Transcript
Joe (0:00)
First part is to remember that every entrepreneur are like idea perpetual motion machines, right? Constant idea, idea, idea, idea. When you're the second in command or a leadership team member. And so we have to teach our coos this skill is the COO needs to say to you, I love that idea. Let me ask you a few questions so I understand it even more. Let's just go for a quick walk around the building. Let me ask you five or six questions so I understand your idea, which for you would be great. It's kind of like a verbal walking impact filter. I take the impact filter the next level, though.
Cameron Herold (0:33)
Welcome to the Second in Command podcast, produced by the COO alliance and brought to you by its founder, Cameron Herold. In the second in command podcast, we talk to top COOs who share the insights, strategies and tactics that made them the chief behind the chief. And now here's your host, Cameron Herald.
Joe (0:58)
For many entrepreneurs, delegating and letting go is a massive challenge, especially for CEOs who are idea perpetual motion machines. I'll explain how COOs can manage these ideas by asking clarifying questions and evaluating ROI. The key, I believe, is ensuring CEOs have clear written roles to avoid seagull management. I'll highlight the inherent communication differences between CEOs and COOs often seen in Colby profiles and suggest using tools like ChatGPT for communication shortcuts. I strongly recommend specialized coaching for both roles to build stronger, more effective partnerships.
Russ (1:40)
First the comment and then a question. So first comment. Absolutely, poach. I've been doing it for years and Joe can confirm this. I frequently say, let me be the asshole. You don't feel like doing it. That's my job. If you have all created an amazing company, an amazing organization, and invested time and effort into your people, I won't be able to steal them. So that's your job to do so. That was number one. My question first, Joe, you had said something where it was like, oh, I, I don't know whether or not I can let this go or how do I do that? That's my question for you. How do we get people like Joe who are thinking at a thousand miles a minute, who have all of these things and opportunities and how do we get them to cross that line and let go?
Joe (2:29)
Okay, great, great question. So there's two parts to that. The first part is to remember that every entrepreneur are like idea perpetual motion machines, right? Constant idea, idea, idea, idea. When you're the second in command or a leadership team member. And so we have to teach our cos this Skill is the COO needs to say to you, I love that idea. Let me ask you a few questions so I understand it even more. Let's just go for a quick walk around the building. Let me ask you five or six questions so I understand your idea, which for you would be great. It's kind of like a verbal walking impact filter. I take the impact filter, the next level, though, I ask the ROI of it. How much people do we have to have involved in this? What's the ROI of that? How much money are we going to invest, or are you willing to invest? What's the ROI involved? How much time will this impact? What's the ROI involved in that? And then do we green light, yellow light, or red light the idea? So based on what I now know, do you want me to start it, meaning put it in the plan and bump something else, or should we park it and revisit next month or next quarter and decide if you can go into the plan? Or based on now, what we've now covered, can we kill it? Is it now red? So the starting point with stuff is to understand what they're really looking for. I like always telling them, I love your idea. The next part is, once I understand your ideas, I say, do you want to manage the idea or do you want me to manage it for you? They're always going to say, I want you to manage it for me. Great. So let me take it over. And it's making sure that they have clear roles and responsibilities. The problem for most entrepreneurs is they don't have a clear set of roles and responsibilities in writing. They don't have a clear set of projects that they're accountable for this quarter in this month. So what happens is they do seagull management, they swoop in, they shit all over everybody, and they fly away and they don't recognize that they're doing it. But if we can get the CEO, Joe or anybody else to commit to, here's my core projects for the quarter and for the month. Here's my core metrics. They won't have time to be managing all these random ideas, so they'll still have them. You'll save them, you'll trap them, and then they'll get back to the stuff they need to focus on. They won't want to be managing all the things because they know it'll bump their own projects. That's great. Thank you, Russ. Yeah, throw him a mic, please. If you want more leadership tips and systems from me, they're free at YouTube. Amronherald and that's H E R O L D.