November 9, 2016

Good CEOs Focus on Active Listening

Richard Lindenmuth | Interim CEO

When an interim CEO or CFO parachutes into a company they have first-hand experience of what measurements and benchmarks (analytics) are useful and how to use and prioritize them. There is also solid recognition that data and numbers can eliminate a great deal of negativity and get people focused on solutions. Taking action is key, and that often begins with active listening to quickly figure out the exact condition of the company.

An interim must get the facts by asking people what they see and where their main areas of concern are. It is rare during this initial listening process that someone does not say something like “if we had better lighting in this area quality control would improve!”

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October 20, 2016

Executive Search May Be Long, But Interim Execs Deploy in 48 Hours

Olivia Wolak | President, Association of Interim Executives

There is no question that the executive search process is long. When a C-level executive bolts or an organization is going through a transformation – acquisition, product launch, market expansion, etc. – the right leadership needs to be in place, and needs to be in place now.

Vision Share, a consortium of eye banks, experienced this firsthand. Their mission, ensuring corneas be sent worldwide for transplant by eye surgeons, was hampered by organizational problems. The board of directors knew a new CEO was needed, but “the permanent search was estimated to be 6-9 months and came with a guarantee of a year’s employment,” Cindy Reed, Board Member at Vision Share said. “We really felt like we needed more than that.”

The board went to the Association of Interim Executives’ Rapid Executive Deployment Program to bring in Gregg Steinberg as Interim CEO to stabilize the organization, achieve immediate growth goals, and prepare them to hire the permanent CEO.

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July 22, 2016

“Extreme CEO: Leadership Tips from an Interim CEO” – Interview with Richard Lindenmuth

In a recent interview with The Philippe Matthews Show, Association of Interim Executives Chairman, Richard Lindenmuth sheds light on the most important component of any company in transition: its people. Lindenmuth, who has been an Interim CEO in a number of industries ranging from high technology to services shows how to gain people’s respect, trust, and engagement.

May 26, 2016

When Business Improvement and Transformation Is Needed, Look to Interims

Richard Lindenmuth | Interim CEO, COO, CMO, Turnaround

Today companies operate in a complex global economy which is more diverse, connected by the Internet, and not very predictable. Many companies still pursue classic business approaches (inside-the-box thinking) with a focus on short-term results. Failure to focus on business improvement and adapting to the new business environment can cause many issues and eventually lead to delisting from a stock exchange, bankruptcy, or liquidation. How many of 1960’s “Fortune 500” companies still exist today?

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May 11, 2016

Why Industry Doesn’t Matter in the World of Interim

Lyle Banks | Interim CEO

What do Bill George (Medtronic), Meg Whitman (eBay), Bob Wright (NBC), Lou Gerstner (IBM), Larry Bossidy (Allied Signal), Ted Turner (CNN) and Howard Schultz (Starbucks) have in common?

They were all outstanding leaders who revolutionized their companies by applying outside experiences and viewing through different lenses.  Unshackled by past memories or limited perspectives, their successes were a product of “what can be?” versus “what has happened?”

Does that mean industry experience is overrated?  Not necessarily, but I believe a talented leader with an outside perspective, fresh eyes and an open mind will usually outperform an industry veteran when important change is needed.  Why?

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March 4, 2016

NPR Discusses the Rise of Interim CEOs

In a recent NPR story about the rising demand for interim executives, Association of Interim Executives CEO, Robert Jordan shares that a temporary CEO is not a babysitter, but rather a specialized surgeon. “It creates a bias in favor of action and against playing politics,” Robert said, then commenting that Interim CEOs are “trying to solve a problem and work themselves out of the job.”

Association RED Team Member and Interim CEO, Richard Lindenmuth, is also interviewed sharing about his turnaround of Styrotek, an agricultural packaging company in California that contacted the Association in the midst of a 3-month drought and big financial losses. Dick was able to parachute in as Interim CEO and get the company quickly back to profitability. He says “you really have to listen – the solutions are generally within the company.”

Listen to the Story: https://www.npr.org/2016/03/04/469149268/interim-ceos-passive-placeholders-or-rented-fixers 

January 5, 2016

Why M&A Integration is Hard … and What to Do About It

Daniel Fuhrman | Interim CEO, CFO, Turnaround

Everyone has read studies proclaiming the majority of acquisitions fail to create shareholder value.  Yet we are witnessing a roaring M&A market with very frothy valuations and no lack of buyers willing to venture into the game.  Great for sellers.  Timing is everything – private equity groups are finding rich exits to vintage deals entered into prior to the great recession that for years looked like they would be losers.  These favorable returns are giving private equity investors even more reason to bring fresh capital to the table.  Meanwhile, strategic buyers, armed with high valuations on their publicly traded shares and plenty of cash on hand have the wherewithal to bid aggressively, further driving up prices.

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April 13, 2015

The New Category of Interim Executive Management

We’ve been thinking recently about GT Dave, an entrepreneur who dropped out of high school and founded GT’s Kombucha at age 17. His parents swore by the health benefits of Kombucha tea and while GT’s homemade recipe was the foundation for a new company, what he actually did was create an entirely new category. GT Kombucha holds an estimated 60% of a $600M market, and it’s still growing strong.

Creating a new category requires two things above all else: an unwavering sense of mission, and devotion to quality. The challenge is that paving a new path does not always translate to instant success and understanding. At the Association of Interim Executives we believe in the power of interim executive management and have taken on a mission to be the voice of the specialty and to help companies around the globe succeed because of access to world class executive talent.

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March 27, 2015

Private Equity Solve Portfolio Company Challenges with Interim Executive

Interim executives benefit companies dramatically: high-level expertise drops in quickly to do the tough jobs — powerfully and without bias or politicking — to help a company improve. Soon after, they ride off into the sunset to the next assignment. Think of an interim executive as a modern-day John Wayne without the cowboy hat.

Mark Sullivan, founder of Lineage Capital Investment, knows how it works. His private equity firm recently dropped an interim CFO into a manufacturing business amid a turnaround. Monetary villains — so to speak — threatened the corporate ranch and outside help was essential to clean out the threat.

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November 26, 2014

When Do You Bring In an Interim Executive?

When do you bring an interim executive in to a company? In this video two veterans, John Collard, Chairman of Strategic Management Partners and Robert Jordan, CEO of the Association of Interim Executives, give a quick description. Do interims always replace existing management? Decidedly — no. Many times interims complement the existing team