Strategy and Leadership as Service: What’s the idea?

If we put aside the idea that ownership of our people means having them on the payroll, we can embrace a new way of working: the access economy.

We open up wider talent pools, deeper skillsets, and dynamic capabilities.

This is Strategy and Leadership as Service

Think "the Spotify of the C-suite”. Business owners access the skills of C-level executives as needed, rather than having to commit to a long-term employment contract. Just like we can access music on Spotify through logging on, rather than having to buy the music outright. It gives us so much more flexibility, choice, and agility meaning we get access to what we need, whenever we want. Our music is still just as we like it, it’s always available, and it still feels like OURS!

This is a ground-breaking approach gaining significant traction with SMEs who desperately need access to C-suite skills but not full-time. It’s a carefully designed solution for them and the C-suite individuals who want to break free from corporate life, becoming self-employed, and building a portfolio of clients, each of whom they service on a part-time or fractional basis.

But, it’s not just for SMEs.

Mid-to-large corporates need this too. If they only want to employ their C-suite, without offering further flexibility and mitigating the pressure they are putting on these people, they could find their available talent pool disappears, as less and less are prepared to make the personal sacrifices required.

It’s not good for the businesses either. Relying on one individual to lead a C-suite function in these complex times brings risk and supplementing with a mix of unconnected external consultants brought in to fill the gaps only goes so far.

Organisations need to think differently about how they resource up, with whom, and why.

We need to see past the myth that employing our C-suite is the only answer. Yes, it is what we’ve always done. And, yes, for individuals we think it gives us security, identity, and status, and we hope it makes us financially independent. But there is another way, that gives us all these things and more.

Business leaders gain flexibility, choice, and organisational agility, ensuring they cover as broad and deep a knowledge base as they need at an affordable investment level. C-suite professionals gain agency in their lives, choosing with whom, when, and how they wish to work through a diversified client portfolio providing them with tangible income security rather than elusive job security.

Strategy and Leadership as Service is a way forward into the future of work.

If you want to learn more, have a read of "Strategy and Leadership as Service” which you can find out more about here.