The role of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a wide and varied function depending on the industry they serve. One of the primary relationships of a COO is to support the CEO to enable them to focus on strategic issues rather than day-to-day operational matters.

A key characteristic of a COO is to be a “safe pair of hands” that the CEO can trust and rely upon to ensure the efficient running of business as usual whilst integrating new business initiatives to remain competitive.

This key relationship requires a high level of trust and mutual understanding — a simpatico which enables both roles to be most effective within their primary strengths, which are usually complementary.

Photo by Andrew Palmer on Unsplash

In my experience, there is often a dynamic where the CEO plays the “front of house” role, liaising with key stakeholders such as the Board, key customers, and the leadership team to drive strategic agendas, communicate the organisation’s mission and be visible and present for high priority matters.

The COO by contrast, is often the “back of house” player, working behind the curtain in the details to ensure that the execution of the CEO’s vision is being realised, that supporting teams and processes maintain alignment, and monitoring and managing when key metrics are drifting off course. The diversity of functions that a COO covers can span finance, HR, IT, legal and risk management, quality assurance, sales enablement and resource management.

This dynamic, which I have observed over the years, was brought home to me at last year’s Gartner’s Symposium where Gaia Grant, doctoral researcher in Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney Business School, shared her findings around organisations requiring “ambidexterity” to embrace both fixed and growth mindsets simultaneously to fuel sustainable innovation.

Her keynote described to me a natural split between the two roles based on different mindsets, that of:

the CEO as the “explorer” , with an outward emphasis on pioneering, pushing the business forward collaboratively with stakeholders into new frontiers of competitive advantage and value creation, supported by

, with an outward emphasis on pioneering, pushing the business forward collaboratively with stakeholders into new frontiers of competitive advantage and value creation, supported by the COO as the “preserver”, with a more inward orientation toward organisational focus, control and stability, providing coherence and consistency to the operating model, and to integrate new frontiers as they prove themselves out.

This dual mindset, shared across CEO and COO, creates a natural dynamic tension between the two which requires the trust and mutual understanding highlighted earlier. If the CEO is running too far ahead of operations with too many initiatives that are difficult to execute, their vision will not be realised. Alternatively, if the COO is stifling innovation efforts by being too heavy handed with focus and control, the CEO will become frustrated around operational inertia and inability of the team to pivot fast enough to meet customer and market demands.

The HBR article Second in Command: The Misunderstood Role of the Chief Operating Officer by Nathan Bennett and Stephen A. Miles, authors of “Riding Shotgun”, which outlines seven kinds of COO, along with what the CEO and COO owe each other, is well worth a read.

When this alliance is working effectively, it can yield remarkable results, which allows creative space for innovation coupled with reliable and consistent business operations.

The dual orientation, also explored by Knut Haanaes in his 2016 TED Talk, two reasons companies fail — and how to avoid them, reinforces that having this balance right is rare, but very important for long term success.

To develop their relationship, the CEO and COO need to discuss and agree a:

Unified view of the organisation’s vision, mission and values.

Shared understanding of each other’s roles and how they complement one another.

Enough transparency, openness, courage and space to act autonomously whilst welcoming robust, critical dialogue - to be a sounding board to each other.

Regular communication cadence, to ensure that priorities and shared understanding of course and speed aren’t drifting.

Further reading:

What do you think makes an effective CEO COO relationship? What are your favourite links or articles around the role of the Chief Operating Officer (COO)? What challenges do you face? I’d love to hear from you!