BEFORE YOU HIRE A COO

A disciplined question for leaders at inflection points.

Growth changes an organization.

It exposes structural weakness.
It magnifies tolerated behavior.
It pressures leadership systems that once “worked well enough.”

When execution begins to slip, the instinct is often to hire a Chief Operating Officer.

Sometimes that is correct.

Often, it is premature.

Schedule a 30-Minute Operational Reality Call

WHAT LEADERS TOLERATE BECOMES CULTURE

If decision rights are unclear…
If accountability is inconsistent…
If metrics exist but are not enforced…
If meetings generate motion but not progress…

A new executive will not eliminate those patterns.

They will inherit them.

Adding compensation does not create discipline.
It formalizes whatever the organization already tolerates.

Before adding a layer of leadership, the foundation must be examined.

The Hiring Illusion

A Title Does Not Create Discipline.

Many organizations post a COO role when:

Founders are exhausted
Departments are misaligned
Growth exposed structural weakness
Performance conversations are avoided

The instinct is understandable.

“Let’s hire someone to fix it.”

But if the leadership team has tolerated blurred roles, weak metrics, or emotional decision-making, a $250K salary simply inherits those patterns.

You don’t fix tolerated behavior with a job description.

You fix it with correction.

The Real Question

Are You Ready for a COO — or Avoiding a Harder Conversation?

A full-time COO costs:

$200K–$300K salary
6–9 months integration
Cultural disruption risk
Executive severance exposure

But the larger cost is this:

If the organization resists accountability, the COO either adapts to dysfunction — or leaves.

Neither outcome improves performance.

Operational Correction Before Executive Addition

Before You Add a Layer, Strengthen the Foundation.

Anderson Ops Advisory engages companies in a focused 90-day Operational Correction engagement designed to:

Eliminate tolerated underperformance
Clarify decision rights and ownership
Install execution cadence
Rebuild metric discipline
Protect margin before scale magnifies weakness
Reset leadership accountability standards

After correction, you can decide:

Hire a COO
Promote internally
Continue fractional leadership
Or operate with a strengthened executive team

Now the decision is strategic — not reactive.

Who This Is For

This is for leaders who:

✔ Are scaling but feel execution slipping
✔ Recognize cultural drift
✔ See margin compression emerging
✔ Want discipline restored — not layered over
✔ Are willing to confront what’s been tolerated

This is not for leaders looking for a buffer between themselves and hard conversations.

The Anderson Ops Advisory Position

We Do Not Fill Roles.

We Correct Systems.

We step in before companies overhire.

Before they mistake complexity for growth.
Before tolerated behavior becomes embedded culture.
Before executive compensation locks in structural weakness.

Operational discipline precedes executive expansion.

Always.

Direct Call to Action

Before You Commit to a $250K Decision, Confront the Real Issue.

Schedule a 30-Minute Operational Reality Call.

No recruiting pitch.
No resume submission.
Just a disciplined conversation about whether your organization needs a COO — or correction.