Lessons from the Field: What Interim Leadership Teaches You About Team Dynamics
Operating as an interim leadership member gives you the opportunity to work with multiple companies in different situations as well as many teams with varying dynamics. It’s a different perspective that you don’t get from being a full-time CFO. You get to see what works best and bring that to other organizations to help them find success as a team.
One of the most significant aspects is the importance of the finance leadership team’s relationship with other team members. These relationships are especially important in interim CFO engagements. For example a controller’s demeanor and leadership style over the day-to-day challenges can either create calm or chaos on the team, which will impact everything else. Team members feed off of each other’s energy, and the controller often sets the tone.
Overall, the dynamics of inter-department communication play a big role in an organization's success. There are many ways to structure communication among teams and the timing, depth, and frequency of communication between teams varies greatly from organization to organization. However, the ability of an organization to do this well greatly influences the outcomes – both financially and operationally.
Poor cross-departmental communication can create ripple effects like frustration, inefficiency, and eroded trust between teams who feel like they're working against each other rather than toward the same goal. On top of simple miscommunication, everyone has a different opinion about what is most urgent, another aspect that can influence team dynamics. A big part of being a financial leader is juggling different priorities and deciding what takes precedence over everything else. When teams disagree about what should be done, it can be difficult to get anything done.
A fear of change is also often at the root of many team dynamics. Even things an interim CFO may see as simple, minor changes can be extremely scary for other team members or even leaders. A desire to keep things the way they’ve always been can cause disruptions in team dynamics, stalling decisions or making choices for the wrong reasons. Bringing an interim CFO into a stagnated organization can be the driving force that helps it finally begin to make positive change.
When things don’t go as planned, there’s a tendency to find not just the root of the problem, but also who’s at fault. This instinct to place blame not only further harms dynamics, but also neglects to solve the issue at hand. It can be difficult to consider what went wrong without falling into the trap of the blame game, but organizations who can remain focused on solving the issue together will see more success.
An organization where departments talk openly and mistakes are met with curiosity instead of accusation creates the conditions for trust to grow. In turn, this makes team members more willing to share information, raise concerns early, and collaborate across boundaries. When team dynamics thrive, so does the overall organization.
Interested in joining the KSH Consulting team of experienced senior living financial leaders? Get in touch to see if we’re a good fit.
