How to hire the right COO for your business

Executive overview

Most CEOs look for a COO without knowing what they actually need. The result is a bad hire — or no hire at all.

Start with self-knowledge: your weaknesses, your unique abilities, and the areas you want to delegate define the role before you write a single word of a job description. The COO fills the shape of the gap you've identified, not a generic "second-in-command" template.

The right COO is your yin — they thrive where you don't, share your core values, and sit at the bottom of the org chart serving the business alongside you.

Defining what you need

• Start with your activity inventory: what you hate, what you suck at, what you want off your plate.
• Consider the domains they'll oversee and the personality traits that complement yours.
• Specify what stays under your purview — clarity on both sides prevents tension.
• Delegate culture, strategy, execution, or engineering to a COO — almost any function can go there.
• CEOs who are strong engineers can hand off outward-facing culture work; visionary CEOs can hand off execution.

Leaning into the future

• Imagine the business three years out: what does it look like, and what gaps does that reveal?
• Reverse-engineer that future to identify the skills and structure you'll need.
• Your future plan doesn't need to be perfect — a clear direction is enough to define the role.
• Use your leadership team to pressure-test the picture; you don't need all the answers yourself.
• The "Who Not How" principle applies: find the right person rather than learning every skill yourself.

Core values and behavioral traits

• The COO must share the CEO's core values — non-negotiables you'd fire someone over, not aspirational qualities.
• Identify the behavioral traits needed to mesh with yours: detail-oriented vs. big-picture, introverted vs. gregarious.
• Distinguish core values (make-or-break) from nice-to-haves before you write the job description.
• These needs can change over time as the business evolves.

The org chart and the "two in a box" model

• Visualise the org chart upside down: CEO and COO sit at the bottom, supporting everyone above them.
• Their joint mission is to remove obstacles, provide support, and align the organisation.
• The old hierarchical model — senior people at the top telling others what to do — no longer works.

Writing the job description and running the search

• The job description lists essentials only — not nice-to-haves.
• Specify required domains, behavioral traits, metrics, and accountability areas.
• Good COOs are rarely looking; you will likely need to poach them.
• Search options: word of mouth, recruiters, executive search firms, board of advisors.
• You don't have to conduct the interviews yourself — delegate to people you trust, as long as you're clear on what you're looking for.

Avoiding the wrong hire

• Don't plug a name into the role hoping they'll fix your problems.
• A COO who doesn't fit your yin-yang dynamic will create tension, not solve it.
• Finding the right COO is like finding a spouse: you can't change their personality after the fact.
• Screen for trust, core values, behavioral traits, skill set, and personal chemistry — all are required.