Leading in the Interim: Reflections from the IES Retreat

This past summer, I officially joined the Interim Executive Solutions (IES) network — a community of interim executive directors, CEOs, CFOs, and CDOs who step into organizations during moments of leadership transition. Although I haven’t yet been placed through IES, I wanted to attend their annual retreat (which happened earlier this week), meet other interim leaders in person, and spend time in a room full of people who understand the strange, beautiful discipline of helping organizations navigate between what was and what’s next.

Since coming home, I’ve been thinking about what stood out, and have landed on four themes:
1. Transitions are a normal part of organizational life.
Not a failure, not a scandal to be contained, and not a frantic pause before the “real leader” arrives. Just a developmental stage that deserves clarity, structure, and care.
2. Boards are often exhausted before the transition even begins.
After years of COVID, political whiplash, staff turnover, and the constant pressure to do more with less, many boards show up depleted. A surprising amount of interim work involves helping them reclaim their role, reconnect to purpose, and step back into meaningful leadership.
3. Interim leadership requires real emotional steadiness.
Interims step into organizations at moments when people are often a mix of tired, worried, hopeful, and uncertain. Part of the work is helping teams navigate those emotions without losing momentum or clarity.
4. It’s a craft, not a hero's journey.
What I appreciated most at the retreat was the complete absence of lone-wolf war stories. Instead, people shared practice: templates, frameworks, checklists, and the kind of grounded tools that make transitions go better for everyone.

One small example: a simple “arc of engagement” tool that maps a transition as an entire journey — from the first quiet conversation about an executive’s departure, to staff and funder check-ins, to welcoming and supporting the new leader months after they start. On a single page, boards can see who needs to be engaged, when, and for what purpose. It’s deeply mundane, really just boxes on a timeline, but it turns an overwhelming, emotionally charged period into a series of concrete, doable steps.

I've also settled on a few personal commitments that I want to carry forward as a result of the gathering - and figure I'm most likely to actually do them if I share them out loud here:

• Be more explicit about seeking my next interim role. I’ve really enjoyed the interim work I’ve done, and I want to get better at it. I also realize I don’t always say that out loud in the right rooms. The retreat reminded me that part of being useful is letting people know you’re available.
• Ask for more help, earlier and more often. IES has built an actual community. There’s no prize for muscling through tricky board dynamics or complex transitions alone. I want to normalize reaching out to peers when something feels thorny or ambiguous.
• Help elevate the field of interim leadership. Interim work isn’t a stopgap; it’s an essential part of a healthy nonprofit ecosystem. I want to be bolder in saying that - in boardrooms, conversations with funders, and in my writing. Transitions deserve intention, expertise, and resourcing.

I left the IES retreat with a clearer sense of both the craft and the community behind interim leadership. The work we do - helping organizations move through uncertainty toward something steadier and more aligned - is real, skilled, and deeply necessary. If you’re navigating a transition, anticipating one, or simply curious about what healthy in-between leadership looks like, I’d love to talk.
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​PS: No one who knows me will be surprised that I collaborated with the IES team to create an IES-branded Interim ED tee! The picture above is of IES Managing Partner David C. Harris and fellow interim Jay Voigt sporting theirs.

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