Take ownership, with authority
An interim role or a project mandate with a clear line to the CEO or board, and the standing to make decisions.
05Pillar: Strategy
Special projects and interim leadership
Some work does not belong to anyone. It is too important to delegate, too temporary to hire for, and too complex to add to an executive who is already full. We take it.
Who this is for
- CEOs and owners carrying work with no natural owner
- Boards managing a leadership transition
- Organizations mid-transaction or mid-restructure
- Executive teams at capacity
The business problem
Every organization has a short list of things that matter enormously and are progressing slowly. They are not on anyone's objectives. They surface at every board meeting and move between them.
The reason is rarely capability. It is that the work sits across functions, requires seniority, and has no permanent home.
When clients call us
- A senior leader has departed unexpectedly
- An integration, transition, or restructure needs experienced hands
- A project keeps appearing on the board agenda without progressing
- The work crosses functions and nobody has the authority to drive it
- An operation needs stabilizing while a permanent search runs
What we do
Stabilize before improving
In a transition, the first job is that nothing breaks. Improvement comes once the organization is steady.
Run it as a project, not a presence
Defined scope, defined end, visible progress, and reporting the board can follow without a briefing.
Hand over so it stays fixed
Documentation, relationships, and a named internal owner. The measure of the work is what survives our departure.
What you get
Deliverables may include
- Interim executive leadership on site
- Project mandate, scope, and governance
- Stabilization plan and risk register
- Board and stakeholder reporting
- Knowledge transfer and documentation
- Named internal ownership at handover
Outcomes clients are after
- Continuity through a leadership gap
- Work that finally moves because someone owns it
- A board that can see progress without chasing it
- Capability and relationships that remain in the organization
Example projects
Representative example, illustrative only
An owner preparing a management RFP
- Situation
- A publicly owned arena approaches the end of its management agreement. The board has never run a competitive process and is unsure what it should be asking the market for.
- What we do
- Define what the owner is actually buying. Build the evaluation criteria before the submissions arrive. Structure the RFP so the responses can be compared on substance rather than presentation.
- Outcome
- A process the board can defend publicly, and a decision made on the merits rather than the polish of the deck.
A board needing outside guidance on a strategic decision
- Situation
- A board faces a decision that will shape the organization for a decade. The management recommendation may be right, but nobody in the room is independent of it.
- What we do
- Test the recommendation. Talk to the people the strategy depends on. Present what holds, what does not, and what would have to be true for the plan to work.
- Outcome
- A board that votes with its eyes open, and a management team with a sharper plan.
How the engagement works
Work in this area usually runs as one of the following. We tell you which fits before you commit to anything.
A standing relationship with a defined scope. We stay close enough to the business to be useful quickly, and far enough outside it to say what an employee cannot. Most retainers settle into a monthly rhythm of working sessions, review of live decisions, and access between them.
- Board and owner decisions
- Growth planning
- Sounding board for the CEO
We take the seat. Commercial, partnership, or venue leadership held by an experienced operator for an agreed number of days each month, with real accountability for the outcome. The role is scoped to end, and we build the internal capability to replace it.
- Between permanent hires
- Function too small for a full-time exec
- Capability you intend to build
Scoped, priced, and delivered against a date. A market entry assessment, a partnership strategy, a guest experience review, a commercial plan for a venue. You get the work, the reasoning behind it, and a practical recommendation you can act on.
- A decision to be made
- A plan the board must approve
- Work with a deadline
We have sat on both sides of the table. On the issuing side we help define what you are actually buying and how to evaluate it. On the responding side we shape the strategy, the story, and the submission. Either way the work runs to the submission date.
- Venue management RFPs
- Destination and event bids
- Operator selection
Senior leadership on site while you run a search, complete a transaction, or stabilize an operation. We hold the role, keep the organization moving, and hand over cleanly with the knowledge transferred.
- Leadership transition
- Operational stabilization
- Post-transaction integration
Let's talk
Ready to talk through a special project?
Tell us where you are. We will tell you honestly whether and how we can help, and what a sensible first step looks like.