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Why Interim leaders really fail

Kersty Bletso 24 Jun 2025

Man interacting With A Holographic Touchscreen interface In Red Colour.

I have shared reflections on how interim leaders establish presence, influence and adapt their leadership style across different environments. These qualities are essential to earning trust quickly, shaping direction and leading effectively without formal authority.

But what happens when those signals do not land?

 

Over the years, I’ve seen how a single misstep by an interim leader can sour an organisation’s appetite for external help for years. And yet, when an interim appointment stumbles, it is almost never because of a lack of skill. We know that up to 40% of senior executives in permanent roles struggle within 18 months. Interim leaders are not immune. Failures are rarer, but when they do happen, the memory lingers. Resistance becomes validated. Future interventions face more scepticism. Key initiatives stall.

It’s not about what you know. It is about how you show up. Even the best interim leaders can falter if they misread the system they’ve stepped into.

What I see most often:

  • Your CV becomes your liability – Past success does not equate to instant authority. Gravitas has to be earned here, now, with these people.

 

  •  Playbooks replace judgement – Frameworks are useful only when adapted. What worked elsewhere may be exactly what does not work here.

 

  • Action trumps observation – Moving too fast can backfire. It is often not the decision itself that people resist, but how and when it was made.

 

  • Volume substitutes for presence – True authority is not about saying more. It’s about listening carefully, speaking with intent, and knowing when to pause.

These are not failures in the traditional sense. They’re misjudgements that go uncorrected. Not because the leader lacks capability, but because they push harder when they should have listened better.

The interim leaders I see succeed don’t show up to prove how much they know. They arrive to observe, calibrate and earn trust from the outset. When they do make a misstep, as all leaders do, they recover. They stay self-aware and flexible. They adjust course without losing sight of their purpose. That is the real marker of success.

They treat resistance as feedback, not rejection. They invite challenge. They learn without defensiveness. They stay curious, especially when the pressure is on.

Great interim leaders do not arrive with all the answers. They arrive with the right questions. They create cultures where challenge is expected, not feared. Because without psychological safety, presence is just performance, not leadership.

That is what makes them so valuable when they get it right. They help organisations see what they could not see before, and they do it without losing sight of what matters most.

Kersty Bletso

Kersty is a partner in Leathwaite’s global executive interim business, based in our London office. She is focused on appointing exceptional senior interim talent that drives transformation and value creation, across all sectors and industries, enabling clients to benefit from…

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