ALL INTERIM MANAGEMENT MODELS AREN'T CREATED EQUAL

As someone who has lived interim management for the past eight years, it has been intriguing for me to see how other professional services or consulting firms have added “interim” as a service tab on their websites to capitalize on a growing worldwide trend. In reality, when you ask the question (and I have many times) you find out that the truth is they once offered it as a service but don’t really now, or it has become simply an extension of their executive search model. The executive registers with organization X, he/she is uploaded to its database and if an opportunity arises for which they could be a match, full or part-time, they might get an interview.

When I’m asked why some of the big multinational search firms who do interim can’t seem to make it work in Canada, or the US for that matter, to any great degree, my answer inevitably is “because they don’t offer   executives the opportunity to collaborate on integrated client based business solutions”.  We don’t view this as a trade secret, but rather extremely logical in its benefits for executives and clients alike.

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PERSPECTIVES ON SUCCESSION PLANNING

WITH THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Every family business comes to a point in its life when it becomes necessary for the current generation to find a successor due to age, health or other interests. It is a well known fact that passing the torch to the next generation in the family does not always lead to the most successful continuation of the business, especially with regards to the third and further generations. Usually, firstly, because the later generations have not invested their own blood, sweat and tears into creating and growing the business, and secondly, because each successive generation has grown up sheltered from the reality of the business and industry in general.

In witnessing successes with the third generation and beyond, it is often because the newer generation received an appropriate education and then worked in the real world for a few years before coming home to the family business. Another positive indicator is when the older generation agreed to a fixed period of mentoring before they would step down and lived up to the agreement. When these factors don’t happen it can lead to business disaster and personal tragedy.

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