The value of fractional leadership
An outside voice can provide the perspective your team needs to get ahead.
You may be thinking I’ve done projects like this before and am perfectly capable of coaching my team. Why would I hire someone else to do what I’m fully capable of?
Before getting into the research of why this is true, I can tell you that I’ve experienced it in both my personal and professional life.
My wife and I first met in November 1999 and were married in 2004 - a long courtship, I know! Over our 25+ years together, we can both cite examples where one of us has made a statement (or some might say a claim) that the other didn’t believe.
Has this ever happened to you? The person I’m in a committed, trusting relationship with doesn’t trust what I’m telling them? Wait… what? It happens all the time. When it comes to offering advice or expertise in a relationship, the other person may not believe it until they hear it from an outside source.
Expertise, relationship, and context
Research shows this comes down to three key factors: expertise, relationship, and context. In a relationship, the psychological and emotional safety needed to trust is very different from the trust required when specialized knowledge and certainty are at stake. The context of the relationship, both professional and personal, matters a great deal.
A claim of expertise by someone close to you may actually reduce the perceived value of their advice, especially when emotional support is expected. Trust in expertise is not absolute; it varies with perceived competence and alignment of interests. If the person offering expertise is seen as having a potential conflict of interest, trust may be withheld, even if they’re fully competent.
There’s also a recognized unconscious bias called Authority Bias, the tendency to defer to authority figures. Even if you’re an authority (a leader or manager) to your team, your relationship with them still plays a role.
If there’s any perceived conflict of interest, trust may again be at risk. In this sense, Authority Bias cuts both ways: your team may believe you because of your position, or they may not believe you because of the relationship. Sometimes, people just need to hear it from someone else.
Fractional leadership
After leading complex initiatives in both SaaS product development and most recently a Greenfield S/4 implementation, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful that “outside voice” can be. An external perspective brings clarity, confidence, and accountability in ways that internal leadership, no matter how skilled, sometimes cannot.
That’s why I founded MP4 LLC, focused on fractional leadership and advisory services for project, program, portfolio, and product management. Fractional leadership means you get executive-level experience and guidance, without the full-time cost or commitment. It’s a partnership that strengthens your existing leadership, builds capability in your teams, and accelerates delivery.
