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How COOs manage up to free the CEO for high-value work
Executive overview
Most COOs underestimate their role in shaping CEO effectiveness. The COO's job is to strip low-value work from the CEO's plate and redirect them toward strategy, people, and direction.
Managing up has three components: offloading tasks below the CEO's effective hourly rate, privately coaching the CEO on blind spots, and ensuring the CEO stays focused on the right projects and metrics.
The COO's core job is to protect the CEO's zone of genius.
Freeing the CEO from low-value tasks
- Calculate the CEO's effective hourly rate from company profit (e.g. $2M profit = $1,000/hr).
- Any task below that rate should be delegated or removed from the CEO's plate.
- Identify projects that drain the CEO's energy or fall outside their strengths.
- The goal: more CEO time on strategy, networking, people, cash, and direction.
Coaching the CEO privately
- Surface blind spots the CEO cannot see — mistakes, wrong messaging, disruptive behaviour.
- Do this privately, away from the team.
- Flag where the CEO is not living the core values.
- The COO acts as a confidential coach, not a critic.
Keeping the CEO in the right lanes
- Ensure the CEO knows which communication channels to use.
- Confirm the CEO is working on the correct core projects.
- Align the CEO to the metrics they own — just as you would with any direct report.
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