A week in the life of a Fractional Leader & Portfolio careerist – Monday.

I recently spoke on a panel at an event, and one of the questions was about what’s needed to be a successful fractional leader. My answer? Sophisticated time management. This skill is absolutely critical to enable a fractional leader to deliver efficiently and produce quality results.

But it’s not the kind of time management you need in a traditional office job—it’s more like juggling a busy household while managing a full-time job!

So, to give you a peek behind the curtain, I thought I’d share a “typical week” for a fractional leader and portfolio careerist who’s also working to balance work and family. It’s not just about showing up for your clients!

MONDAY:
𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐲: 6 follow-up emails from last week’s meetings: A project proposal for one client prospect, introducing a potential investor to another client, thank you notes, a monthly check-in, and connecting a client to someone in my network for a growth opportunity.

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐕𝐂: Discussing investment focus and introducing two clients who are raising seed funds.

𝟏:𝟏 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: Setting the week’s focus for a fractional client. We’ll catch up twice weekly to ensure everything’s on track, and she can reach me on Slack in between for anything urgent.

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤: I never skip a meal (which might be obvious if you’ve seen my belly!).

𝐎𝐧-𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭: Working through plans, making tweaks, and establishing concrete next steps.

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: Cleaning up a client’s CRM, following up from the morning meeting, finishing onboarding for a new client, and preparing for the evening’s panel.

𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬: One of those rare nights I won’t be home for story time and bedtime.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝟕𝟏: Introducing fractional leadership to their portfolio companies, followed by a mooncake-making session and dinner/networking.

𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧: Finally home to relax and reconnect with my wife over a late-night snack.

And that was just a “regular” Monday!