an organization’s culture at a time when it may be vulnerable. The greatest gift an interim leader can leave behind is a staff that is excited about and ready for the organization’s next chapter.
• The success of an interim leader is best gauged by what the next leader can build upon, rather than rebuild. Effective interim leadership is about the building blocks, not the building.

While an interim leadership engagement isn’t in my near-term plans, the new lens through which I view leadership transition and the role of interim leaders is a valuable accomplishment.

The Interim Executives Academy is a dynamic virtual learning opportunity to engage with a community of thoughtful current and aspiring interim professionals. My participation was time well spent.

Originally appeared on the Third Sector Company website.

Founded in 2002, Third Sector Company has become a nationally recognized pioneer in leadership continuity solutions including interim chief executive and chief development officers, succession planning, executive search and professional development. To learn more about how we can support your nonprofit, contact us today!