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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Interim leadership is on the rise in the U.S. Nearly a quarter of new CEOs named in the first two months of 2025 were hired on an interim basis, versus 8% in the same period last year, according to a recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The surge in interim leadership coincides with significant tumult in the C-suite. The Challenger report shows that 247 U.S. companies named new CEOs in February, the second-highest total for any month since the firm started tracking CEO changes in 2002. A lot of times when a company brings in an interim CEO its when theyve been caught off guard by the CEOs departure, says Andy Challenger, senior vice president of the outplacement firm. Its not part of a structured succession plan. An interim CEO can buy a board time to conduct a thoughtful search for the right executive, especially if it feels the company needs skills that the existing leadership team lacks. Management experts say theyre also seeing companiesparticularly mid-market and investor-backed businesseshire temporary CEOs during changes such as restructuring, merger integration, or executing a new strategy. Their expertise can be crucial to navigating complex changes that require seasoned leadershipeven temporary solutions can be transformative for an organization, says Sunny Ackerman, global managing partner of on-demand talent at Heidrick & Struggles, the executive search firm. The Temp-to-perm CEO Interim roles also can serve as a tryout for prospective CEO candidates. And companies can engage an interim executive while they figure out what they need in a leader. Ackerman recalls working with her team on an early-stage medical technology company that sought to replace its founder with a full-time CEO. Heidrick & Struggles brought in a life sciences consultant who had been a CEO to create a plan for market entry. The board then hired that consultant as interim CEO to execute the plan. Once they saw his operational skills and market expertise in practice, the board eventually decided to convert him to permanent CEO. Other temp-to-perm CEOs include Chipotles Scott Boatwright, who went from interim in August 2024 to permanent status three months later, and Lance Tucker, who last month was named CEO of Jack in the Box after a 36-day stint as interim CEO of the restaurant company. Avoid leadership limbo Companies need to be careful not to let interim leadership linger. If [an] interim is in place too long, it may communicate the wrong message to the market and employees and create uncertainty about the future leadership of the organization and its strategy, says Janice Ellig, CEO of executive search firm Ellig Group. Employees and the market like certainty. They want to know who is at the helm and what direction they are headed. And in the absence of clear guidance from the board, some interim chiefs may act like caretakers instead of leaders, causing the company to lose ground during the search for a permanent CEO. One things for sure: Interim CEOs arent going away. Ackerman notes that many of the CEOs exiting business right now are baby boomer and Gen X retirees who are eager to remain active by taking on interim roles, generating a larger pool of independent talent than weve ever seen before, she says. Are you a temp-to-perm leader? Are you a CEO or leader who turned a temporary or interim role into a permanent one? How did you win your role? Send your stories to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Id love to share your experiences in a future newsletter. Read more: temps in the C-suite The great fractionalization may be coming to your leadership team How to step in as an interim manager Interim CEO posts: intense and eye-opening
Category:
E-Commerce
According to the latest Gallup State of the Workplace report, employees are seeking new jobs at thehighest levelsince 2015. This trend has been coined The Great Detachment. A key reason for this is increasing employee dissatisfaction with management. For instance, Gallups research shows that those who work in companies withbad management practicesare nearly 60% more likely to be stressed, and stress is the second most-cited factor influencing employees’ decisions to quit. Peoples values have also changed post-COVID-19. Employees prioritize well-being. They expect their contribution to be recognized, and if they arent valued or supported, they arent prepared to tolerate it. The rise of Gen Z in the workplace also needs to be considered. They now make up 27% of the workforce across the 38 high-income countries that make up the OECD. This generation wants to be coached, not directed, and if they dont feel that theyre progressing or that their employer wants to cultivate them, theyll simply leave. Yet, management practice has remained unchanged, with managers still using outdated and clunky methods unsuited to todays workplace. Managers are ill-equipped to give feedback and handle challenging conversations in this rapidly changing work environment and consequently default to directing employees rather than enabling them. Companies need to upskill their middle managers urgently to keep employees engaged and stop hemorrhaging talent. After all, talent is critical for successcompanies in the top quartile of employee engagement achieve23% higher profitabilitythan those in the bottom quartile. If youre losing your top talent to your competitors and suspect poor management may be a cause, here are three things to do: 1. Shift the prevailing management mindset from managing to enabling Managers are often high-performing employees promoted for their technical strengths rather than their people skills. Their management style is typically command and controlsimply directing and providing solutions for employees’ problems without engaging their capabilities. This can be incredibly demotivating for employees, signalling their ideas arent valued or welcomed. Over time, they lose autonomy over their work and wait for direction from their managers before following their instructions, leading to increased disengagement. Managers urgently need to change their mindset from perceiving themselves as the manager and solver of all problems to becoming the enabler of other people’s talents and capabilities. Affording team members the space to contribute creates opportunities for them to grow and advance. To do this, managers need to adopt an enquiry-led approach by learning to ask powerful and insightful questions that encourage reflection at the point that would be most helpful to someones thinking. Instead of asking why questions such as Why did this happen? shift to asking what questions. For instance, What are the reasons behind this outcome? or What could have gone better? What questions remove the personal sting from a why question and promote reflection without triggering defensiveness. This simple change signals a shift from being the all-knowing manager to being a supportive enabler, which is beneficial not only for employee growth but also for building an inclusive and collaborative team culture. 2. Give better feedback to stimulate high performance Giving feedback is often associated with challenging conversations, as managers try to share something they want people to change or improve upon. Moving to more intentional, appreciative and developmental feedback can support employee development. Instead of constantly identifying problems or behaviors that need fixing, managers should seek out moments when someone has excelled in a particular situation. Visibly pointing out the skills or behaviors that made a positive difference to outcomes is a great way to build trust and an openness to constructive feedback. It also creates an environment where employees look forward to coming to work and are motivated to build on their strengths and contribute at their best, increasing job satisfaction. 3. Encourage more collaboration within teams Rather than defaulting to a command and control style of fixing everyones problems, managers must develop their awareness and tune in to coachable moments throughout the day. For example, instead of stepping in to solve every issue brought to them, managers learn to recognise the potential for a better outcome by engaging team members to explore their problem-solving capabilities, giving them the space to suggest ideas and talk them through. They might ask what ideas theyve thought of themselves that could offer a way forward and explore the steps they would need to take to progress those options. Using a more purposeful approach to asking questions intended to stimulate other peoples thinking in the flow of work has been recognised as an advance in management practice known as Operational Coaching. Practitioners learning this new approach stop firefighting and instead adapt their management style to engage their team, acknowledge their capabilities, and invite greater collaboration. This demonstrates that employees thinking and contributions are valued, increasing employee satisfaction, and managers win back valuable time from not stepping in to every problem. Why these strategies help retain top talent As a result of the behavioral work we were engaged in, we developed the STAR model to help managers apply these skills in their daily lives. STAR consists of four steps: STOP Step back and change state THINK Is this a coachable moment? ASK Powerful questions and actively listen RESULT Agree on next steps and an outcome from the conversation By applying this model, managers can learn to adopt new coaching-style “behaviors” in the moment, enabling them to challenge, support, and grow the capabilities of their team members in ways that measurably benefit both the individual and the organization. When employees feel valued for their contributions, have autonomy in their work, and sense their managers care for their development and advancement, their relationship with work improves. As workplaces evolve, businesses must recognize the need to shift managers from their task-focused mindset to a people-focused mindset. This simple but vital step will help foster an environment that values every employee and ensures that top talent is appeciated, nurtured, and retained.
Category:
E-Commerce
The first few weeks of working for a new boss are exciting. Youre ready to jump in, hopeful for growth opportunities, and eager to please. Your boss is enthusiastic, too, likely welcoming you with open arms, setting up 1-1s, and taking a keen interest in your professional development. You both want to make a great impression on each other. Yet, as the new job glow wears off, you may find yourself confused by how quickly your bosss attention vanishes. The leader you were excited to work for becomes the person ignoring your emails, giving haphazard feedback, and postponing your 1-1 (again!). Working for a boss who is overwhelmed is a frustrating, yet not uncommon experience. A growing number of managers report feeling burnt out. Yet, employees are eager for growth opportunities, mentorship, and regular communication with their leaders. This tension often results in teammates feeling under-supported and confused, while managers feel overloaded and guilty. Even if your manager is spiraling, youre not powerless. Through intentionally leading yourself, you can form a supportive and impactful partnership, getting the most out of your managers often limited time. Make it easy to say yes When your manager is juggling a million things, they dont have time to read between the lines or guess what you need. Most leaders want to support their teamthey just need a little direction. Thats where you come in. Rather than hoping your manager will support you, be specific. Ask them to role-play a tough conversation with you, join a high-stakes meeting, or advocate for your work to leadership. The clearer you are about what you need, the easier it is for them to step up and help. Dont just hope for growth opportunitiesgo after them. Find the conference you want to attend, break down why it matters, how much it costs, and then ask your manager for approval. A clear, direct request is way more likely to get a yes than a vague wish for development. Same goes for flexibility. Instead of saying you need more work-life balance, be specific. Ask to work from home on Fridays or swap early mornings for late nightswhatever actually helps you. Your manager is busy, and broad requests like support or professional development are easy to push to the bottom of the list. Spell out exactly what you need, make it an easy yes, and watch how much more you get. Take charge of your 1-1s If your manager is showing up to your 1-1s frazzled and in need of a deep breath, youre not alone. The challenge is that overwhelmed managers spend most of their time on near-term fires. Theyre often worried about getting through the week, not building a successful year. Left unchecked, this can leave your long-term strategies and professional growth high and dry. Address the pop-up windows in your managers brain first, but then take it upon yourself to proactively bring up longer-view horizons by asking questions like: What skills should I be proactively developing to excel in my role? How can I further support our organizational strategy of X? Or mitigate the challenge of Y? Who should I be building relationships with beyond our immediate team? 1-1s that dont go beyond immediate deliverables wont hurt your manager, theyll hurt you. Surface whats most important to your career growth; dont wait for your manager to bring it up. Create a paper trail A leader who is overwhelmed will often forget what happened, what they said, and what the next steps are. Their brain is either in overdrive or stuck in a survival response. If your leader is overwhelmed, create a paper trail. Its on you to recap conversations, confirm prioritizations, and document timelines. This is of service to you and your manager. For you, creating a paper trail saves you time. When your manager can search their inbox for information, theyre less likely to ask you to recap or remind. When they inevitably ask you anyway, you have a simple email to forward. A paper trail is also a form of self-protection. Overwhelmed bosses are more likely to give unclear directions, change timelines, and constantly change their minds. Protect yourself and your work product by documenting important conversations. Busy managers are juggling a hundred things at once, and sometimes, they dont even realize theyve given unclear or conflicting feedback until they see it in writing. That quick comment they made in passing? It might not hold up once its written down. That timeline they casually agreed to? It might suddenly seem impossible when its laid out in black and white. If your boss is moving a mile a minute, a clear, written recap can be a lifesaverit gives them a chance to process things at their own pace and catch any misunderstandings before they turn into bigger problems. Bottom line: dont leave things up to memory or interpretation. Put it in writing and protect yourself from the dreaded I never said that. Be the change you seek Dont add fuel to the never-ending corporate fire drill. People mirror the energy around themregardless of hierarchy. Want your manager to be more engaged? Show up engaged. Wish they were less frantic? Bring calm and focus to your meetings. Yes, working for an overwhelmed boss can be frustrating. But odds are, they dont want to be this way. They probably wish they had more time to support you, but theyre drowning in emails, answering to their own micromanager, or buried under deadlines. Heres the good news: You dont have to wait for them to change the dynamic. You can shift the toneno title required.
Category:
E-Commerce
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