"What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: It’s not your fault that you’re a loser; it’s the government’s fault."
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Actionable advice for Operators, COOs, Heads of Operations
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Your operations roadmap is your current set of explicit, fully articulated goals for improving the company’s “how”—its processes, systems, tools, reporting, communication, and more. The roadmap should cover both near-term and long-term initiatives, and while it serves an important organizing function, it also has two other vital benefits.
My approach to self-care is grounded in the concept of the stress cycle, and focuses on the rhythms that we need to build into our days and weeks if we want to perform at a high level for multiple years.
An effective COO is responsive to the unique needs of both the company and its CEO, so the role always varies between occupants and firms—sometimes to such an extent that two COOs might have almost completely dissimilar duties. Because the scope of a company’s operations is so broad, there is an extent to which the COO is a gap-filler position, an organization-focused executive brought in to compensate for vulnerabilities or to create strategically vital bandwidth for the leadership team.
You will succeed or fail by your calendar. It requires constant, proactive management as well as tight coordination with your administrative assistant. It also requires a shift in both mindset and priorities.
Using the Second Brain framework by Tiago Forte has transformed how I channel my reading into actionable insights in my role as a startup COO in a corporate setting. This technique lets me operate efficiently and authentically by effortlessly commencing projects with resonating ideas.
In an ever-increasingly complex business world, leaders cannot disappear for weeks at a time to pursue a flow state at an ashram. While a thorough rest and recharge are always helpful, it’s more realistic to look for ways to trigger a flow state that simultaneously drive results in your business.
Actionable advice for Chiefs of Staff
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Here’s how I approached my job search, and found my dream job, without knowing exactly what I wanted.
After reading The Verge's article, relief that I wasn't Steph's Chief of Staff quickly turned into fascination. I couldn't stop thinking about all the ways an experienced Chief of Staff could have helped the Away team and, perhaps, saved Steph from her demise.
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I’ve sat through exec team meetings every week for the last 4 years. Some good, most okay, some downright bad. The better meetings all happened to include a meeting leader focused on making the most out of the time. The worst? They relied on the group to figure it out on the fly.