Chief operating officers are the Swiss army knives of the C-suite.
At Fortune’s inaugural COO Summit last week, I made the rounds asking operating chiefs which functions fell under their remit. Some oversaw parts of the marketing division, others had talent operations funnel into them, and still others worked hand-in-hand with the tech department and finance heads.
It’s no wonder, then, that the role has become a pit stop for executives with corner office aspirations. Former COOs who’ve recently ascended to the chief executive locus include Netflix’s Greg Peters, Honeywell’s Vimal Kapur, Costco’s Ron Vachris, and Keurig Dr Pepper’s Tim Cofer.
Last year, nearly 60% of newly minted CEOs in the S&P 1500 held COO or president titles immediately before, vs. 44% the year prior. That upswing can be attributed to COOs' operational chops and their penchant for holding an assortment of roles before their CEO elevation. Case in point: Chrissy Taylor, CEO of Enterprise Mobility, the world’s largest rental car company.
The third-generation Taylor to run the family company held 17 titles—most recently as COO—and worked internationally before becoming CEO in 2020. At the Fortune COO Summit, she told me that 2024 is the year of operations at the company, citing several key but wide-ranging priorities in a nod to her COO background, including customer experience, employee development, and growth.
Reflecting on the myriad positions she’s held over the years, Taylor said, “Getting those different perspectives is very important as you’re moving toward that C-suite [or] CEO role.”
On that note, most COO Summit attendees seemed to agree that in the corporate ladder climb, breadth trumps depth. The consensus I gathered is that as the CEO role becomes increasingly global and complex, having a sweeping understanding of the business provides a greater competitive advantage than niche subject matter expertise, though many in attendance noted the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
It may behoove those with CEO ambitions to first set their sights on the COO role. But if taking that route, the best way to leverage the position and optimize one’s visibility with the board and executive team is to, almost counterintuitively, refrain from only talking operations, says Heidrick & Struggles’ president Tom Murray, who has operational oversight as the firm’s No. 2. Instead, emphasize strategy and vision to demonstrate that you have that muscle.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
Today's newsletter was curated by Natalie McCormick.
