11 Things to Expect from an Interim Leader During Their First 30 Days on the Job

So you’ve decided to bring in an interim executive. Perhaps you need to temporarily fill a leadership role while you conduct a thorough search for a new permanent hire. Or maybe you need an experienced leader to spearhead a new initiative or helm the launch of a new product. Or maybe your company is in crisis and you need a turnaround expert to right the ship.

Whatever the reason you have chosen to bring on an interim executive, you are about to work with someone who works differently. That’s because interims are wired for action.

Here are 11 things to expect from an interim executive during their first 30 days on the job.

This infographic outlines how an interim executives hits the ground running to immediately assess the current state of an organization, build trust, and create an action plan that will produce results fast.

Working with an interim executive can be a very different experience than working with a permanent hire who expects to be in the role for years into the future. The full-time hire often comes with months-long honeymoon as they ramp up and learn the organization. Interims, on the other hand, want to make an impact from Day One. It can be jarring for organizations the first time they encounter the speed and determination of an interim.

Here are 11 ways interims work differently:

1. They Will Start with the End in Mind

We mean this both literally and figuratively. Interim executives will parachute into your business, fix what needs to be fixed, and then leave to move on to their next challenge.

But they won’t leave until they have accomplished what they set out to accomplish. That means they will be very clear about goals. They will spend those first critical days on the job identifying the organization’s key issues and expectations to define what success will look like.

2. They Will Stand with Established Leaders

To be successful, interim managers need to have the unequivocal backing of the organization’s leaders. That might be the CEO, the Board of Directors, or the highest-ranking members of the management team.

Expect the interim executive to ask for a public display of your confidence in their ability.

3. They Will be Good Listeners

Gary Brooks, a veteran interim leader who specializes in turnaround situations, spends his early days on the job “talking with all of the decision-makers and all of the people of influence.” Once he assures them their conversation is confidential and anonymous, “the truth comes out pretty fast.”

“If you are willing to listen and you’re willing to provide good counsel, recognizing that people inside know more about the business than you ever will, I think a lot of confidence can be built very quickly,” Brooks says.

Scott Philips, a long-time interim executive and managing partner of TruNorth Partners. takes the time to ask a lot of questions and explore what matters to the people he meets, both on a business and a personal level. “The more dialogue, the better the trust,” he says.

4. They Will Investigate

On Day 1, expect interim leaders to begin taking a deep dive into the current state of affairs. That can involve everything from interviewing current and former employees to meeting with suppliers and customers to reviewing years’ worth of financials.

Having a clear understanding of where things stand is the first step toward creating a go-forward plan.

5. They Will Be Clear Communicators

This is one of the foundational values interims bring to the table, Philips says. “We’re going to speak the truth even if it hurts.”

“You have to surface a lot of the detail that says, ‘You have these issues and these issues, but frankly, these are the bigger issues you need to solve first,'” he says. “Bringing it to the table and exposing it to the Board or to the CEO, whoever it may be that you’re working with, is critical, and it is the first step in that process.”

And they will ensure the entire organization understands where the company is going and give them the opportunity to vent their hopes, aspirations, and frustrations.

They will deliver bad news with compassion and provide the courage you need to deal with the things that are not working well.

6. They Will Develop a Plan

Interim executives will spend those first 30 days on the job analyzing, evaluating, and assessing. That will give them the information they need to understand the key issues. If the company needs to ramp up revenue, the plan will focus on revenue generation, sales, and marketing, for example.

“If we know where ‘here’ is and we know where ‘there’ is, we can build a plan to get them from here to there,” says Philips.

7. They Will Put Together Their Own Team

Brooks says the team he puts together might include existing members of management, but it might also include others. And they will work under two ground rules:

• Everything is confidential
• Everything is on the table.

8. They Will Be Focused

Once the plan is in place and the people in power – the Board, the CEO, the lender, the investor – have signed off, the interim executive will stick to that plan. Other priorities will be distractions, so the interim managers will consistently and forcefully insist they be put on the back burner while the organization stays focused on the plan.

9. They Will Be Data-Driven

InterimExecs RED Team executives understand that they are judged on outcomes. Because either side can cancel the contract with 30 days’ notice, interims are driven to deliver measurable results quickly.

In his interim assignments, he sets out metrics “that will be agreed upon by all of the constituencies,” says Brooks.  Those metrics will set short-term goals and become the dispassionate measure of success.

10. They Will Look for Early Wins

An early win is important to cement the interim’s reputation and help them be seen as successful. The early win will depend upon the organization and the situation. It might be a quick jump in revenue or sales. Or it might be something less concrete. “Sometimes the early wins are frankly just building a relationship that is significant and deep,” Philips says.

11. They Will Execute Their Plan

Unlike consultants who might come into your organization and develop a go-forward plan, interim leaders are all about implementation. Once those intense first 30 days on the job are done, they will move to the next phase: execution.

“A medium or mediocre plan well executed, [means] you’re going to succeed, but if you have any kind of plan and it’s not executed on, it’s going to fail. And so we concentrate specifically on the people part and on the execution piece, having action plans and executing them,” Brooks says.

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Let us help you find the right interim executive for your organization. Reach out to us for a confidential conversation.

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