What you need to know about fractional leadership – and why one CEO sees it as the future

For many executives , affording a gold Rolex in retirement is no longer the goal. Chris Gannett, founder and CEO of Gannett.Partners, believes that fractional leadership is the way forward.

He has introduced a new leadership model called the "fractional boardroom," which reflects the changing world of work. More and more professionals are striving for portfolio careers and a better work-life balance .

Over the course of three decades, Gannett has built a "fabulous network" of talented people by reinventing his career several times. His diverse path has taken him through the worlds of consumer goods, finance, and media, from Dr. Pepper, Mondelez, Citibank, and Sony Music Entertainment to CMO of the US talent show American Idol.

“All of these were steps that enabled me to do what I am doing today, which is reinvent myself,” he explained to Business Insider (BI).

Gannett, 52, wanted to invite some of those he met along the way to his new venture, which aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs turn their visions into reality through training, coaching and investment .

He, too, has spent a lot of time away from his family over the years and wanted to change that when he founded Gannett.Partners and created a team of leaders who felt the same way.

"Leaders who have a similar profile to mine have been in the business for 20 and 30 years," says Gannett. "We're very well established in our careers. We want to take on more responsibility, we want to work on projects that inspire us, and we want to work with people who energize us."

In the two years since its launch, Gannett.Partners has gained clients in ten countries and 15 industries and continues to expand.

Two members of the Gannett.Partners team are Gregg Bernard, CBO at the AI ​​video platform Channel 1 and former CEO of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), and Rob Sender, who served as Senior Director of Brand and Marketing for the Dallas Cowboys football team.

Bernard explained to BI that the "fractional" model appealed to him because it focused on "results, not optics." It also allowed leaders to bring the exact expertise a company needs to the table, rather than settling for "generalists."

"You're not bringing someone onto the team who's just going to fill a seat or deliver a presentation. You're engaging a team of experienced leaders who will solve real problems at critical moments," he says. "Especially for startups and growth companies, it's also an opportunity to access executive expertise that would otherwise be financially or structurally unattainable."

Bernard said fractional leadership is a “smarter, more flexible way of working” and founders “will feel the difference immediately.”

Rob Sender told BI that the effectiveness comes from having different perspectives, “without the commitment or risk of full-time employment.”

"Especially in the early stages, most companies don't need a full-time CMO or COO—or simply can't afford one," he says. "Our approach enables them to bring on board experienced executives who have worked at the highest levels—with more flexibility and a more targeted focus than traditional consultancies or standardized models can offer."

Sender said he can choose projects that truly excite him, which makes collaborating with a new startup easier. If there's a more suitable executive, that's fine.

"This choice creates true alignment," he said. "It's not about allocating work, but about matching energy and expertise with opportunities." Culture has always been very important to Gannett. He believes that in a shared board, everyone is fully engaged and "learns from each other."

"The kind of leaders we're increasingly assembling around us are people who are very good at what they do and who have the same kind of curiosity as me," he said. "By working on projects that go beyond their core business, in which they are fully engaged and highly competent, their brains are constantly being fed, and our clients benefit."

Gannett said he is "fairly optimistic" about the future of fractional management, seeing it as a "very sustainable model across all industries." "We're all trying to operate in a more capital-efficient way. Anyone who doesn't will not be competitive."

Read the original article on Business Insider .