Leading association transition: Instilling effective management practices, creating financial transparency, and driving revenue were the top board asks of an interim CEO, Sharon Kneebone. She delivered—in spades.

Fast assessment goes well beyond evaluating programs, finances, and systems. An interim CEO is well positioned to identify and facilitate impactful changes to the management model—in this case, to an association management company.

Listening deeply to understand what the board is saying and why is a critical capacity of successful interim CEOs. At the Solid Waste Association of North America, Richard Yep, FASAE, CAE, translated his quick assessment into the introduction of several leading association management practices—all the while building trust with board and staff.

Stabilizing priority programs while managing the employment, operational, and other issues that came with an association management transition were critical focuses for interim CEO Michele Warholic. Her advice for interim assignments: Stay focused on three or so top priorities. Backburner the others.

Hiring a new association CEO is one of the most important things a board does, and the gift of time to assess the qualities and experience needed in that person is precious. Enter the interim CEO, in this case Sean Conaton, a professional well-suited to take affirmative steps to position the new CEO to hit the ground running—here, by filling critical staff positions and stabilizing the organization for a post-pandemic world.

Providing stabilizing leadership while a board of directors searches for a new CEO is a frequent interim-engagement imperative. At the Society for Public Health Education, an interim CEO—in this case, Susan Robertson, CAE—did just that, helping SOPHE deliver its mission-critical annual meeting and providing steady leadership to a staff in transition.

A merger? An interim CEO such as BK Allen is especially suited to facilitating the combination of one association with another. Not only are interims skilled at shepherding association transition, but their interim status promotes objectivity that can be harder when two CEOs may be candidates for a single position in the merged organization.