Fractional Co-Leader: What Happens When Co-Leadership and Fractional Converge?
What if fractional CEO, and co-leadership, married?
As shared leadership rises in popularity and gains acceptance as The Future of Leadership, a new option emerges, not just for chief executives but for their teams, too.
Fractional C-Suite professionals step in after the previous leader’s exit. Fractional Co-Leaders step in while the leader is still there to act as a co-lead during a phase of expansion, launch, upskilling, or retraction.
A Fractional Sprint might be a week to one month partnership of intense executive coaching, along with strategic and operations support in partnership with the key leader to help transition them and the organization through a phase. And then the sprint is over and the leader continues on with stronger performance, or stronger results during a phase.
Fractional CEOs are known to step in to fill the leader gap for deep, hands-on, big-picture and operational leadership. With a co-leader fractional sprint, the organization welcomes the fractitioner to partner with the CEO as co-leader, catapulting co-leadership into a whole new model for change. This arrangement is not permanent, and not expected to be.
Expansion. Stress and burnout from sole and hero leadership is real, and finally recognized for what it is: not sustainable without significant loss. During rapid growth, leaders can be stretched to breaking point if staffing and resources are not aligned. Enter the fractional co-leader who steps in to work with the leader as a partner, sharing duties to accelerate expansion without sacrificing the leader as casualty.
Launch. The cycle from startup to implementation of new products or services can benefit from a fractional co-leader with aligned technical skills for the rollout from research to plan to launch. Co-leader technical support can keep launch on schedule with the organization benefiting from double the expertise.
Upskilling. Once C-Suite members are hired, organizations seldom assess for future skills needed to excel in the position. A smarter approach would be to identify the ambitious skillset that supports the strategic plan, and intentionally upskill the C-Suite leader to avoid skill lag with future needs. As succession readiness becomes more of a practice than an emergency plan, intentional and individualized leadership upskilling presents a sprint-worthy alternative to sending employees to group training class.
Retraction. In both the nonprofit and business sectors, Boards might try an alternative to dismissal or wishful thinking. Executive coaching is more impactful than general skill training because of the intense, highly customized one-on-one facilitation, vs. training standardized for a broad group demographic. Hiring a fractional co-leader experienced in the C-Suite position and executive coaching is like hiring a personal trainer to work out the C-Suite leader daily, resulting in reduced drag, increased endurance, and better outcomes.
Adult learning theory has long recognized the loss that happens after a trained leader returns to the office, to a team oblivious and therefore unexcited about the leader’s new information and transformation. A fractional co-leadership sprint from one week to one month, to improve leader and organizational performance, can be well worth the investment.