Practices/People Practices
Practice area 0404 / 04

People Practices

Talent. Growth. Impact.

A growth strategy is only as good as the people running it. These three practices set the bar for what good looks like, develop the leaders already in the seat, and find and onboard the executive who runs the plan when the engagement ends.

Where People Practices Fits WHERE PEOPLE PRACTICES FITS 01 · STRATEGY PRACTICES WHERE TO PLAY Right initiatives, right order? 02 · REVENUE ACCELERATORS HOW TO WIN Moving fast enough to win? 03 · CUSTOMER TECH WHAT IT RUNS ON Does the stack carry the plan? 04 · PEOPLE PRACTICES WHO RUNS IT Right people, deployed well? ONE LEADER IN THE SEAT owns the number Most engagements draw on more than one area. One executive stays accountable for the whole.
Where People Practices fits
  • 01 · STRATEGY PRACTICESWHERE TO PLAYRight initiatives, right order?
  • 02 · REVENUE ACCELERATORSHOW TO WINMoving fast enough to win?
  • 03 · CUSTOMER TECHWHAT IT RUNS ONDoes the stack carry the plan?
  • 04 · PEOPLE PRACTICESWHO RUNS ITRight people, deployed well?
One leader in the seatOwns the number. Most engagements draw on more than one area, and one executive stays accountable for the whole.

Where It Fits

This practice area answers the fourth week-one question: do you have the right people in place, and are they deployed effectively? The blocker it removes is the team and resource gap: roles that were never defined, leaders who were never developed, and a seat that sits empty while a search drags on.

The question we ask in week oneThe blocker it exposesThe practice area that removes it
Is your team focused on the right initiatives to drive growth?Disconnected strategiesStrategy Practices
decide where to play
Are your growth teams moving fast enough to outpace competitors?Slow pipeline velocityRevenue Accelerators
run the plan
Do you have the right customer technologies to support your goals?Tech frictionCustomer Tech
build what it runs on
Do you have the right people in place, deployed effectively?Team and resource gapsPeople Practices
put the right people in the seats

The four questions are the Growth Assessment Checklist run in week one of the 100-Day Accelerator, and the blockers are the four it is built to remove.

Who Runs the Plan, and Who Runs It Next

Every fractional engagement is a leadership story with a beginning and an end. The executive takes the seat on day one, and most engagements are designed to hand the seat to a full-time leader. The three practices are the three moves that make that arc work.

Who Runs The Plan, And Who Runs It Next MAHDLO · PEOPLE PRACTICES WHO RUNS THE PLAN, AND WHO RUNS IT NEXT DAY ONE FRACTIONAL CMO OR CRO TAKES THE SEAT Owns the number from day one, runs the plan, and coaches the team already in place. WEEKS 1 TO 6 01 · COMPETENCY MODEL SETS THE BAR Values say how, OKRs say what. The model says who: the skills that predict performance. MONTHS 1 TO 6 02 · EXECUTIVE COACHING GROWS THE LEADERS Founders becoming CEOs, new executives, and the next generation, with a defined end. MONTH 6 AND ON 03 · RECRUIT AND ONBOARD HANDS OVER THE PLAN Define, find, recruit, onboard. The seat is never empty, and the strategy never waits. A GROWTH STRATEGY IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE RUNNING IT The executive who runs the plan sets the bar, develops the team, and recruits the leader who takes over. Recruiting usually starts while the fractional engagement is still running, so the new leader walks into a working plan, not a vacancy. Coaching can carry the new leader through the first quarter in the seat.
Mahdlo · People PracticesWho runs the plan, and who runs it next
  1. DAY ONE · FRACTIONAL CMO OR CROTAKES THE SEATOwns the number from day one, runs the plan, and coaches the team already in place.
  2. WEEKS 1 TO 6 · 01 · COMPETENCY MODELSETS THE BARValues say how, OKRs say what. The model says who: the skills that predict performance.
  3. MONTHS 1 TO 6 · 02 · EXECUTIVE COACHINGGROWS THE LEADERSFounders becoming CEOs, new executives, and the next generation, with a defined end.
  4. MONTH 6 AND ON · 03 · RECRUIT AND ONBOARDHANDS OVER THE PLANDefine, find, recruit, onboard. The seat is never empty, and the strategy never waits.
A growth strategy is only as good as the people running itThe executive who runs the plan sets the bar, develops the team, and recruits the leader who takes over.Recruiting usually starts while the fractional engagement is still running, so the new leader walks into a working plan, not a vacancy.Coaching can carry the new leader through the first quarter in the seat.
The bar is set early so hiring, coaching and promotion decisions use the same standard after we leave.
The barValues tell people how to act and OKRs tell them what to hit. Almost nothing tells them what it takes to get there. Competency model development writes that down, in four to six weeks, as one standard for hiring, coaching and promotion.
The leadersExecutive coaching from operators who have held CEO, CRO and CMO seats, for founders becoming CEOs, new executives in their first quarter, and the next generation of leaders. A goal, a rhythm, and an end.
The successorExecutive recruiting and onboarding defines the role from the work we have been doing with you, finds and recruits the leader through our operator network, and stays through a 90-day onboarding plan while the fractional executive is still in the seat. The seat is never empty.

What It Draws On, What It Hands On

What it draws on
  • The roles and resourcing model the plan names, from Strategy Practices
  • What the revenue engine needs each role to actually do, from Revenue Accelerators
  • The systems and record a new leader inherits, from Customer Tech
  • Months of operating context on the team, not a job description
What it hands on
  • Leaders in place who can run the plan without the fractional executive
  • A full-time CMO, CRO or revenue leader who owns the plan after the handoff
  • One standard for hiring, coaching and promotion that outlasts the engagement
  • A clean end to the engagement, which is how most are designed

Questions We Get

What are the People Practices?

Three services for the people who run a growth plan: competency model development, which defines the skills that predict performance; executive coaching from operators who have held the seat; and executive recruiting and onboarding, which finds and onboards the full-time leader who takes over when a fractional engagement ends.

Why start with a competency model?

Because values say how people should act and OKRs say what they should hit, and almost nothing says what it takes to get there. Writing that down gives hiring, coaching and promotion one standard, and it is the piece that breaks first as a company scales.

Can executive coaching run on its own?

Yes. Coaching runs inside a fractional engagement, where the executive coaches the team already in place, and as its own engagement for a founder becoming a CEO, a newly promoted executive, or a next-generation leader. Either way it has a goal, a rhythm and a defined end.

When should we start recruiting the full-time leader?

When the growth model is proven and the scope needs a leader every day. Start while the fractional engagement is still running, because executive searches take months and the overlap between the outgoing and incoming leader is what makes the handoff smooth.

Is this HR consulting?

No. It is leadership work for the growth plan: who runs it, how well, and who runs it next. Compensation, benefits and HR policy are not part of it.

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Your plan is a bet on people

Everything on this page, written down and free. Twelve chapters and eleven instruments: the competency grid, the interview loop, the coaching cadence, and the call between a builder and an operator.

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