Ep. 237: Ben Wolf - The Power of Fractional Leadership in Business

Looking for expert advice on fractional leadership? Look no
further! Join host Adam Larson and guest Ben Wolf as they dive
into the world of fractional executives. Ben is the founder and
CEO for Wolf's Edge Integrators, a premier fractional COO
organization. From fractional CFOs and CMOs to COOs and beyond,
Ben will share his insights and experiences on how to hire,
manage, and maximize the impact of fractional leaders. Get ready
for engaging discussions, practical tips, and real-world examples
that will revolutionize how you approach leadership in your
business. Don't miss out and listen today!


Full Episode Transcript:
Adam:           
Welcome back to another episode of Count Me In. I'm your host,
Adam Larson. And in today's episode, we have special guest, Ben
Wolf. Joining us to discuss the fascinating concept of fractional
leadership. Ben is the founder and CEO of Wolf's Edge
Integrators. A premier fractional COO organization.


 


Today we'll explore the key factors to consider when hiring
fractional executives. The benefits they bring to businesses, and
even dive into some real-life examples. So get ready to uncover
the power of fractional leadership, and how it can revolutionize
your organization.


 


Ben, thank you so much for coming in on the podcast. We're really
excited to talk about fractional executive leadership, today. And
I thought maybe we could start off by maybe you can share some
experience, some of your own experiences. That led you to
discover this concept of fractional executive leadership, and how
it changed your approach to leadership in an organization.


 


Ben:             
  Sure, absolutely. Well, Adam, first of all, thank
you for the opportunity to share about this topic. Obviously
something I'm very passionate about. And I first came across it
when I was in this business that I first grew up in,
entrepreneurially.


 


I used to be a corporate bankruptcy attorney. And after I left
that, I helped build this entrepreneurial business from startup.
Built most of its operations, it was a healthcare startup, until
we had over 130 people and we were the largest healthcare agency
of our category, in the entire state of New York.


 


 it was really quite a journey. And ways into that, what we
and the other members of the leadership team realized is that all
of us were figuring out this business for the first time. It was
the first time any of us had been running a business of our size
before. 


 


I mean, we'd been employees in larger corporate businesses or
cogs in the machine, at various places. But the first time,
actually, running a business of our size before. I mean, let's
say when we're 50, 75, 100 people, we had never done this
before. 


 


And, so, everything that we're doing, we're reinventing the
wheel, at a certain point. We hired an EOS implementer, to help
us use this management system called Entrepreneurial Operating
System. So we tried to get help and consultants, usually, just
felt like they just put together some big report and spent dozens
and dozens of hours with us, and members of our team, and just
would deliver this report and say, "Good luck." Now, I just call
that drive-by consulting. 


 


What I just realized is, you know what, sometimes that's what you
need. But, sometimes, you need somebody that's, actually, on your
team that's, actually, part of the business and that's done it
before. That's not just figuring it out for the first time like
we were. 


And, so, we started looking at hiring for full-time roles and,
sometimes, either we were just priced out. These people are like
300 thousand, didn't necessarily make sense for this role. Or we
realized we need people who've done this before, and we didn't
have it.


 


And, so, it wasn't really till after I had left there, and I was
a COO at a smaller business after that. And, then, I really
discovered this concept of a fractional executive. Where you can
actually get an executive on your team. That's not the trauma if
it doesn't work out, or the cost of 300 thousand plus bonus, plus
benefits, and everything else, of a full-time executive, who's
done this before. And, also, maybe, somebody that you might be
worried might be too corporate for your environment, and you
could actually do that with a fractional executive.


 


You can get someone that's done it before. Whether it's a CFO, or
a COO, or CMO, CTO, CIO, CHRO, whatever, something else, and get
them on. They're part of your leadership team, they're part of
your management team meetings. They have direct reports within
the business.


 


And, so, it's like the best of both worlds. You have a high-level
person that's done it before, they're on your team. They get to
know your business better because they're actually part of your
team on an ongoing basis. Not just consulting, "Hey, good luck."
But actually managing the people and managing that department,
but just doing so on a part time basis.


 


So I just became aware of that and, then, ultimately, started to
do it myself. First as a solo practitioner, as a chief operating
officer, fractional COO. And, then, ultimately, started building
a team, which I have now. But that's sort of the experience I
went through. It was what I learned in that business growing up,
and not having someone like that, who'd done it before. That made
me aware of this solution, as I learned more over time.


 


Adam:           
Yes, that's so interesting. Because if you're reading any
business application, if you're reading any articles, if you're
reading anything in any industry, around business, you hear this
term fractional leadership. And, I think, we may have jumped the
gun. So maybe we can start by defining what is fractional
leadership and how does it differentiate? Because if you're
listening to this and you've, maybe, heard this term thrown
around. And people, probably, assume, like you were saying,
maybe, it's like a consultant kind of thing, but it seems like
it's more than that.


 


Ben:             
  Yes, that's a great question. I basically define
a fractional executive or a fractional leader, as the same as a
regular executive. Because the regular executive, if you have
your CMO, or your CRO, or your COO, CFO, CTO, CHRO, whatever,
they're responsible for a function of the business.


 


The CMO was responsible for the marketing function of this
business. Not one project, but the marketing of the business. The
outcomes, the people, everything, just the marketing function of
the business. CFO, and a lot of people listening to this, the
audience, maybe CFOs or other roles in the finance, or accounting
departments.


 


And CFO is your CFO, they're responsible for your P&L, and
finding savings, and forecasting, and strategy, just like a
full-time CFO. The only difference between a full-time and a
fractional CFO is that they're there fractionally, and they're
part time. 


 


So it enables you to afford someone in that role, that is maybe
more experienced than you could afford on a full-time basis. So
if you don't need someone with a tremendous amount of experience
that's been CFO for decades, at multiple businesses, or a CMO at
various businesses. If you don't need that, then, fine, you can
hire a CMO a...