Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO, Updated Edition

by Nate Bennett, Stephen Miles

The role of Chief Operating Officer is clearly important. In fact, it's arguable that the number two position is the toughest job in a company. COOs play a critical part in executing the strategies developed by top management. And, in many cases, they are being groomed―or test-driven―as the firm's CEO-elect. Riding Shotgun provides unique insight into this little-understood role. The authors develop a framework that illustrates who the COO is, why a company should create this position, and what the challenges associated with this job entail. Drawing heavily on first-person accounts from top executives, the authors offer a set of strategies to inform individuals who aspire to serve as COO. With a new preface and conclusion, and even more interviews from some of the most established and important companies in today's economy, this book is a one-of-a-kind resource for the C-suite and the boardroom.

Genres: Business, Management, Leadership, Nonfiction, Professional Development

248 pages, Hardcover

First published June 9, 2006

About the author

Nate Bennett, Ph.D., is a professor in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. Over the years, he has won numerous awards for his teaching. He is co-author (with Stephen Miles) of two Stanford University Press books, "Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO" and "Your Career Game: How Game Theory Can Help You Achieve Your Professional Goals." Bennett is the academic advisor to the COO Circle, a group Chief Operating Officers from the world's largest companies and most impactful non-profits. He is a frequent speaker and commentator in business press and has been featured in programs internationally at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institut Commercial de Nancy, and Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires. He is involved in the design and delivery of executive development programs for high potential leaders at companies including NCR, Coca Cola Enterprises, GEICO, Lockheed Martin, CHS, United Health Group, and GE. He has an active practice as a consultant on issues related to top management team performance, innovation and change management, and strategy execution. He also serves as a coach to early career executives. Bennett earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Tulane University and completed his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech. His teaching career began at Louisiana State University, and he spent several years as a professor at Georgia Tech. His recently released book Shannon's Gift, is based on the blog he started in the wake of his wife Shannon's unexpected death at age 48. He has two sons, Spencer and Reid, and resides in Marietta, Georgia.

Nate moved from Massachusetts to New Orleans in 1979 to attend Tulane University. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees there, but more importantly, met Shannon, who was majoring in studio art. They married in New Orleans in 1985. Shortly afterwards they moved to Atlanta where Nate completed his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech. Their first son Spencer was born the same month he completed his dissertation. In the summer of 1989, the family moved to Baton Rouge where Nate began his career at Louisiana State University. In 1993, son Reid was born. They returned to Atlanta in 1999 when an opportunity to join the faculty at Georgia Tech came through.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I purchased this book expecting this to be about the role of a COO. There was only one chapter that was supposedly talking about the role of a COO but all it talked about was the relationship between the COO and CEO. The other chapters dealt with finding and keeping a COO. Since I likely won’t be doing any of that anytime soon in my career I decided this book was not worth finishing.

[Peter Gal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the book until 40%, finished for now due to other priorities. Not a bad book, contains relevant advice for COOs / aspiring COOs navigating the unique waters of the role, although it's man pool of interviewees comes from CEOs/COOs from publicly listed companies, so the book might not be that relevant for COOs in smaller companies / startups.

[carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

It basically took me almost three years to finish this because it would sit on my bedside table and other things were more compelling.
This was half authored by a recruiter and a lot of the book deals with that perspective and what companies should do when hiring or planning for a CEO & COO relationship.
There are some observations by the academic author that get interspersed with interviews which are actually helpful.
Highlighted insights:

1. Role clarity for senior leadership & demarcation so there is less overlap and so that teams understand and that the CEO and COO know that inside and out.
2. Complete honesty & transparency for relationships within senior leadership is the only path to success.
3. Unified front to broader team on decisions and backing one another up - so that people don’t keep shopping for a better answer.

Will keep and reference for the future.

[Yaakov Bernadyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great book if you want a lecture about the interaction between CEO and COO. Otherwise, this may be more of a waste of time.

[A N D Y ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, liked the structure of theory/interviews, but got a little too repetitive at times.

[Rhythima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Treats coo as the secondary job even in cases where coo runs a large part of organisation. Had very few tips to really take away home for chosing and aligning coo's function in an Organisation.

[Brian Nwokedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduction
At the heart of Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO is the premise that the fundamental duty of the number two is to develop an execution plan around the organization’s strategy, and to then rally everyone around that execution plan. While the CEO is seen as Mr. Outside concentrating on tasks that involve representing the firm to external constituents, the COO role is primarily created to address the internal operations of the firm. Responsible for virtually all elements of the day-to-day operations of the firm, the COOs job is a relentless one where you must spin a lot of plates at once.

After dozens of in-depth interviews with many high-powered executives who have held the position of COO and with CEOs who have worked with COOs, the authors attempt to answer an impossible question: “What makes a great COO?” Nathan Bennett and Stephen A. Miles find out that the motives for creating the COO role vary across seven basic reasons:
1. To provide daily leadership in an operationally intensive business
2. To lead a specific strategic imperative undertaken by management, such as a turnaround, major organizational change, or planned rapid expansion, or to cope with a dynamic environment
3. To provide a mentor to a young or inexperienced CEO (often a founder)
4. To balance or complement the strengths of the CEO
5. To foster a strong partnership at the top - the two-in-a-box model
6. To teach the business to the heir apparent to the current CEO
7. To retain the executive talent that other firms may be pursuing, absent an imperative from the business for creating the position

And because of this tremendous variation, there is no standard set of great COO attributes.

Why You Should Read This Book?
Unlike some other roles in the C-suite, there is no manual for becoming a COO.

Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO attempts to unpack the traits and arrangements behind successful CEO-COO relationships. As the authors detail in full, the second in command is an often misunderstood role due to the various types of configurations that exist for this role.

You should read this book to better understand how to demystify the role of the COO and better understand how more companies can benefit from having this role in place. Turning your strategic plan into action is the name of the game, and a COO can help you execute that. By understanding the traditional pitfalls of the role, you will be equipped to configure your CEO-COO relationship more effectively after reading this book.

Final Thoughts
There are very few training courses that give you the skills to be a COO, and there are even fewer books written about the COO role. Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO sets out to give readers deeper insights into the often misunderstood role of COO. As a COO myself, I am very well versed in the innate challenges of the role. As one seasoned COO explained in the book, “the COO role is a relentless one.” “It isn’t just a matter of getting the right people on the bus… It’s a matter of getting them on the bus while the bus careens down the highway at a high rate of speed.” Even if you aren’t a COO by title, do yourself a solid and pick this book up.

Easy to Read: (4/5) 80%
Deep Content: (4/5) 80%
Overall Rating: (3/5) 60%

My Two Favorite Types of COO & CEO Relationships are Two-In-A-Box and Co-Leadership

The following pictures depict two of the strongest partnerships the NFL and NBA have ever seen:

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough book on a position not given a lot of study. The interviews were good as they got some good executives, though the part on the search for a COO and the consultants felt a bit forced.

[Luis Ferrao · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 estrelas. (E-book)

Este livro veio a calhar numa altura em que, como COO, senti necessidade de fazer um balanço sobre a função, os desafios, o seu role de suporte à estratégia da organização e o papel importante de reporte ao CEO.
A obra apresenta vários capítulos que apresentam várias dimensões da função que versam desde a sua criação, ao que se espera que ela assegure, que desafios se lhe apresentam na gestão moderna e até a eventual duração da função.
No fundo a espinha dorsal do livro são entrevistas a muitas dezenas de executivos na sua maioria CEO e COO sendo que muitos transitaram de número 2 a número 1 que é também um dos temas tratados no livro.
Retenho da obra que:

1. Deve existir um racional de negócio ou estratégia muito sólido para criar a função - complexidade das operações, mentoria a um CEO fundador, preparação de sucessão.

2. O papel é claramente executar a estratégia da organização entregando resultados dia a dia, quadrimestre a quadrimestre, sem perder o foco no médio longo prazo.

3. O COO deve ter presente que a função não é um trampolim nem um bilhete dourado para ser CEO e deve estar preparado para desempenhar a função sem uma data de validade.

4. Como soft skills é fundamental ter espírito de missão e a resiliência de perceber que muito do que estiver menos bem vai cair-lhe no colo e o que estiver bem será muitas vezes reconhecido ao CEO. Isso faz parte da função e não deve nem desmotivar nem levar a deslealdade para com o CEO.

5. É fundamental que o CEO aposte no desenvolvimento do COO dando-lhe palco e aumentando escopo funcional para lhe dar a visibilidade e notoriedade que lhe permita estar bem posicionado para uma função de CEO na organização actual ou num projecto futuro.

6. Cada dia da função deve ser encarado como se a função vá ser desempenhada por muitos anos mas deve haver consciência de que a função, ou a motivação para desempenhar a mesma, se esgote frequentemente entre 3 a 6 anos.

Apesar do modelo do livro ser o modelo de governo mais americanizado onde um COO no fundo é um autêntico número 2 e único reporte do CEO sendo até muitas vezes vice-presidente, existem muitas semelhanças nos desafios dos dois lados do atlântico para os profissionais que sejam ou venham a ser COO de uma organização.

Leitura recomendada

[Mindaugas Mozūras · Rating 2 out of 5]

People want to be part of a team that is focused on the company's success, not on the success of one individual.

I'm not a COO; thus, I'm not the target audience for this book. I've read it to gain a deeper perspective on organizational structures and operating models. I got some of what I wanted, though I expected more depth.

The interviews with various current or former COOs are a big part of the book. The problem is that most interviews provide similar insights and answers. The book would've been more interesting if those insights were combined and summarized instead of provided in full.

Overall, Riding Shotgun was easy to read, and I found some insights, but not too many.

[Saufi Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book shows that the writers had done a tremendous jobs and depth research on the COO post. I certainly understand the role of the COO and knows why an organization needs or want to eliminate such role. The series of interview with some of the big corporate personnel really helps in providing insight in how big companies utilizing a COO and when they need the post.

But most of the interviews provide the same answer and perhaps the authors could compile the interviews together so that it wont sounds like a repetitive points. I believe the book can be shorten maybe almost 50% of it.

[Jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much the only book I could find on what the role of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) is, but even then, it didn't really answer the question. The key takeaways from this book are pretty much summarised in the first two chapters of the book. I found the rest of it to be mildly interesting (it's filled with interviews and anecdotes from past COOs / CEOs) but ultimately, not much that was sufficiently concrete to take-away and apply.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the middle chapters that are stories from CEOs and COOs. The parts about how to hire a COO were less useful.

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read book on middle management for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

good insight into a little researched and talked about role, second in command. worth reading, although still does not really answer the question raised by the book itself.

[Michael Storch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Wish there was more material on this topic.

[Michael Belasco · Rating 2 out of 5]

wasn't for me