Ep. 596 - What Is a COO? The 7 Types Every CEO Needs to Know

What if the most misunderstood role in business is also the one deciding whether your company scales?

In this solo episode, Cameron Herold, founder of the COO Alliance and author of Second in Command, tackles the question every growth-minded CEO eventually faces: what exactly is a COO? Drawing on Bennett and Miles’ research and his own years as second in command at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Cameron explains why no two COOs on the planet have the same job, and why the search for a great one starts with the CEO’s own strengths and gaps.

He walks through the seven types of COO: Executor, Change Agent, Mentor, Other Half, Partner, Heir Apparent, and MVP, with stories from Shopify, Oracle, Dell, and Facebook, plus the common roles a COO plays as adult in the room, integrator, and moderator.

Get this hire wrong, and the person meant to fix the chaos only adds to it. Listen now.

Timestamped Highlights

• [00:00] – The question-asking habit that separates growing companies from stuck ones
• [00:52] – Why most CMOs are interchangeable, but no two COOs share the same job
• [01:40] – The only non-negotiable requirement for any COO
• [02:31] – The research that uncovered the seven main categories of COO
• [04:30] – When a change agent should come from outside the company
• [05:34] – Why changing a company’s culture is like dealing with teenagers
• [07:30] – The mentor move that shaped Facebook’s earliest years
• [08:30] – The marriage test every CEO-COO pairing has to pass
• [13:18] – The leadership meeting comment that earned Cameron the COO title
• [18:57] – The homeowner and contractor rule for splitting the what from the how
• [23:20] – Why the CEO, not the COO, should be the tiebreaker

Mentioned Resources

• Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO by Nate Bennett and Stephen A. Miles
• Second in Command: The Misunderstood Role of the Chief Operating Officer by Nate Bennett and Stephen A. Miles (Harvard Business Review)
• Double Double by Cameron Herold
• High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil
• Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
• Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman

Important Links

• Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
• Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
• Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
• Claim your FREE* copy: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
• Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
• Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi

*Valid only for CEOs or COO/Second in Command based in the US or Canada at companies wih $2M + revenue.

The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.