My husband and I have both served in interim roles this year. Tom left IT in the mid-1990s to become a Unitarian Universalist minister. He is now a retired minister who does a lot of guest preaching and writing 
and is very active in our denomination nationally. He did part-time interim ministry at two different churches in our area this year. The first was for 3 months early in the year, and the second was for 4 months this Fall. He was filling in for ministers who were on sabbatical. His role was to preach and lead worship on Sundays, work with the board and staff, and be available as needed for pastoral care.
Compare this to the interim CTO engagement I’ve done since late May. A full-time role keeping infrastructure projects moving forward, helping to ensure a successful Epic go live, dealing with day to day issues, and helping recruit the permanent CTO.
Interim leadership roles take different forms. They range from “keeping the seat warm” to turnaround situations where significant change is needed. Regardless of the role, an interim needs to be able to confidently step into the role, build relationships, gain respect, and get up to speed quickly.
Due to my own interim work and travel schedule, I was only able to attend one church service at Tom’s second interim. It was his last Sunday preaching. I got to see and hear how much they loved him. They talked about how quickly he fit in, how much they appreciated his insightful sermons, and how important his presence and leadership were the past several months as they completed a major new building addition. Many people told him that they hoped he’d be back to preach sometime in the future.
For any interim engagement the ultimate metric of success is when you are asked to stay and take the permanent position or to return in another capacity. I’m sure Tom will be a guest preacher at both churches where he did interim work this year. And while I had no intention of taking a permanent CTO position, there may be other ways I can assist once I handoff to the permanent CTO.
At StarBridge Advisors we have placed interim health IT leaders in many health systems across the country. Our interims have often been asked to consider the permanent position and some have done so. Others have assisted the permanent person with focused advisory engagements following their interim engagement.
With the number of health IT leaders retiring or making moves in 2020, our StarBridge Advisors team of experienced CIOs, CMIOs, CNIOs, CTOs, and CISOs is ready to assist organizations with interim leaders to bridge the gap.
Related Posts:
When an Interim CIO Makes Sense
Interims bridge the gap, not warm the bench
Interim Management – Providing a Bridge During Transition
Stepping Into an Interim Leadership Role
Interim CIO: How to Optimize for a Successful Outcome
Leadership transitions – learning a new organization