February 10, 2026
Robert Jordan

What 2025 Meant for Interim Leaders — and Why 2026 Is the Inflection Point

Robert Jordan | CEO, InterimExecs
What 2025 Meant for Interim Leaders — and Why 2026 Is the Inflection Point

2025 was significant for our tribe of leaders serving as expert interim and fractional executives. What happened? Here are the highlights, followed by what we see coming:

1. Interim and Fractional Leadership Went Mainstream

Back in 2007 we launched the predecessor to InterimExecs. NO ONE had a clue what we were talking about. Interim? What’s that? Are they in between jobs? Retired? Consultants?

No more. Business finally gets executives-on-demand. Specialized expertise for what you need right now? That’s a huge plus – it resonates.  And a minus – you’re no longer alone in the field. There’s a lot more noise.

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February 6, 2026

Chemistry Matters: The Right Questions to Ask When Interviewing an Interim Executive

Chemistry Matters: The Right Questions to Ask When Interviewing an Interim Executive

At InterimExecs, we’ve spent years developing a proven methodology for matching companies with experienced interim executives. While skills, experience, and track record matter, one factor consistently rises to the top of the list: chemistry.

Whether the interim executive will be working with a private equity fund, a company owner, a board, or an existing management team, alignment and trust are essential. Once we recommend an executive—or team—tailored to a company’s needs, the next question almost always follows:

“What should we be asking in the interview to know if this is truly the right fit?”

Below are several targeted interview questions designed to help you assess both capability and chemistry—so you can move forward with confidence.

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February 6, 2026

FABS: Why the Right Leadership Mindset Matters

FABS: Why the Right Leadership Mindset Matters

Every organization needs a leader. But not just any leader will do. Success depends on finding the right leader to meet the organization’s needs in that precise moment.

But, as we have learned over more than 12 years of working to place the right leader into the right organization at the right time, doing that is no easy feat.

In fact, it’s why we wrote our new book on leadership, Right Leader Right Time: Discover Your Leadership Style for a Winning Career and Company. (Visit Right Leader to learn more.)

The book is the culmination of our experience over the last 12 years, experience that has shown us what the most successful leaders do well.

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January 7, 2026

Using AI Without Exposing Your Crown Jewels: A Practical Guide for C-Suite Leaders

Using AI Without Exposing Your Crown Jewels: A Practical Guide for C-Suite Leaders

Artificial intelligence has moved from “interesting experiment” to “board-level priority” with remarkable speed. Most CEOs and executive teams now believe AI can materially improve efficiency, decision-making, and growth. At the same time, many share a quieter concern:

How do we use AI safely so we don’t put our most sensitive data, IP, and competitive advantage at risk?

The good news is that companies can unlock real value from AI without putting proprietary information at risk — and they can do so without rushing into a costly, permanent hire before they’re ready.

Here’s how.

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December 3, 2025

7 Essential Turnaround Tips for Middle-Market Companies

7 Essential Turnaround Tips for Middle-Market Companies

When a mid-market company (say $20M–$500M in revenue) hits a wall — declining revenue, disappearing cash, operational stagnation, or a sudden crisis — the path back to stability can feel overwhelming. But seasoned interim CEOs and turnaround executives have seen these situations repeatedly, across industries and economic cycles.

Their collective experience points to seven essential strategies that consistently help companies regain footing, rebuild momentum, and return to profitable growth.

Below, three veteran turnaround leaders, interim CEOs Dick Lindenmuth, Paul Fioravanti, and Philip Schiavoni, share real-world insights from years of hands-on business turnaround work.

From Lindenmuth’s strategic empathy to Fioravanti’s cultural clarity and structured leadership, to Schiavoni’s cash-first survival approach, we compiled these seven turnaround tips. Together, they create a blueprint for middle-market companies that need to stabilize quickly and rebuild toward long-term health.

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July 7, 2025
Hans Lagerweij

The Reverse Elevator Speech: The Essential 60-Second Secret Every Interim Leader Must Master

Hans Lagerweij | Growth Architect
The Reverse Elevator Speech: The Essential 60-Second Secret Every Interim Leader Must Master

“If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough.”

— Albert Einstein

Most leaders know the power of an elevator pitch — that concise, compelling speech you’d give the CEO if you found yourself sharing an elevator. But what about when the tables turn? What if it’s your job, as a leader, to share your vision with your team?

Enter the reverse elevator speech — the 30-to-60-second message every leader needs to master.

The reverse elevator speech is particularly relevant for interim professionals as it enables rapid alignment and impactful engagement. Interims can swiftly grasp an organization’s core challenges and, by articulating the company’s problem and their proposed solution concisely, immediately gain executive buy-in and establish their value. This approach cuts through complexity, fosters quick consensus for change initiatives, and frames the interim’s role as a direct solution provider from day one.

What Is a Reverse Elevator Speech?

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March 26, 2025

Interim and Fractional Executives: Join us on Instagram

Interim and Fractional Executives: Join us on Instagram

As the OG interim executive search firm — we have been doing this work since 2007 — we’ve seen the game change a lot. Our estimate is the number of executives seeking our interim and fractiona work has expanded hundredfold, but yet the vast majority don’t really know what it means to be an interim at it’s core. No disrespect here…it just comes with learning something new.

One of the most challenging aspects of this work is that even if you are successful, it’s lonely at the top. And many interims are solo operators. We’ve invested many years into building the RED Team of top interims from around the world, but there is another 99% of executives out there trying their hand at this work and we want to see them succeed.

So we’ve launched a new series on Instagram (@InterimExecs) digging into the ins and outs of how to succeed in the interim and fractional space, how to up your game as a leader, and what we are seeing in this growing industry.

In talking to thousands of you – interims, fractionals, CEOs, boards, investors – we’ve learned a few things that will resonate:

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November 25, 2024

What Are Core Values and How Do Yours Inform Your Worklife?

What Are Core Values and How Do Yours Inform Your Worklife?

Core values are the fundamental beliefs, principles, and ethical standards that guide a person’s actions and decisions. They define what is important and provide a sense of purpose and direction. Understanding our own core values and how they impact our decisions and how we interact with others is critically important to understanding how we approach our daily lives and why we make the choices we make.

In the workplace, that means understanding how we react to others, how we manage employees, and why workers who feel the organization’s policies and expectations run counter to their core values suffer “moral injury.”

InterimExecs CEO Robert Jordan invited his business coach, Brett Morris, to sit down for a chat to learn what a core value is, why they are non-negotiable, why our core values are unique to us, what happens when our core beliefs are in conflict with those of other people, and what happens when we believe someone has violated our core values.

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September 17, 2024

How to Build a Better Board of Directors in 4 Easy Steps

How to Build a Better Board of Directors in 4 Easy Steps

“A world of no surprises.” That is the lofty goal of private equity investors Eli Boufis and Steve Thompson when they take on a new company. It involves open communication with the CEO – including reminders of how much money they can make if the acquisition succeeds – and a plan to build a better board of directors.

Building a better board of directors is a four-part process:

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April 26, 2024

Private Company Governance: Why You Need a Strong Board of Directors

Private Company Governance: Why You Need a Strong Board of Directors

Bruce Werner has a blunt message for company owners. “Owners are leaving money on the table. They’re not getting full value from their boards,” he says. “We can improve the outcomes in your business, make your life a little better, and take risk out of the business by having a board do what it ought to. And it doesn’t take that much more effort. You just have to ask a few important questions.”

Werner came up in the family business, a $500 million company that made ladders until it was sold in a leveraged buyout in the mid-90s. After the sale, Werner started, grew, and sold four companies, was a partner in a private equity fund, and served on more than 10 boards, mostly for family-owned firms.

He’s distilled all of that experience into two books, Your Ownership Journey: 12 Secrets for Personal and Business Success, which published in 2022, and Navigating Private Company Governance: The Savvy Business Owner’s Guide to Developing an Effective Board, which published in 2023.

We interviewed him in the wake of the publication of Navigating Private Company Governance and asked him about his advice for business owners wondering whether they need a board of directors for better corporate governance.

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