Unlocking Potential: The Advantages of Empowering the Second in Command

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) stands as the second in command to the CEO, often referred to as the CEO’s “secret weapon”, for their crucial role of assuming responsibility for tasks that the CEO can’t manage alone. This partnership is meant to work smoothly as the functionality of the company depends on it.

It is especially important during instances where the workload becomes overwhelming for the CEO. The COO may step up if productivity starts to decline or the business begins to intrude into the CEO’s personal life. While the COO is essential to any structured organization, what happens when they haven’t received the proper training?

When a business doesn’t take the time to invest in the second in command, companies may lose up to 20% and 30% on revenues due to operational inefficiencies. COOs without the proper training are unable to allocate their time effectively, spending 1 ⁄ 3 of their time strategically planning while the rest is delegated to a variety of less important tasks.

When COOs spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on insignificant tasks, it begins to impede the organization’s ability to grow at an effective rate. External challenges a second in command may face include worker shortages/employee turnover, and supply chain disruptions. Internal challenges include a lack of role clarity, a chaotic work environment, and eventually a loss of top performers.

A highly functional company must be able to rely on its employees to consistently operate at a high level, so allocating resources and training to set those standards is essential. Empowering a second in command with the right training creates a noticeable and measurable impact on future business growth. This in turn leads to better clarity, improved communication, and sustainable success.

With these measures in place, companies have identified key areas where the investment in COO coaching has had the most noticeable impact. They include:

1. Improved decision-making capabilities, which reduces harmful biases in the decision-making process by actively engaging diverse networks. This in turn fosters more strategic and informed decision making.
2. Increased goal attainment, which raises the chance of hitting goals by 95% through ongoing meetings with accountability partners. This ensures progress and company alignment towards an organization’s objectives.
3. Enhanced innovation and identification of growth opportunities, which sparks ideas through exposure to a wide range of diverse perspectives. Multiple viewpoints on a subject promotes creativity and innovation, enabling opportunities for future growth.
4.  Fueled continuous learning and professional growth, which provides learning opportunities seen as important by 86% of employees. Providing employees with measurable growth objectives incentivizes a culture of continuous improvement.

While having a COO is a valuable asset to a CEO, true COOs are extremely rare. For every 4 entrepreneurs/CEOs there is only one official second in command. This means that either 75% of companies operate without a formal COO, or a person is taking on the role without the official title.

To fix this and give proper recognition/training to those who undertake the role, companies have started implementing new methods of support for their COOs. Investing in training programs such as Catapult Ai has led to significant improvement, within organizational, team, and individual performance, accelerating by 48%, 50%, and 70%, respectively.

After the implementation of curated training resources, successful COOs will be able to display 3 consistent attributes of a highly effective leader. First, they will embody Acuity, demonstrating the ability to quickly grasp complex concepts and juggle multiple tasks effectively.

The second is organization, in which the COO can accurately and efficiently define priorities and allocate sufficient time, resources, and energy to achieve goals. The last attribute revolves around process and structure. The COO is able to reduce complexity in systematic processes while creating clarity and accountability for specific components.

Providing coaching for the second in command is vital to the success of a company. The impact of such an investment extends far beyond the individual it is meant for, it has the ability to positively affect the entire company.

When the COO is properly trained, clarity and accountability between departments improve drastically, leading to improved clarity among the entire organization. Accelerated results are another bonus, with business goals reached at a faster pace, and growth projections up as much as 20%. Above all, a steady leadership group is able to effectively keep the company aligned, focused, and moving forward.

At its core, the investment towards allocating training resources for a Chief Operating Officer (COO) is not just for the individual themselves, but for the foundation of the company. It becomes a strategic advantage that ultimately ensures the company’s future prosperity.

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