The Challenge
Despite critical acceleration of the commercial API strategy and a critical launch, the VP in responsible needed to take a 6-month personal leave of absence. The team needed executive leadership to ensure continuity in managing API platform development, rollout, and readiness for go-to-market use, as well as supporting ongoing partnership and payments capabilities critical to extending commercial reach and reusability. This interim leader needed to to transition seamlessly to manage expansion to 15+ person team, coach on professional development and serve as part of an integrated leadership team.
Project Description
Further Advisory’s shepherded the successful expansion of commercial API, partnership and commercial payments capabilities to cover for a critical leader taking personal leave. As part of this transition, Further Advisory accelerated definition of communications to syndicate strategy and launch plans, supporting change management at a critical time. Whilst managing platform and team development, Further Advisory’s leadership resource flexed to identify priorities for organizational development and strategic focus, providing “outside perspective” and recommendations to the division VP and leadership team, as an integrated member.
Outcomes Delivered
- Commercial API strategic alignment, teambuilding and mobilization for plan execution via synthesis of commercial API strategy and plans, relationship building and management of operational readiness and risk factors, in partnership with relevant leaders. Oversaw expansion and/or replacement across 5 staff roles, bringing together a new team of direct reports and their teams as a cohesive unit.
- Accelerated professional development of key resources. As an outside mentor and leader with a coaching skillset, provided critical input to key resources, modeling new behaviors and providing a ”safe space” for improving skills.
- Proactively developed organizational recommendations during role and as part of transition. As an example, established principles and practices for a repeatable model for new product review of APIs, educating product and operational excellence teams on opportunities to begin to pivot from a 1×1 to pattern archetype approach. Also, Further’s executive advocated to enhance customer experience skillsets and recommended a model approach.