As the founder of Amplify Leadership Advisors, I've spent the last three years serving as Interim Executive Director for organizations like Stages in Houston, People's Light, and now American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Each engagement has been different, but the underlying pattern is remarkably consistent. Organizations in leadership transition are more vulnerable than they realize, and more capable of growth than they expect.

I chose this work because I believe the interim period is one of the most underleveraged moments in an organization's lifecycle. Most boards treat it as a gap to survive. I think it's a window to use.

Why the Default Responses Cost More Than They Seem

When an Executive Director departs, organizations tend to reach for one of three options. Each feels practical (maybe inevitable) in the moment, and each comes with costs that tend to surface over time.

The first is leaving the seat empty. No one is formally in charge, so decisions slow down, staff morale dips, and critical operational needs get missed in ways that aren't always visible until the new leader arrives and inherits a mess that is often as emotional as it is logistical. Not far from this default is the Board Chair (or other board member), who steps in to support the senior staff. This well-meaning move often leads to the same result: a staff that is demoralized and without guidance because well-meaning board leaders usually don’t have the category expertise to lead an organization in transition.

The second is promoting a senior staff member to "Acting" status (though sometimes internal staff coverage is called “interim,” it’s not accurate. An Interim leader is someone who is entirely focused on covering the role, not someone asked to do their old job AND cover aspects of the Executive Director. For a short gap, this can work. But when it lasts more than a few months, it almost always leads to burnout. That person is now juggling their original responsibilities alongside the demands of a role they weren't hired for, usually without adequate support or compensation. Their well-being takes a hit, and so does the department they stepped away from. And the organization rarely moves beyond a holding pattern or gets the space it needs to emotionally process the departure of the prior leader.

The third is the lingering farewell. A long-serving leader stays on, with good intentions, to "bridge" the transition. I know this will be hard to hear for those who have (and are) doing it, but the challenge of this generosity is that the presence of the prior leader can prevent the organization from genuinely moving forward. This is especially true after a long tenure or a founder's departure. A transition is an emotional time for an organization, and like a relationship transition, it takes time to emotionally prepare for new leadership. Unspoken biases and expectations can transfer to the next permanent leader, which can sometimes set them up for a short and difficult tenure. And in some cases, organizations discover, too late and at significant expense, that their first post-founder hire effectively becomes an unintentional interim, lasting less than 18 months.

These decisions are always made with the best of intentions, but the opportunity of the moment is left on the table, and the best an organization can often do is tread water.

What an Interim Executive Director Can Be

An Interim ED is neither a consultant nor a permanent placement. They sit in the middle, and that allows for more than you might realize.

A consultant comes in for a specific project, often reporting to a senior staff member, with limited operational responsibility. I often think of it within a decision framework. When I’m consulting, I’m being paid to make recommendations, to study an issue, to offer advice and counsel. An Interim ED steps fully into the Executive Director role and makes decisions. They usually operate in the role for a defined period, usually until the permanent hire is in place. And they carry day-to-day operational responsibility, but with a different mandate from the permanent leader. Their job is to build the bridge between what has been and what will be.

Think of it like an ER doctor. When you’re admitted to an ER, the nurses and doctors assess you quickly, triage, and stabilize. Their goal is not the long-term care of the patient. Their job is to stabilize and get the patient ready for what comes next. An Interim ED is the ER Doctor, making the organization better than it was found, but their real purpose is to prepare it for the next leader.

Further, a purposeful Interim ED can connect the board and staff to the realities of the organization and the Executive Director’s role, including the demands of the work and the organization’s needs, so the team can make a more informed decision about who should come next.

What Becomes Possible

An experienced, external interim brings possibilities that internal solutions can't replicate. Not because internal leaders aren't capable, but because the nature of the role is different.

Start with perspective. An interim steps in without years of organizational history. They can see systemic issues, inefficiencies, and unspoken dynamics without the weight of established relationships or long-standing norms. At one organization, I discovered a six-figure gap between what the board believed the budget looked like and what it actually was. That's the kind of thing an interim finds in week three because they're looking at everything fresh. By the end of that engagement, we had balanced income and expenses, and we worked to solve that problem from week three rather than in the final months of the year when the real size of the issue would be realized.

Then there is bandwidth. Unlike an "acting" internal leader, an interim's entire focus is on the organization's immediate health and its readiness for new leadership. They are likely part-time, usually 20 to 30 hours a week (I usually do 100 hours a month), but can be more efficient than someone trying to do half of their old job and two-thirds of a new one. And the way I work is to set clear goals on a 90 - 120 day basis, so it is clear what I’m working on.

An interim also brings a network that matters. They carry working knowledge of industry standards and best practices across organizations of different sizes and contexts. And transitions tend to ripple. When your Finance Director decides it's time to go (or when the Marketing Director needs to go), a thoughtful interim knows who to call.

One benefit that gets consistently overlooked: the value an interim brings to the search process itself. Search committees are well-intentioned but often have never led a search for an executive leader in the theatre. They also often have biased insight into the realities of executive leadership. An interim who has been through multiple searches and who has the expertise to succeed in the role themselves can offer grounded counsel. That includes helping committees evaluate candidates with gaps in critical areas like fundraising, advising on the selection of a search firm, and debunking misunderstandings about what the position actually demands. For a committee that likely has not performed a search before, that perspective is hard to replicate.

How Short Tenures Deliver Real Results

A focused interim can get a surprising amount done in 9 to 18 months, precisely because the scope is defined and the clock is visible. (And yes, I would say the average Interim ED role is usually longer than 6 months, no matter how quick the board thinks they can move.)

The operational work starts with establishing priorities. From there, an organizational assessment informs a short-term work plan, usually including budget review and financial clarity. Often, the work is around tightening critical operational processes, making sure foundational organizational documents are current.

The cultural work matters just as much. Staff in transition need two things: someone steady at the top, and honest communication about what is happening and why. An interim can provide both. They can also help the organization figure out what it's actually looking for in a new leader, so the team isn't still processing the last departure when interviewing the new leader. That emotional transition doesn't happen on its own. Someone has to make room for it.

A Note to Boards

For an interim leader to do their best work, the board should collaborate with them on clear, mutually agreed-upon goals. Clarity of expectation matters just as much when hiring an interim as it does for a permanent leader. The timeframe for those expectations may be shorter for an Interim, but the importance of clarity is essential.

And one thing many boards miss: think carefully about how to onboard the interim to the board's own culture. Skipping this step creates a headwind. The interim is trying to quickly assess the organization and move it toward stability. If they're also navigating unspoken board dynamics without orientation, that work gets harder than it needs to be.

The Opportunity in the Gap

The interim period isn't something to get through. It's something to use.

The organizations that figure this out don't just find their next leader. They're actually ready for them. The space between leaders doesn't have to be a liability. When it's handled with intention and focus, it becomes an exceptionally productive stretch. Not because the interim is extraordinary, but because the organization finally has permission to look honestly at itself.