Interim Chief Executive — Transition to Permanent Leadership

Lead the business and prepare it to be handed over

Agree with the board which matters need immediate resolution, which strategic choices should be prepared for the successor and where continuity is essential. Take ownership of the executive team and operating plan within the delegated mandate. Avoid leaving difficult decisions unresolved simply because the tenure is temporary.

What to settle during the interim

Establish a credible financial and operating baseline, clarify executive responsibilities and address material delivery or customer issues. Make the organisation's commitments visible, including decisions taken informally or obligations not yet reflected consistently in plans. Bring major changes to the board with a clear account of their urgency and implications for the incoming leader.

What to preserve for an informed successor

Document the rationale behind important decisions and the assumptions still being tested. Distinguish firm commitments from provisional options. Maintain key relationships and access to institutional knowledge without allowing dependency on particular individuals to remain unexamined.

The interim chief executive should support the transition process constructively while respecting the authorised appointment body's role. They must not shape information to favour a particular successor or to justify their own continuation.

Candidate evidence

Applicants need prior chief executive, managing director or equivalent enterprise leadership experience, including a transition or recovery mandate. They should demonstrate the ability to act decisively and then transfer authority cleanly. Strong financial literacy, judgement about people and clear communication with boards are essential.

Candidates should explain what they have left behind in previous roles: operating disciplines, leadership capability and decision clarity matter more than the number of initiatives launched. Sector-specific knowledge will be assessed against the appointment's actual needs.

The handover is part of the result

Success requires a business that continues to function during transition and a successor who receives an honest account of its condition. The final handover should identify priorities, unresolved risks, stakeholder commitments and decisions approaching. The interim's contribution is complete when responsibility can transfer without a hidden backlog of obligations or an operating model that depends on their personal intervention to keep the enterprise moving.