How great COOs grow people, break silos, and lead globally

Executive overview

Most companies invest heavily in CEO development but leave their second-in-command without peer support or training. The COO's job is not to do work — it is to grow people, get results through others, and hold the organisation together across silos.

Three mindsets reframe what effective COO leadership looks like: grow people's skills and confidence, get results through people rather than doing work yourself, and flip the org chart so leaders exist to support those below them.

A COO who delegates everything will not run out of work — they will build a compounding loop of capability.

Core qualities of an effective COO

• Tell the CEO hard truths — most people won't, and CEOs are starving for honesty.
• Delegate relentlessly; coaching and growing people is the actual job.
• Break down silos — the COO is the one person whose mandate spans all functions.
• Build confidence in delegation: more you give away, more capacity you create.

The three leadership mindsets

1. Grow people — your job is to increase the skills, confidence, and connections of everyone who reports to you.
2. Get results through people — showing up with this framing changes day-to-day decisions.
3. Flip the org chart — CEO and COO sit at the bottom, supporting VPs, who support managers, who support employees, who serve customers.

New skills COOs must develop now

• Hiring globally — post-pandemic, the talent market is international; companies that can't lead distributed teams are at a disadvantage.
• AI and technology leverage — operational leaders who already mastered tech stacks are adapting fastest; this is the primary driver of rapid company scaling.
• Soft skills (delegation, coaching, one-on-ones, time management) are rarely trained in companies under 500 people — COOs must seek them externally.

The COO Alliance model

• Net Promoter Score tracked after every event; target above 70% (world class threshold is 50%); last event scored 92%.
• Renewal rate and referral activation round out the three member-satisfaction metrics.
• Membership is deliberately cross-industry and global: 38% women, ages 21–62, 80% US / 10% Canada / 10% across 15 other countries.
• Content is industry-agnostic — operations, execution, people, scale, and numbers translate everywhere.