There are very few roles in an organization that are as misunderstood and as powerful as the COO. It’s often described in simple terms. The operator. The executor. The person who runs the business. But that definition falls apart the moment you actually sit in the seat. Because the truth is, the COO role is not defined by a function. It’s defined by a relationship. And that distinction changes everything.
In this episode of Life + Leadership, I sat down with Maggie Gough, COO of Bright Arrow, to pull back the curtain on what this role actually requires. Not in theory, but in practice. Not from a job description, but from lived experience. What emerged is a far more nuanced, sophisticated, and relational understanding of the COO than most organizations are designing for.
The COO Role Is Structurally Unique
Most executive roles come with clarity. A CFO owns finance. A CHRO owns people. A CIO owns technology. But operations do not live in a single lane. They cut across all of them. That is what makes the COO role so difficult to define and so easy to get wrong.
As Maggie put it, “you’re dipping into a lot of different functional areas and considering operations through multiple lanes.” And layered on top of that complexity is something even more important. The COO role is shaped by the CEO. It flexes based on:
- The strengths of the CEO
- The needs of the business
- The stage of growth
- The evolving demands of the organization
“The COO role is the only C-suite role that’s defined by another leader’s profile,” I shared in our conversation. That means there is no standard version of this role. There is only the version that is intentionally designed or unintentionally inherited.
You Don’t Hire a COO. You Design One.
One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is hiring a COO without defining what they actually need. There are multiple archetypes of COOs. Some are executors. Some are change agents. Some are mentors to founder CEOs. Some are true partners operating in a shared leadership model. And most COOs, especially in growing organizations, are a blend.
Maggie described her own experience as moving fluidly between roles. “I see myself as the other half… the change agent… and the mentor,” she shared. “You play to these different aspects of the role throughout the course of the work.” That fluidity is not accidental. It is required. But it only works when the role has been designed with clarity.
When Maggie stepped into Bright Arrow, the role was not a blank slate. It was architected. We built a clear matrix of responsibilities. What the CEO owns. What the COO owns. Where we intentionally overlap. Because without that clarity, the organization feels it immediately. And so does the partnership.
The COO Is Not the Operator. They Are the Integrator.
The word “operator” does not do this role justice. It sounds mechanical. Functional. Transactional. But the actual work of a COO is far more dynamic. Maggie described it as constantly moving between depths. “There’s the problem. You dive down into the system, understand it from all angles, and then you come back up to think strategically and pull the right levers,” she explained. That movement between detail and strategy is not occasional. It is constant. And it requires a unique kind of thinking.
The COO is:
- Seeing across the entire system
- Identifying bottlenecks across functions
- Translating strategy into execution
- And ensuring that execution actually happens through people
This is not about managing tasks. It is about integrating complexity.
The Most Important Skill Isn’t Operational
There is a statistic that stops most people in their tracks. 87 percent of COOs say that the number one requirement for success in the role is leadership and interpersonal skill. Not operational expertise. That might feel counterintuitive at first. Until you consider what actually makes execution work. Systems can be designed. Processes can be mapped. Strategy can be outlined. But none of it matters if people do not trust it, understand it, or adopt it.
“You have to be really good at listening to people who do the work day in and day out,” Maggie said. “Because ultimately you’re going to change how that work gets done, and you need to bring them along.” This is where the COO’s real work lives. In the conversations. In the trust. In the moments where resistance shows up.
Because if you do not get the interpersonal piece right, even the most elegant strategy will stall.
COOs Architect Calm in the Midst of Complexity
When we stepped back and looked at everything Maggie described, one phrase kept emerging. COOs architect calm. They are:
- Systems thinkers
- Organizational designers
- Culture protectors
- Strategic executors
But underneath all of that is something deeper. They are managing the emotional experience of the organization. “The emotional aspect can be as great, if not a greater disruptor than anything else,” Maggie shared. That means:
- Navigating tension between teams
- Bridging gaps between strategy and reality
- Holding the weight of change
- And creating clarity where there is ambiguity
This is not mechanical work. It is intellectual. It is relational. And it is deeply human.
The CEO and COO Must Be Designed in Relationship
The effectiveness of the COO is inseparable from the CEO. At its best, this is not a hierarchy. It is a partnership. In our work together, that partnership is deliberately constructed. Maggie will often build a strategic path from the inside of the business. I will pressure test it against the external world. Then it comes back inside to be refined and executed. It is iterative. It is co-creative. And it requires constant calibration.
Because as the CEO evolves, the COO must evolve alongside them. “I’ve watched CEOs evolve and found my place in what I can offer next to that,” Maggie reflected. That adaptability is not about being a chameleon. It is about being a sophisticated partner who knows how to complement, challenge, and multiply the CEO.
Where This Role Breaks Down
When the COO role is not intentionally designed, it almost always defaults into dysfunction. We see it in our work with executive teams all the time. The COO becomes the fixer instead of the strategist. They are handed problems but not authority. Decision rights are unclear. The CEO unintentionally uses them as a shield. And on the COO side, there is often an equal pull into that dynamic. “I can take this. I’ll fix it.”
Over time, that turns into a pattern. And that pattern becomes the role. But the most effective CEO COO partnerships interrupt that cycle. They clarify decision rights. They share ownership. They step in for each other when needed. And they continuously realign how the role is being lived. Because this is not a set it and forget it design. It is a relationship that must be actively maintained.
The Future of the COO Role Is More Strategic Than Ever
The COO role is evolving. It is no longer just about execution. COOs today are:
- Shaping strategy
- Identifying growth opportunities
- Leading innovation
- And in many cases, preparing for CEO succession
And yet, not every COO wants to become a CEO. Some are very clear that their genius lives in this seat. “I like diving into the problem,” Maggie shared. “I don’t need to be out in the world in the same way.” That clarity is not a limitation. It is a strength. Because when the CEO is able to stay externally focused, and the COO is able to fully own the internal complexity, the organization benefits from both perspectives operating at their highest level.
Designing the Role Your Organization Actually Needs
If there is one takeaway from this conversation, it is this: The COO role is too important to leave undefined. It must be:
- Intentionally designed
- Clearly articulated
- And continuously refined
Because when it is done well, the COO does not just run the business. They align it.
They stabilize it. They accelerate it. And perhaps most importantly, they make it possible for the CEO to lead at the level the organization truly needs.
