Strongly Tie Your COO to the Board

Few COOs have strong ties to the Board of the company they serve.  A recent Wall Street Journal article suggests that having the COO in a relationship directly with the board is advantageous in three ways:

1. The board can better assess the company’s prospects when they hear from other top management. 
2. The board can better assess the COO as the potential heir replacement to the CEO.
3. The CEO is credited with transparency by bringing his/her COO to board meetings.

For COOs, there are also benefits.  COOs are often pigeonholed as implementors only and not strategic thinkers.  This can broaden the perception of the board.  Board members may foster a mentoring opportunity with the COO.  Board members can also provide direct performance feedback to the COO.  If the COO is being groomed to become the CEO, starting a relationship with board members early is also a good reason to bring the COO to board meetings. 

If you do bring your COO to the board meeting, insure they having meaningful work for them such as COO-led presentations.  The COO could also be helpful in board committees.  But the COO should be seen as having an independent voice.  Some CEOs even leave the board meeting during their COO’s presentation.  If its transparency you’re after, and the COO is his/her own person, starting this relationship early can only help you as CEO. 

In my role as Senior Vice President of Aris Corporation, I acted mostly as the Chief Operating Officer until I was appointed President/CEO.  Not only was I tied to the board as an independent contributor, I was a board member.  Paul Song, founder of Aris, did an excellent job of including his top executives and especially his COO during these meetings.