The COO Search Is the Hardest Search You'll Run (TPL Insights #323)

By Rob Andrews

Here's what really happens when a COO search goes wrong. I've seen it so often that I can recall the pattern from memory.

The board signs off on the new role. The CEO meets with me to explain what they need, and it all sounds reasonable: a smart operator, a strong communicator, someone to handle daily operations so the CEO can focus on growth. We create the job profile, start the search, and bring in four strong candidates. The CEO chooses one, and the new COO starts and does well at first. But after six months, something feels off. Maybe the COO makes a decision the CEO didn't expect, challenges a choice the CEO made privately, or begins building relationships with the board in ways the CEO hadn't considered. By month fourteen or fifteen, the COO is looking for a graceful exit. By month eighteen, they're gone. Then the CEO calls me and says the person just wasn't the right fit.

They're usually right. The person often wasn't the right fit. But the real problem began long before anyone took the job.

No other C-suite role is defined so differently from company to company. Yet most organizations write the position spec as if the title itself communicates what they need.

S&P 500 data reported by Adweek shows the average COO stays in the job for 3.3 years. CEOs last 7.6 years, and CFOs 4.7 years. The COO has the shortest tenure among top executives, as it has for years. I believe this is less about the people in these roles and more about how companies define the COO position differently.

When someone becomes a CFO, the role has a widely understood meaning. The COO title carries no such consensus. In one company, it's the operator. In another, it's the heir apparent. In another, it's essentially a chief of staff with budget authority. These are not the same role. They require different people. Yet most organizations write the position spec as if the title itself communicates what they need.

I've been in this business for thirty years. The COO search is the one where preparation matters most, yet it's the one where it's done the least.

The Conversation That Has to Happen First

Before we write any job description, I encourage clients to talk honestly about how ready the CEO is to have a true peer, not just what they say but what they really feel. I've worked with founders and longtime CEOs who truly thought they wanted a strong second-in-command, and they did — until that person made an important decision on their own. At that point, the problem wasn't the decision itself. The problem was that the COO made it.

The COO didn't see it that way because no one explained the unwritten rule. I don't blame the CEO. This is a very human situation. But if we had talked honestly before the search about where real authority lies, rather than just looking at the org chart, we might have created a different job profile or set clearer expectations before making an offer.

The PE-Backed Version of This Problem

PE-backed companies face a similar issue. The sponsor and the CEO often disagree on whether the COO is being groomed to become CEO or simply brought in to manage the company for a set period. The CEO usually knows their own view, while the sponsor often has a different one. Neither raises the issue during the search because each assumes they're on the same page. The COO starts the job with a third idea, based on what they believe they heard during interviews.

That misalignment doesn't show up right away. It builds quietly until something brings it to light. By then, everyone is already frustrated.

The Decision Rights Problem No One Wants to Have

Most clients find conversations about decision rights tedious, at least until they've experienced a failed hire. The org chart might show the COO in charge of operations, but it doesn't show which decisions the CEO will still make personally, simply because that's how it's always been. If a COO figures this out in month seven, they're not failing. They're just doing the work that should have happened during the interview process.

SHRM estimates that replacing a senior executive costs between 50% and 200% of their annual pay. For a $400,000 COO, that's at least $200,000, not counting search fees, the impact on the leadership team while the role is vacant, or stalled projects. The exact figure isn't the main issue. The real point is that a failed COO search is not just an HR problem. It's a business disruption that affects results.

Four Questions Before We Write a Single Spec

Before any COO search begins, I ask the CEO four questions:

• What does this company need to accomplish over the next three years that genuinely requires this role?

• In practice — not on paper — is the COO an equal or a direct report?

• Which decisions belong to the COO after they start, and which ones remain with you?

• Are you prepared to let someone else take credit if the operation runs well?

I learn the most from the last question. CEOs who answer it right away usually end up with COOs who stay. Those who hesitate or try to rephrase it often call me back two years later.

I'm not saying this to be harsh. I'm saying it because of what I've seen, and because having this conversation before hiring is far less costly than having it after.

Rob Andrews

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Allen Austin