We are preparing for an exit and want to hire fractional executives for both our CFO and CMO seats to elevate our professional standards. How do we display these fractional leaders on our Accountability Chart so our full-time team members do not feel like they are being managed by outsiders?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Fractional executives must be treated as full members of your leadership team, not as external consultants. If your employees perceive them as outsiders, they will bypass their authority, ignore their directives, and render the fractional model useless.

To prevent this, place the fractional CFO and CMO names directly into their respective seats on your Accountability Chart. There should be no asterisk, no dotted lines, and no special notation indicating their fractional status. On the chart, they simply own the seat and its five major roles.

Make it clear to your entire organization that these leaders have full accountability and authority over their departments. They are responsible for leading, managing, and holding their teams accountable, and they will run their department Level 10 Meetings.

During your exit preparation, buyers will want to see that your business has professional financial and marketing leadership. Having these fractional executives fully embedded in your Accountability Chart shows that you have structured the organization professionally, even if you are utilizing part-time talent to control costs.

The key to making this work is ensuring that the fractional executives GWC their seats and have the time to dedicate to true leadership. If they are only acting as advisors, do not place them in the seats. But if they are executing the roles, display them proudly on your chart as the absolute owners of those seats.