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.