Is Fractional Leadership The Key to Startup Growth? with Matt Spooner of GigX

Seasoned leaders are out there and they are willing to work with your startup at more than just an advisory level. They are called fractional leaders and they are easier to find than you might think. 

Consider the possibility that in this hiring market, seasoned veterans maybe your best hiring option for building your company!

Today’s Quote: 

"We came into a broken world. And we're the cleanup crew."  - Kanye West

Our guest today: Matt Spooner, Fractional Chief Business Development Officer for GigX

Matt has nearly two decades of experience within the arenas of Marketing, Sales, Business Development, and Account Management. He has built and led high-performing teams within both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors.  His cross-industry, cross-function experience allows him to approach opportunities and issues from a unique and valuable standpoint. 

Fun fact, Matt is an avid endurance athlete who has completed 3 ultra-marathons! 

Prior to joining GigX, Matt worked in the world of retained executive search. His role as a Vice President at McDermott & Bull has kept him close to hundreds of C-Suite leaders and hiring managers. Matt is plugged into the senior-level executive community - he understands what they bring to the table...and how organizations can best attract and leverage them.

Today we are going to cover 

• The benefits and drawbacks to fractional leadership
• where to find fractional leadership
• How to evaluate and Hire them

Problem

What is Fractional Leadership?

Why is this important?

• Budgetary issues and/or concerns frequently limit companies from hiring senior-level leadership; This is an acute pain point for SMBs and early-stage organizations
• Frequently, these companies don’t consider and/or realize that their issues re: talent can be solved by exploring “independent” options such as fractional talent
• Even when these companies have a desire to explore fractional leaders, it’s challenging for them to find this type of talent
• There are a lot of misconceptions re: senior-level talent. Here are a few:
  • SMBs and early-stage companies can’t afford them
  • They only want full-time roles
  • They’re too set in their ways
  • They’re not as nimble
  • They’re not current

How do we fix it?

• Fractional talent is the answer
• Why it is beneficial?
  • Most fractional leaders are senior-level executives who’ve pivoted in their careers and are now serving multiple organizations simultaneously
  • Fractional leaders bring their numerous business connections/relationships with them; In many ways, they serve as de facto Business Development professionals for the organizations they work for
  • They show-up on Day 1 with an immense amount of acumen and skill
  • They’re less of a “flight risk,” as their desire is to serve on a long-term basis
  • Their experience, talent, and connections allow them to do the work of multiple team members
  • Companies can get the acceleration and acumen that they need, and only pay a fraction of the price for it

1. Steps to hire someone
   1. The first (and most important) step: Pursue the in-transition population!  Why? Because this population represents a talent market that’s highly-skilled and readily-accessible, yet largely underutilized.
   2. The second step: Know the time commitment that you’re asking for.  Why? This will show the fractional executives you speak with that you understand one of their top criteria for engaging with a prospective client: How much of their “bandwidth” are you asking for.
   3. The third step: Collaborate on expectations.  Why? Because you’ll only be engaging with your fractional executive during a portion of any given week/month/year, you’ll want to have clear KPIs that you’re moving toward and monitoring.  Similarly, you’ll want to set expectations around how often you’ll be “seeing” each other - whether it’s in-person and/or via a platform like Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime

Key Takeaways:

• Fractional leadership is an affordable and powerful way to bring C-Level execs into your organization
• There are thousands of overlooked, undervalued senior-level leaders that can be leveraged immediately for fractional roles 
• The key to success with fractional leaders: Create clarity early-on re: time commitment, KPIs, and when/how to connect