Roland Garros: What example for interim managers?

Since last Monday and for 15 days in Paris an incredible season begins. We are not talking about spring giving way to summer but rather the season of the French Open, better known as Roland Garros.
For all tennis fans, it’s a party of more than two weeks that begins. One of the peculiarities that make the reputation of this tournament is the playing surface or coating of the court. Indeed, the players compete on fields covered with beaten earth, superposition of several layers of materials ending with the famous crushed brick which gives it its powdery/grainy appearance as well as its ocher color.

What is special about playing on clay?

Unlike the lightning-fast games on the grass courts at Wimbledon, the sets on clay are much slower. That said, the clay court reveals the strengths of lifts and other effects, the mental and physical endurance of the participants.

Great champions have distinguished themselves at Roland Garros: Gustavo Kuerten (3 times champion at Roland Garros), Björn Borg (6 times champion at Roland Garros) or (obviously) Rafael Nadal (for the moment 9 times winner at Roland Garros) . That said, they often shine on one or two different surfaces, but rare are the players who perfectly master the 4 surfaces of the grand slam: Plexicushion (Australian Open), Clay (Roland Garros), Grass (Wimbledon) and Decoturf (US Open).

Adaptability: one of the watchwords of interim managers

Knowing the variations of your own game depending on the surfaces is a necessity for tennis players and women. Knowing how to adapt to have the perfect game depending on the surface is another thing. Each court, each surface, each enclosure, creates its difficulties and also its advantages.

“Interim managers are in perpetual change of surface”

The missions, generally of the order of several months (up to a year and a half for the longest), are not always alike. Moving from industry to the world of services, supporting a subject of external growth, consolidating a start-up, working with multi-cultural teams… interim managers must constantly adapt. Nervous resistance and composure are required in these different universes.

The key to adaptability?

The key to adaptability is knowing your environment quickly. Interim managers are experts in this area. The first days of each mission, the first hours with the teams are very precious moments, focused on active listening and clear communication. Getting to know your new teams well, your new mission, the challenges involved, the economic and structural development framework of the company… all this constitutes the knowledge base necessary to tame the new playing surface of the interim manager.

Then, the experience of interim managers is vital to be satisfied with a new mission framework. The speed of execution will be determined by the framework, or the challenge of the mission. An interim manager never forces things against the interests of the company and the teams, but combines the art of implementing new processes with the necessary empathy and benevolence.

For a few more days, Parisians and tourists will have the pleasure of living to the rhythm of Roland Garros. One of the great lessons we can learn from these champions is that it is not enough to know a playing surface, you have to know how to tame it, master it.

At Reactive Executive, our interim managers are champions of adaptation. Whatever the areas of assignments to be carried out, our interim management firm in Paris will provide you with THE exact answer to each of your needs. So do not hesitate, contact us !