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Fast Company
11-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
What is fractional leadership, and why is it booming now?
More and more senior executives are stepping out of high-powered roles and opting to work for multiple companies on an access pay-as-you-go basis as fractional leaders. This raises the question: Why are executives taking this step, 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.
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Support Caregiving Employees Without Losing Business Momentum
C-level executive leaders are reimagining workplace policies to acknowledge employees as whole people, not just job titles—and with good reason: Nearly three quarters of all U.S. employees handle some sort of caregiving duty at home. For leaders aiming to build a loyal, productive and resilient workforce, supporting team members who juggle ongoing personal responsibilities at home in addition to their professional work is essential. By taking care of employees who are also caregivers, organizations stand to benefit from stronger engagement, higher morale, lower burnout rates and better retention. Here, 18 Forbes Coaches Council members share creative and actionable strategies for C-suite leaders who want to support caregivers in meaningful ways that benefit both their people and their business. 1. Align The Culture With Caregiving Cultural alignment is key to making caregiver support, such as flexibility, hybrid work and employee resource groups, effective. Even the best-designed, most well-intentioned policies will fall flat if the workplace culture stigmatizes caregiving or equates flexibility with a lack of ambition. Caregiver-friendly cultures retain experienced talent and cultivate a more resilient workforce. - Chetna Sethi, Luminous Connections LLC 2. Make Flexibility A Top Priority There are a variety of research-based best practices for companies to implement that support caregivers. However, the one that continues to be at the top of this list are policies around flexibility. This does not mean that employees work less. When people know they can meet or exceed expectations at work with a flexible schedule, as needed, they are more productive and have less stress. - Susan Madsen, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business 3. Listen To All Employees' Needs The key is dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. Caregivers each have their own unique situation, and their situations can vary widely. You should try to get some formal or informal feedback about what would be helpful; and don't forget about the people who are not caregivers so that there is not an implied 'benefit' to having children or caring for elderly parents or pets. - Brenda Abdilla, Management Momentum LLC 4. Offer Flex Time And Stipends C-suite leaders can support caregivers with half-day Fridays, flexible schedules, caregiver stipends and partnerships for discounted home services. These can reduce burnout, boost morale and increase retention—proving that when companies care for caregivers, everyone wins. - Dr. Marita Kinney, BCC, Msc.D, Pure Thoughts Publishing and Wellness Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify? 5. Give Paid 'Caregiving Credits' A creative solution is to offer flexible 'caregiving credits'—paid hours employees can use for caregiving responsibilities, similar to personal time off, but specifically designed for care. This acknowledges their dual roles and reduces stress, leading to greater loyalty, focus and productivity. For the company, it enhances retention, morale and employer brand in a competitive talent market. - Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Motiva International 6. Create A 'Caregiver Concierge' One strategy is a 'caregiver concierge' program—a one-stop support hub where employees juggling caregiving get personalized help: flexible hours, expert resources and even backup care options. It's not just a benefit; it's a lifeline that says, 'We see you, and we've got your back.' For companies, this means happier employees who bring their best selves to work, because when life and work align, everyone wins. - Shikha Bajaj, Own Your Color 7. Provide On-Site Childcare And Clear Support Channels Caregiving in corporate America is such an important issue. Companies need to be fully focused on helping their employee caregivers. First, you should start by asking them what they would find most beneficial and try to implement that. Second, it'd be good to add childcare options on the premises. Finally, setting up a clear delineation of who the person or persons in charge may be can also really help. - Ash Varma, Varma & Associates 8. Ask Employees What They Need I think perhaps the best solution is a very uncreative one: Talk to each employee and learn what kind of support actually feels supportive. It benefits both because the company saves time and money by learning from the best source, their people, what will truly work. Employees, in turn, feel heard, understood and genuinely supported in the way they need, which builds trust. - Kelly Stine, The Leading Light Coach 9. Build ERGs And Flexible 'Care Blocks' They can start by acknowledging that caregivers in their organization aren't just parents—they may be supporting aging parents, ill partners, siblings or others. A creative solution is to offer flexible 'care blocks' and build a caregiving ERG for peer support. This recognition fosters inclusion, reduces stress and boosts retention by showing real commitment to employee well-being. - Stephan Lendi, Newbury Media & Communications GmbH 10. Launch Peer-Led Caregiver Circles You can create peer-led caregiver circles. These confidential, opt-in spaces provide emotional support and resource sharing, led by employees and sponsored by leadership. You should give these groups a voice and amplify their key needs and messages. It fosters trust, normalizes caregiving and promotes a sense of belonging. - Mel Cidado, Breakthrough Coaching 11. Introduce Flexible Micro-Leaves Banks One creative move is to introduce flexible micro-leave banks: bite-sized blocks of paid time off that don't require a Shakespearean drama to get approved. It's a signal to caregiving employees: 'We see you, and we trust you.' The ROI is lower burnout, higher retention and a workplace culture that actually walks the empathy talk, instead of just posting about it on LinkedIn. - Anastasia Paruntseva, Visionary Partners Ltd. 12. Celebrate Caregivers Publicly One thing you can do is establish 'Caregiver Appreciation Day'—an intentional moment to celebrate the contributions of employees who are also caregivers. This dedicated day not only honors their dual roles, but also gives them space to share their stories, express how they navigate work while caregiving and voice the kind of support they need. - Sandra Balogun, The CPA Leader 13. Build An Internal Virtual 'Care Hub' Launch a virtual 'Care Hub,' an AI-powered internal platform designed specifically for caregivers' unique needs. This hub connects caregiving employees to personalized resources, on-demand emergency care options, micro-mentoring opportunities and a confidential peer support community. It's not just a tool; it's a lifeline that recognizes the emotional weight caregivers carry. - Veronica Angela, CONQUER EDGE, LLC 14. Focus On Outcomes, Not Process Your goal should be to focus on the outcome, not the process. Leaders who point their attention to the process by which accountabilities are met tend to be (or be experienced as) micromanagers. A focus on completeness, timeliness and quality enables leaders to be experienced as treating their team with respect and enabling them to create the kind of life rhythm that elevates satisfaction, engagement and retention. - David Taylor-Klaus, MCC, CPCC, DTK Coaching 15. Cover Basic Needs First Before getting creative, companies should ensure basic caregiver needs are met: paid time off for new parents or for caregiving emergencies, flexible work hours when needed and a family-first culture. As a mother to a young child, I would not even consider working somewhere that didn't offer those things in today's world. Empathy and understanding from leadership go a long way. - Megan Malone, Truity 16. Remove Core Hours; Provide Real Flexibility Leaders should remove core hours and provide real flexibility to allow staff to work on their tasks on their own. This takes trust and responsibility on both sides, and it can get done. You should allow staff to perform by setting realistic expectations, standards and goals with ample time to achieve them. Employees and caregivers will both benefit from the flexibility, keep their professional ambitions and live fully. - Miriam Simon, Mi Sí Coaching and Consulting LLC 17. Offer Tools And Emotional Support Caregiving is an everyday responsibility, and many employees provide caregiving services for their parents or children. Honoring schedule flexibility is a true employment benefit and morale booster. Promoting support groups in the workplace and offering tools and emotional support further demonstrates to employees that they are cared for. Employees who feel valued work harder for their leaders. - Diane Hudson, cpcc-careercoach 18. Listen To Their Unique Challenges Find a way to listen to caregivers and live in their shoes for a moment. When presented with the unique challenges of being a caregiver, it often softens a leader, allowing them to cater to people versus putting them in a general category. As a business owner and caregiver to an adult son, I know firsthand the sacrifices you have to make to take care of someone. Leaders must know the nuances of each situation. - John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vuori Names Former Fabletics Executive as Global President
Vuori is adding to its C-suite. The Encinitas, Calif.-based brand has named Ashley Kechter global president and Ed Lee chief legal officer and corporate secretary as it continues to expand its global footprint. More from WWD Foot Locker Promotes CCO Franklin Bracken to President in Effort to 'Accelerate' Its Lace Up Plan Who is Incoming REI Co-op President and CEO Mary Beth Laughton? Oakley Looks to Define the Future as It Celebrates 50th Anniversary Kechter served most recently as global brand president of Fabletics and has more than two decades of experience in marketing, product creation, merchandising, planning, sourcing and strategic operations for a number of brands including Gap Inc., Banana Republic and Restoration Hardware. In her newly created role at Vuori, Kechter will oversee the company's global business strategy across retail, e-commerce, supply chain operations, planning, operations excellence, international and wholesale. Lee, who spent the last 13 years at Restoration Hardware, most recently as chief legal and compliance officer, will lead Vuori's legal department and support the brand as it continues to grow its footprint in the U.S. and overseas. He had also served as deputy general counsel at MGM Resorts International. 'As we reach a critical 10-year milestone this year and look to the future, I'm confident in our ability to drive continued business growth as we thoughtfully expand Vuori's footprint and establish deeper connectivity with consumers everywhere,' said Joe Kudla, Vuori's chief executive officer and founder. 'Ashley and Ed are perfectly positioned to help Vuori do just that, and I'm excited to see our brand's evolution and growth under the incredible knowledge and expertise they bring to their respective roles.' Kudla founded Vuori in 2015 as a men's activewear brand and has expanded into a full lifestyle collection for men and women. It now operates in more than 18 countries and expects to have more than 100 of its own stores by 2026 with expansion centered around key markets in Europe and Asia. In April, it signed American football quarterback Arch Manning as an ambassador, joining Instagram gymastics darling Livvy Dunne and others, and last fall, it received a $825 million investment led by General Atlantic and Stripes, bringing its value to $5.5 billion. Best of WWD EXCLUSIVE: Maje Names Charlotte Tasset Ferrec CEO Nadja Swarovski Exits Family Company Amid Ongoing Corporate Shakeup Aeffe MD Exits Fashion Group
Wall Street Journal
08-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Apple's Operations Chief Jeff Williams to Exit This Month
Apple's AAPL 0.03%increase; green up pointing triangle chief operating officer plans to hand the role off this month and retire later this year after roughly a decade as the tech giant's No. 2 under Chief Executive Tim Cook. The company said Tuesday that Jeff Williams will transition out of the C-suite later this month and be succeeded by Sabih Khan, Apple's senior vice president of operations.
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Key To Generating ROI From AI
Many organizations struggle to realize ROI from their AI initiatives. Running AI workloads on-premises can pay big dividends. Generative AI adoption faces a paradox. Even as VCs, vendors and other parties pump millions of dollars into this market, organizations struggle to realize business value from this promising class of technologies. Yes, organizations abound with GenAI proof-of-concepts yet only 36% have scaled GenAI solutions and only 13% have banked business value from their efforts, according to executives surveyed by Accenture. The consultancy cited the lack of C-suite sponsorship, as well as challenges around data readiness and process redesign among the pitfalls. Add shortages in technical capabilities and talent and competing priorities to the obstacle punchlist. However, the world has seen this movie and its many sequels before. It wasn't long ago that cloud platforms and mobile ecosystems faced similar hurdles at their inception. As demand for smarter, contextual digital services grows, GenAI adoption will blossom. Organizations will clear the hurdles—maybe not all at once but certainly in due course. You can argue it's already happening. Today AI runs on any digital device at virtually any location, from on-premises to the public cloud, out to the edge on industrial systems and AI workstations and PCs. Even on robots and self-driving cars among other digital locations, as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang observed recently. As an IT leader, how can you capitalize on the growing distribution of AI workloads? Naturally, you must implement the right hardware and software to support use cases, along with governance and guardrails to protect your corporate IP, as Dell and NVIDIA articulated in this strategy guide. Generally, deploying AI solutions can be expensive but organizations can rein in costs to align with both their budget and business requirements. One approach includes running AI workloads in-house. In a total economic analysis, Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) concluded that running an AI workload on-premises was as much as 62% more cost-effective than running it in the public cloud. Specifically, the study analyzed the cost of inferencing for a chatbot powered by a 70B parameter open-source LLM versus a comparable solution from Amazon Web Services. The on-premises solution included Dell PowerEdge servers fueled by NVIDIA H100 chips and factored in the cost to support infrastructure and system administration for between 5,000 to 50,000 users. It turns out that the same on-premises implementation was as much as 75% more cost-effective when compared to the cost of running an API-based service from OpenAI. Naturally, every organization's savings will vary per use case and modeling scenario but research suggests cost-efficiency is a major factor in IT leaders' deployment decisions. In fact, ESG found that cost-efficiency is a key factor in why 79% of AI use cases in production are running outside the public cloud. However, it's hardly the only criterion. The reality is that deploying compute, storage, GPUs and associated infrastructure and tooling on premises affords organizations the luxury of controlling their AI workload deployment, including safeguarding data and ensuring closer proximity to where the data is processed. This can lower latency, which is critical for allocating workloads to the edge of the network on AI workstations and PCs and other mobile devices. As an IT leader your job is to mind the pitfalls—lack of alignment, poor data readiness and AI skills shortages—that characterize today's GenAI paradox. Building and scaling AI solutions is hard; realizing value from them is harder. But your efforts will be rewarded if you choose the right path. AI workloads are as varied the environments they run in. As such, flexible, fit-for-purpose infrastructure serves as the foundation upon which AI can be safely and cost-effectively built. No matter what your environment looks like, Dell and NVIDIA offer the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, a solution suite and framework organizations can use to build and scale AI systems. The Dell AI Factory includes NVIDIA accelerated computing, software and networking technology, fueled by Dell servers and storage and professional services that provides a consultative approach to deploying AI, paving the way for better business outcomes now and in the future. Learn more about the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA
