"Set a COO Agenda and Invest in Onboarding" Set expectations for what you will - and as important - won't focus on during your first 90, 120 and 180 days. Newly promoted to my first COO role, I was determined to show my value on day one. I set out to "fix" the bottlenecks I'd experienced firsthand in my previous role. I fielded dozens of coffee requests from staff, hearing every idea, challenge, and wish. Before long, I found myself reacting to the incoming volume without shaping and communicating my COO agenda-or even learning the contours of the role first. There is an almost irresistible pressure on new leaders to demonstrate results quickly. The organization has just placed a big bet on their new hire and there is a lot on the line-for the CEO, the organization, and for the new leader. Yet, without a clear onboarding agenda, new leaders face uncalibrated expectations that can derail their progress and hinder their effectiveness long-term. At Nebo, we've learned from coaching hundreds of new executives that fully onboarding to a new executive role can take a year to 18 months. In the era of uncharted complexity, the COO role requires not just skills and experience, but new leadership mindsets. This requires that a COO understand when to use their experience and when to reach for additional expertise; how to steward the organization while promoting innovation; how to align the organization and culture for results, and more. New COOs must work with their CEOs to gain clarity on their roles and responsibilities and co-create a learning agenda for each three-month increment. Coaching is essential for new executives to accelerate their learning and development, enabling them to have the strategic sounding boards and confidential support to integrate what they are seeing and learning, and drive their own development. While 18 months may sound like an eternity, intentional onboarding presents a foundational "set-up" period that maximizes the chances of a leader's success, retention, and ability to sustain the demands of the job longer term.
The most valuable lesson I learned during my first year as COO is that strategy is never static. Each year brings a new mix of team dynamics, cash flow realities, client needs, and external factors like the economy and politics. Learning to anticipate and adapt to these shifts has been critical in keeping our company resilient and moving forward. For me, this lesson has shaped my leadership style by reinforcing the importance of adaptability and communication. I've realized that as a leader, it's less about having one fixed "playbook" and more about creating a culture where the team feels informed, supported, and ready to pivot when circumstances change. It taught me that consistency in values matters more than rigidity in tactics and that's how we've been able to grow year after year.
"Leadership is not about having all the answers, but creating an environment where the best answers can emerge." The most valuable lesson I learned during my first year as a COO was the importance of balancing vision with execution. It's easy to get caught up in strategy, but real leadership is about translating ideas into measurable results while empowering your team to own their part of the journey. That experience taught me that listening deeply, fostering trust, and providing clarity are far more powerful than micromanaging. It shaped my leadership style to be both decisive and empathetic driving results while ensuring the team feels valued and motivated.
I don't have a "COO," and the most valuable lesson I learned during my first year as a business owner wasn't a corporate one. It was simple: you have to save for the tough days. I was over-optimistic about the business, and I thought the jobs would just keep coming. I wasn't saving enough money for a slow season or a rainy week, and it almost put me out of business. The lesson came the hard way. The weather turned on us, and a lot of jobs were delayed. The money wasn't coming in fast enough, and I was in a tough spot. I had to go to the bank to get a line of credit just to make payroll and buy materials. It was a stressful time, and it taught me a lot about the reality of running a business. Since then, I've completely changed how I run my business. I now have a simple rule: a certain amount of every single paycheck goes into a savings account that is just for a slow season. I don't touch it. It's a way of protecting my crew and my business from a financial crisis. This simple lesson has completely shaped my leadership style. My guys know that I'm not a person who is going to take a lot of risks with the business. They know that in a tough situation, I'm going to have their backs. My advice to other business owners is to be a little more pessimistic than optimistic. The most valuable lesson you can learn is to save for the tough days. It's the only way to build a business that will last.
The most valuable lesson was that alignment matters more than speed. In my first year, I pushed projects forward quickly but realised misalignment created rework and frustration. Since then, I've focused on making sure everyone understands the goal before execution. It's shaped my leadership style to prioritise clarity and shared ownership over simply moving fast.
The most valuable lesson I learned during my first year as a COO was to always revisit the intention of a policy and recognize that life often happens in the gray. It is true that organizations must have clear policies and procedures and the COO must uphold those on behalf of the organization. It is also true that employees are unique individuals and situations do not always fit cleanly into the scenarios that were imagined when the policies were put in place. It is important to look at every situation and consider the intention of the relevant policy, and ensure that the outcome of the organizations actions and decisions align with the intention of the policy. Continuously evaluating the intention of organization policy ensures that our policies are fair and current. It also encourages me to make recommendations to change policies which may no longer be serving the business. It is important to recognize when something is not working. The process of regularly evaluating the intention of former decisions and the reality of current situations causes me to reflect and make recommendations with intention. The insights I learned from this experience have made me a much more adaptable leader. In my earlier career, I was often operating as if there were clear lines and that situations had clear resolutions. I learned that people are all different and situations vary and that sometimes we all need to flex a little to achieve the desired outcome.
I don't have a "most valuable lesson as a COO." I just learned a hard lesson about what a "major setback" really is. When a big client didn't pay a large invoice a while back, it was a massive hit to the business. My initial reaction was to panic. I thought I had to work even harder to make up for the lost money. I was working long days, stressing out, and not sleeping. I was heading straight for burnout. My "coping mechanism" was a simple one, but it took everything in me to do it. I had to force myself to step away from the problem. I put the tools down for a full day, didn't answer the phone, and just focused on clearing my head. I learned that a tired mind can't solve a problem, and that my panic was making things worse. It changed my perspective on the challenge; I realized that the problem wasn't going to get solved by me just working more. It was going to get solved by me thinking more clearly and trusting my crew to do the job right. The most valuable lesson I learned was that I can't do it all myself. The way I handled it was to come back with a clear plan. I started looking for a solution, but I was focused on getting the right solution, not just any solution. The problem wasn't solved overnight, but I was in a much better place to handle it. I was in control, not running from the problem. My advice for others facing similar challenges is simple: don't try to outwork a problem. A rested mind is a smart mind, and a panicked mind makes mistakes. The best thing you can do when you're facing a major setback is to put the tools down, clear your head, and come back to it with a clear plan. For a small business, a clear head is the most valuable tool you can have. It's what allows you to survive and grow.