New Blogs for Executives
Four new blogs were launched in December that you should check out and add to your RSS feeds. The initial posts indicate that these blogs will be valuable sources of tips for executives–permanent or interim. Plus, as with any blog they also provide a means to comment and link back.
http://interimvp.biz The Executive Politics Blog
http://www.interimmarketing.info/ The Executive Marketing Blog
http://interimsales.net/ The Executive Sales Blog
http://interimvptoday.com/ The Executive Productivity Blog
Using an Interim Manager for Project Consulting—Is that Legal?
One of the things I like about being an interim marketing executive is the variety of assignments I am fortunate to work on each year. Not only do I work with a wide range of companies in different industries, but I’m asked to take on projects as well as interim assignments. In fact during the past few years my project to interim assignment ratio is about 2:1.
It’s not uncommon for an on-demand executive to be involved in an interim gig for one company a few days a week, and run a project for another company that occupies a day or so per week.
For the client the advantages of using an interim leader for certain project work is very clear. Interim executives are very experienced leaders with 20 years or so of duty in the field running sales or marketing organizations. They’ve been building a track record of achievement in the real world for 20 years, not holed up in a business school library.
The on-demand leader that takes on a project is a senior-level person, not a junior associate. He or she will most likely be over-qualified for the task. So what? That means its going to be done right and with a level of insight and objectivity that’s hard to find.
So, for your next important project in marketing or sales that requires some outside assistance, ask an interim manager for a proposal and see how it compares to the usual suspects you ordinarily use.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Thinking of a Career Change? What About Interim Management?
Many of you are in transition now, or looking at the real possibility that you’ll be in transition soon. Or, perhaps after 20 years or so of senior manager experience you are looking for a career change.
Interim management isn’t for everybody, but it can be a great way to leverage your work experience and achieve a level of independence and lifestyle not possible when working as a full time employee.
If you want to research a career in interim management I highly recommend three books. These will give you a good understanding of what it takes to establish an interim management practice–no matter what field you’re in.
All three of these books are available from Amazon, or other online book resellers.
Leadership On Demand: How Smart CEO’s Tap Interim Management to Drive Revenue, by Charles Besondy and Paul Travis. (Yes, I’m plugging my own book, but it is the only book to focus on interim marketing and sales management).
Interim Management, The New Career Choice for Senior Managers by Dennis Russell.
A New Brand of Expertise, How Independent Consultants, Free Agents, and Interim Managers are Transforming The World of Work, but Marion McGovern and Dennis Russell.
These books will help you decide whether or not to take the next step. They are also good if you are a business owner or CEO looking to hire interims.
If you are a senior marketing or sales manager and are seriously considering becoming an interim let me know. I can provide some free advice.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Use an Interim Management Strategy to Catch Your Competition Napping
The newest Manpower employment survey was released on December 9. It revealed that 67% of the companies surveyed planned to hold steady their staff levels in Q1 2009. Caution is in the wind. Most companies are taking a wait and see position and who can blaim them.
For really smart companies this is a great time to sock it to their competition with the help of interim marketing and sales talent, of course.
Taking a “wait and see” attitude doesn’t mean your company should put itself in neutral. It simply means taking a conservative stance in terms of headcount for full time employment. Use interim sales and marketing leadership to help you accomplish those mission-critical initiatives or fill key vacancies for a season. This is an opportune time to gain market share from those competitors who are hiding in their dens afraid the sky is falling.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Does your Marketing Department Come to Work on the Short Bus?
When I was in school there was no such thing as “the short bus”. Kids with special needs got on the same bus as the rest of us. I recall this situation worked fine for everyone, but I probably wasn’t paying attention.
At some point after I left the K-12 school system, districts started providing separate transportation for kids with special needs–those with learning disabilities and physical disabilities. Then the term “short bus” was born because the buses were smaller. If you rode that bus you were branded by your classmates as not being as smart or as capable as they were. Yep, kids are cruel. “And the point is?” you ask.
My point is I believe most C-level execs think the people in their marketing department get off the short bus every morning. They don’t hold their marketing people in high regard. Marketers are seen as a necessary business expense and not a strategic contributor to the organization. They aren’t viewed as people who “understand the business”. Unfortunately, in too many companies they are right.
This can be explained in three parts. First, a lack of marketing leadership has not adequately defined the role of the marketing function within the organization. Second, there isn’t the right business acumen in the department to deliver on any mission higher than worrying about the font size on the company website. Third, the top execs in the company don’t have a clue about what marketing’s true value should be.
I see the caliber of people who are in most marketing positions today and I shudder. I’m not saying that marketing people are stupid. That’s not the case. I see way too many who are mis-informed, mis-guided, and ill-prepared to do much more for the business than make the logo look good.
SMB companies, in particular, are struggling to get high value from their investment in the marketing function, but are stuck in a no-man’s land. They generally can’t afford to hire a seasoned marketing executive who can both train and lead the marketing department to new heights.
Company after company makes the mistake of thinking they can solve their sales and marketing leadership problems by paying big bucks for a VP of Sales & Marketing. Wrong! Any person with sales in their title will devote 95% of their time and energy to making their revenue target. Five percent of time and energy for marketing leadership doesn”t cut it.
Enter the interim marketing executive. A SMB company may not be able to afford a permanent CMO, but they can certainly justify an interim CMO engagement, properly scoped to lead, install best practices, and train the marketing staff. The right interim executive can transform an entire marketing department in less than six months.
Put your marketing team back on the long bus where they belong. Talk with an interim marketing executive today ( I know a few) about what they can do to boost marketing’s performance to a new level.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )The Interim Manager as Coach
There is an ancillary benefit to the use of interim managers in marketing and sales functions. The on-demand executive is often in a position to provide coaching to less experienced managers in the company. So, while the interim conducts his/her specific duties formal or informal advice and mentoring can occur.
Small and mid-market companies that have a philosophy of hiring and developing managers for the long term are well-suited to leverage the “seasoned” nature of interims. Larg companies, the Fortune 500-type, have large enough management hierarchies to support internal mentoring programs, but smaller companies don’t. The experience and depth of the organization chart doesn’t support such programs.
The coaching can be up or down the management food chain. For instance, an interim that is engaged to be CMO for a season is frequently on a peer level–in terms of experience– with the CEO of a small or mid-market company. The intermim CMO can provide invaluable advice and coaching to the CEO. And the CEO can listen knowing that the advice is untainted by internal politics and bias.
In most cases the coaching is down stream. An interim VP of Sales with 20 years of enterprise sales experience can be an extremely valuable coach to the less experienced sales managers in a company trying to sell into the enterprise market. While the interim VP of Sales is implementing processes, realigning the sales organization and its commission structure, she can also be coaching key sales managers that the company has identified as having long-term potential with the organization.
Many executives pay big bucks for coaches. How sweet it is when an on-demand executive can provide that service and fill a leadership gap at the company, too.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Vitamins for Wounded Ducks
I was having coffee and discussing interim management with a well-respected business adviser and investor the other day. He pointed out an opportunity for interim marketing and interim sales that I hadn’t thought of before.
He correctly observed that nearly every venture capital and private equity firm has within their portfolio at least one company that has been in the portfolio for seven years or so and is struggling to reach the point where an equity event (IPO, M&A) is feasible. The investors want a return. Their management fees may be declining. He called these portfolio companies “wounded ducks”.
A change of management isn’t likely in the cards. A sharp candidate is going to see that the situation is extremely risky. Besides, the recruitment process would eat up too much valuable time. However, a breath of fresh perspective and vitality from an interim manager just might do the trick.
In these situations, why not bring in an interim sales and/or interim marketing manager with the right combination of domain/process expertise to make an all-out push for an agreed upon outcome? It’d be a mini-turnaround of sorts over a period of 3-9 months.
A solid idea worth considering.
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