Fractional Leadership: Why bring on a part-time leader?

Fractional leadership is on the rise as more companies experience the benefits of bringing on fractional leaders.

But can a part-time leader really deliver the impact and long-term results your company needs?

The answer is yes! Fractional leaders are highly experienced at coming in to add strategic value from day one - without being slowed down by office politics or administrative tasks. Think of fractional leaders as a type of special forces or special operations.

Unlike traditional leadership roles where executives are balancing day-to-day team administration and coaching alongside strategy and ideation, fractional leaders can be hyper-focused on the key initiatives or challenges at hand - all for a fraction of the cost.

What’s more is talented fractional leaders come with specialized skill sets honed by niching down, all while gaining experience across multiple organizations and industries.

So how exactly does fractional leadership work? What type of impact can they realistically make? And why are fractional leadership roles growing in the digital marketing space?

Read on to explore how to use fractional leadership to its fullest potential and what to look for in the digital marketing space.

What is Fractional Leadership?

Simply put, fractional leaders are brought into companies either to fill an executive or leadership role for a “fraction” of full-time work or to step into temporary leadership gaps part-time.

Companies bring fractional leaders on to:

• Lead a specific project or short-term campaign

• Cover a transition period within a company

• Build or upskill a team

• Provide strategic advice to expand and grow the company

Fractional leaders often have specialist skill sets, are experienced and work with one or more companies at a time on a flexible or part-time basis.

Fractional leadership can be a strategic solution for organizations looking to tackle a challenge or drive growth that the existing leadership team doesn’t have the current capacity to manage.

While in-house leaders are often experts in company culture, products and services, fractional leaders can bring new ideas and diverse perspectives to turn existing company assets - products and people - into something stronger and more strategic.

Leadership failure is a major concern for many organizations given the substantial amount of time it takes to recruit, train and compensate established leaders.

Yet, poor performing leaders are a common and very present reality - with 50% of leaders failing in their current roles.

Fractional leadership can be the answer a company needs when looking for a change of leadership or to help bring a derailed project back on course.

Tip: If you’re considering a fractional leader at your company, be clear about your top priority initiatives you want tackled and consider a contract anywhere from 3-18 months.

Fractional Marketing Leadership: Part-time CMOs and Marketing Directors

Digital marketing is now an essential part of most businesses - big and small.

Yet it’s becoming increasingly challenging for all organizations to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape.

New social media platforms, ever changing shifts in search engine optimization (SEO), algorithm updates, AI capabilities like ChatGPT and more are quickly rendering many marketing skill sets irrelevant.

A powerful prediction from a top digital marketer presenting at AD World conference recently stood out to me:

“Right now AI won’t replace you, but a marketer who knows AI will.”

Today, in the digital marketing space, the years of experience you have are only as good as the platforms, technologies and relevant strategies you’re experienced at mobilizing.

The right fractional leaders in the digital marketing space can help companies save time and resources all while gaining a competitive advantage by bringing in specialized expertise in specific areas such as SEO, email marketing or influencer marketing.

Companies looking to grow need to grow their people too.

A talented fractional chief marketing officer or fractional director of digital marketing can help upskill an established team by bringing in expertise outside of the organization.

Tip: While establishing expectations, be clear about the exact outcomes you’re looking for from an interim leader. Is it driving performance while also upskilling your team? How will you measure success when it comes to team development?

Whether it’s learning how to ethically and strategically adopt AI for copywriting, or becoming skilled at optimizing organic content for maximum reach, bringing on a fractional leader can be the right investment to drive growth and stay ahead of the curve in the digital marketing space.

Tip: Consider if you’re okay with a remote only presence or a hybrid role. Be clear upfront about how much presence the leaders need to have onsite.

Common Fractional Leadership Questions

Fractional leadership roles are changing traditional structures of work and leadership, and with that comes a number of misconceptions and concerns.

Let’s take a look at a number of common questions, misunderstandings and myths around fractional leadership roles.

Q: Can fractional leaders lead sustainable change beyond the end of their contract?

A: Yes. In my experience, fractional leaders often deliver a remarkable amount of change in a short period of time and these major changes bring new systems, new models of working, upskilled talent and frameworks for building successful future campaigns or initiatives.

Q: What’s the difference between a consultant and a fractional leader?

A: Typically consultants come on as a temporary partner of the business, but at an arm's length. Fractional leaders become more involved in an organization. While fractional leaders do stay out of the politics, they quickly establish themselves as part of the team and build enough rapport to drive influence and gain momentum on key initiatives.

Q: What kind of fractional leaders are there?

A: Fractional leaders exist across a number of different organizational verticals including finance, IT, sales, marketing and more. Most fractional leaders take on one or more engagements at the same time and execute remotely or through a hybrid arrangement.

Q: What benefits does a fractional leader bring that an in-house leader can’t?

A: I don’t like to make generalizations as every person has a unique set of skills and experience, but typically fractional leaders arrive with a wide range of experience and an expanded network. They’re skilled at quickly identifying which skills they need to get the job done and they can tap into their network if they need to. Coming in “new” often empowers fractional leaders to ask tough questions and do a deeper discovery to uncover ideas or solutions that may be less obvious to the existing team.

Q: How do you make the most out of a fractional leadership agreement?

A: Identify a targeted purpose or priority for why you’re bringing a fractional leader on. Is it to mentor and upskill a team? Is it to lead a new project launch? Be clear about what you’re looking for in terms of delegation, coaching and new strategic perspective.

Give your fractional leader the space, transparency and trust to communicate openly with the existing team. Be open to tapping the network of the leader if needed.