
What is fractional leadership, and why is it booming now?
Post-pandemic shifts have altered how senior leadership thinks about time, value, and work. The profound shift in how we worked allowed senior leaders to reflect on their lives. It also encouraged more reflection, which gave rise to a desire to have more meaningful and purposeful work. It fostered a sense of agency—to decide what work they do, when, and with whom.
The rise of fractional leadership
As leaders sought to regain more control over their working lives, many viewed fractional leadership as the logical next step to achieve this freedom in their careers. But what is fractional leadership—and why is it still gaining momentum?
Fractional leaders work in part-time, high-impact roles across multiple companies. They are self-employed and operate on an access pay-as-you-go basis, often supporting a portfolio of organizations and adjusting their support based on each company's needs at any given time. They frequently sit at the head of various functions, such as finance, marketing, or technology. Organizations often hire them to help grow the company during stages when it doesn't require a full-time leader in that area.
Most fractional leaders have previously held full-time C-suite positions, but have transitioned into fractional roles while seeking more purpose and autonomy. For some, it's the allure of a better work-life balance and no longer being tied to the nine-to-five. They want to work around family priorities and travel desires. For others, the variety offered by fractional work is appealing. Working with three to seven businesses at exciting stages of growth can provide more challenge and excitement than some full-time roles. Typically, fractional leaders have long careers in full-time C-suite roles, but fractional work offers them the chance to make a positive impact on growing small to medium-sized businesses. They feel like they can have a greater impact on a small organization than within the constraints of a large corporation.
Why is the fractional boom in the C-suite happening now?
The concept of the C-suite has remained largely unchanged since the 1980s. Many view it as a static structure. However, we're now facing a seismic shift as global megatrends begin to reshape how we work. Adopting experienced, agile leaders may be essential for businesses navigating challenges like climate change, political and economic instability, demographic shifts, and energy scarcity.
Fractional leadership allows businesses to be more agile by accessing the skills needed to address these megatrends. This includes bringing in leaders with experience in managing new technological changes, like AI implementation. Most fractional leaders also have access to a network of peers who can help inform decision-making when responding to global challenges.
Fractional leadership has grown from the realization that full-time presence in an office isn't always necessary to perform valuable and important work. A few years ago, many companies were reluctant to hire leaders who couldn't be physically present daily.
Even with efforts to return-to-office mandates, the modern workplace has demonstrated that presence doesn't necessarily equate to impact. Fractional leaders will mirror the culture of each business they work with to build trust and rapport. That might mean being onsite regularly with those full-time back in the office, to matching a hybrid or remote work structure.
For years, we've seen the rise of the independent contractor economy. Small businesses have tapped this model for services like design, marketing, and accounting. The idea isn't new. Fractional leadership is the next evolution of this trend. It will enable businesses to access the right talent at the right time to support growth without the overhead of a full-time hire but through a committed relationship for as long as the business needs.
This shift is also influenced by advancements in technology, which facilitate unbundling traditional job roles. Organizations are adopting more adaptive, problem-focused work models instead of conventional job-centric thinking. Fractional leadership provides the opportunity to outsource these unbundled roles, providing businesses with access to dynamic, fit-for-purpose skill sets. It will also allow senior leaders to integrate work with their personal lives.
The future of work with fractional leaders?
Right now, we are witnessing the rise of a blended workforce. It's no longer the norm to be a full-time employee working nine-to-five, five days a week in a physical office. Instead, the workforce comprises employees, fractional leaders, project freelancers, and gig economy workers—all contributing valuable work.
The onset of AI is only going to accelerate this trend of unbundling roles. Fractional leaders will be ahead of these trends, from working with multiple companies, they'll be able to help businesses prioritize the human skills needed to grow a business alongside this blended future.
While businesses rely on fractional leaders, freelancers, and gig economy workers, the next question for businesses to tackle is how to shift their thinking from leading their employees to leading their whole blended workforce effectively. If they can learn to do this, business leaders can look forward to a more agile and nimble workforce to weather the future.
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Fast Company
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How leaders can be transparent about their belief systems without alienating anyone
Not long ago, leaders largely steered clear of the rough-and-tumble of politics. They inhabited a culture of impartiality, and for the most part stayed in their lane, rising now and then when called upon to offer observations about their specific sectors. Those times are over. We now live in an era of CEO activism, where shareholders, employees, and consumers expect corporate leaders to take a stand on issues far beyond their core industry—issues like immigration, DEI, or gender rights. Whereas before, hardly anyone outside of their industry could pick a chief executives out of a lineup, today's business leaders from Howard Schultz to Bill Gates to Elon Musk are household names, with the ability to influence public discourse—and policy—with a single tweet. For a business, there are distinct advantages to taking a political stand. At the same time, there is a fine line between brand enhancement and brand destruction. In this climate, how can a leader be transparent about her or his belief system without alienating anyone? Rewards and Risks First, it's hard, if not impossible, to reveal your belief system without alienating someone. It's almost a given: audiences and stakeholders these days may demand a political stand, but they can also be thin-skinned and easily offended when they don't agree with that stand. For the leader, the key is to avoid alienating significant portions of the constituencies and stakeholders responsible for the company's ultimate success: shareholders, employees, and consumers. When it comes to affiliating openly with a political figure or party, there can be advantages, such as privileged access and perhaps the ability to favorably influence policy direction. That said, there are also risks. Some of them are obvious: political fortunes are volatile, and public opinion is fickle, both of which can spell trouble for an aligned business. 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Executives are not. Leaders are paid to ensure a company grows and prospers far into the future. That might mean rubbing elbows with those in power, or even contributing to campaigns, but it does not have to mean selling the soul of your identity, i.e. politicizing the brand or dragging a company's image (along with you) for the sake of a small short-term advantage. Reputations are hard to rebuild, and customers, once lost, are hard to reclaim. While a leader's personal beliefs may inform actions both private and professional, there are a few basic principles that can act as guardrails, providing the freedom to be transparent while preventing the leader's viewpoints and actions from creating conflicts and harming the company's fortunes. 1. Focus on values, not politics Nobody expects an executive and a workforce of thousands to agree on every issue. But a leader can set the tone by emphasizing core organizational values rather than personal political opinions. 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Provide spaces—forums, listening sessions, anonymous feedback tools—for difficult conversations to happen constructively. Diversity of thought is a strength, not a liability. 5. Be strategic If you choose to speak out, do so with intention. Consult your communications team, evaluate stakeholder impact, and conduct a risk-benefit analysis. As Harvard Business Review contributors Aaron Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel advise: 'Select issues carefully, reflect on the best times and approaches to get involved, consider the potential for backlash, and measure results.' Who's doing it right? A number of well-known CEOs have made a point of voicing their beliefs, and have not suffered for it. On the contrary, they have developed a leadership style that manages to be both values-informed and advantageous from a business standpoint. 1. Satya Nadella (Microsoft). Nadella openly discusses empathy and his Hindu faith, speaking often of caring for his son with special needs. He is upfront about his personal values of humility and purpose, but does not impose these upon the firm directly, emphasizing instead organizational culture and customer impact. Under his watch, Microsoft has quadrupled its market capitalization. 2. Dan Schulman (former CEO, PayPal). Schulman has been vocal in support of social justice and economic inclusion, which he links to his personal Jewish ethical values. PayPal pulled out of North Carolina to protest anti-LGBTQ legislation, a move that was criticized by the right but rewarded by stakeholders, with shareholder returns remaining strong. 3. Rose Marcario (former CEO, Patagonia). Markario's Buddhist beliefs and environmental ethics were strongly aligned with Patagonia's corporate mission. So when the company sued the Trump administration over its intention to dismantle and sell off national monuments, it mobilized the company's core outdoor audience and strengthened the brand, with increases in both consumer loyalty and profits. 4. Ken Frazier (former CEO, Merck). In 2017, Frazier resigned from President Trump's American Manufacturing Council following the administration's tepid response to the white supremacist marches and ensuing violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Frazier's action was seen as deeply principled, and Merck's shareholder value was not damaged. Other CEOs (UnderArmour, Intel, et al) followed suit, in part because Frazier's action created a public demand for moral leadership. Finding balance In the end, leaders must balance their own need to reveal their personal beliefs with the greater good of the organization. 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