Time to revisit the same old question again
About me
In October 2021 I met with Bill Abram, who is a mentor to me and a visionary in the IT Services space. I wanted to talk to Bill about an idea that I had for my next career move. My plan was pretty close to what has become known as “Fractional Leadership”. Bill told me about a book called “Fractional Leadership: Landing the Executive Talent you Thought was Out of Reach” by Ben Wolf. Is far as I know it was the first, and as far as I’m concerned remains the best, book on the subject. I read it and immediately So, I started a Fractional Practice and joined Ben’s organization – fractionalleadership.io.
Alas, fractionalleadership.io was ahead of its time, but I’ll always value the things I learned from it. FaCTOR, my fractional practice, soldiers on.
In June 2023 I got an email from John Arms about a Fractional Conference in Minneapolis. The first gathering of its kind, as far as I know. So, I attended the first one and the next one and now I’m on FRAK #3 and FaCTOR is 4 years old.
So, what’s a Fractional Leader?
With my background established I would like to weigh on it this topic that comes up every year:
A Fractional Engagement
1. Has a regular schedule (like 1/2 day per week)
2. Is on-site, or if remote should be very structured and dedicated to that client, working like a W2 employee works.
3. Has no specific end-date or finalizing deliverable
4. Does not include the purchase of a product, subscription or additional staff time from the fractional leader – either directly or as a condition of the engagement.
5. Fills a need that would otherwise be filled by a full-time hire.
For example, a fractional project manager might work a fixed 1/2 day per week managing on-going projects that a business may have. When a project ends, the fPM picks up another project from the same company (and is realistically probably managing multiple projects at one time anyway.) The fPM does not require his client to purchase his or her systems or hire his or her company’s team to implement the system. He or she works with what is best for the client.
Why Does it Matter?
Every business that has between 20 and 200 employees should have at least one, or possibly several, fractional executives on the team. It is the most realistic way to grow. Unfortunately, almost all small businesses have never even heard or a Fractional Engagement. The first question I have to answer is “What’s a Fractional Executive”. It doesn’t help that business owners get such different answers from different people.
“Fractional” is a resource that shares the motivations of a W2 employee but works for the client on a part time 1099 basis.
I have worked, for years, in internal W2 positions as both a Chief Technology Officer and also as a Project Manage and I have worked for years in the same capacity in an “as a service” role. Each has its strengths and weakness, but Fractional is different from both. Fractional is ideal for smaller businesses to gain access to individuals with high-level skills. Ben outlined this perfectly in his book.
Where Does that Leave Us?
“Fractional” is not trade-marked and so anyone can use it, but companies who have been selling managed services and block-hours contracts for a couple of decades now are starting to sell “Fractional Services”, which is the same old thing with a new name. And contract employees have been around forever. Working multiple contracts at one time doesn’t automatically mean a resource is “fractional.” Fractional is new. It’s exciting. It’s unique. It opens doors for experience resources and employers to team up to make great things happen for growing businesses. It needs to be nurtured so that it can become the great thing that it should be. I hope that we can recognize that at FRAK this year.
