1. Fractional Leaders can’t understand a company
You might assume that someone parachuting into a business would not have an in-depth understanding of the service or product that your business offers or the industry it operates in. But that’s just the thing: fractional leaders aren’t supposed to. They offer expertise in something like marketing, sales, finance, leadership or transformation. Companies already have in-house specialists who know the product or service. What they lack are executives who can turn existing company into something bigger and better.
This stort of learned experience as a leader matters. Research shows that learning from failure is a key part of becoming an effective leader. People who haven’t steered a company through a crisis will face a steep learning curve when they must leap into action for the first time. Therefore, it makes more sense to hire someone who’s been there before,, compared to bringing on someone who is new to your industry. To that end, look to hire fractional leaders who have demonstrable leadership experience rather than just technical know-how.
2. Fractional Leaders continue broken strategies
You might assume that short-term leaders will be more inclined to continue with broken strategies because they aren’t personally invested enough to make major changes. Perhaps you may believe they’ll let short-lived momentum guide them instead of doing the hard work to change organizations they will no longer be part of soon. On the contrary, fractional leaders are brought on specifically because they know how to make transformations work. Positive change is the KPI they live by.
Unlike in-house leaders who suffer from burnout—and might be planning their departure more than planning the company’s strategy—fractional leaders arrive refreshed and ready to leave a lasting mark. Having worked within multiple organizations, they know how to plan, execute, and create change. Fractional executives are ready to shake things up and push performance in a positive direction with the new challenges each role presents. It doesn’t make sense to expect the same old team to achieve different results, which is why it pays to bring in outsiders.
3. Fractional Leaders can’t make the same impact
Another major misconception is that someone who joins a company temporarily can’t make the same impact as someone who stays for years. But we all know that time on the job doesn’t equate to success. Experience, expertise, and initiative do—all of which fractional leaders possess. Hiring a fractional leader also takes far less time than recruiting a full-time executive, so they can step in almost immediately and quickly start making an impact.
Remember that a leader’s impact is just as likely to be negative as it is to be positive; studies show that more than 50% of leaders are failing. Experience in leadership positions makes fractional leaders less likely to fail, meaning they spare a company the negative effects of relying on the wrong executive. They also help small and midsize companies compete on the same level as their larger competition. It might be difficult to quantify the impact of evening the playing field in this way, but it’s not insignificant.
