10. What are the five traits of successful COO’s?

In this episode we unpack the topic of: What are the five traits of successful COO’s? Our special guest is Charlene Chen, a key figure in the startup operations community and former COO of Lantum and AZA Finance. We discuss the following:

• How do different personalities and styles of Ops leaders contribute to the overall success of a company?
• In what ways do Ops leaders act as the connective tissue of a company?
• How can communication breakdown be addressed as a company scales and teams become siloed?
• What are the key responsibilities of Ops leaders in terms of internal communications?
• How does the performance of teams who don't directly report to a COO reflect on their success and failure?
• Why is it challenging for COOs to measure their value and articulate their impact in an OKR format?
• How do consultants-turned-Ops leaders approach problem-solving differently from those without a consulting background?
• Why is self-awareness important for COOs and operations leaders in identifying their strengths and weaknesses?
• How does resourcefulness play a significant role in the success of COOs, especially in times of crisis or limited resources?
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References:

Ops Fest 2023 brings together operations communities from all corners of the globe.

https://operationsnation.com/events/international-ops-fest/communities

Key traits of a COO

• Generalist - Jacks and Jills of all trades covering multiple functions
• Hourglass-Shaped - Ability to zoom out to do strategy but zoom in to design minute processes
• Gluey - The connective tissue of a company, filling the gaps in and between cross-functional teams
• Resourceful - Making do with little human or financial capital
• Humble - Work hard behind the scenes with little credit given (not as glorified as engineers and salespeople)
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Biography: Charlene Chen has over 15 years of operational leadership experience working with a variety of organisations ranging from tech startups to international non-profits to Fortune 500 companies. She began her career as an IT consultant at Deloitte Consulting, but spent 8 years focused on operational leadership of socially impactful venture-capital backed businesses in the fintech and healthtech industries. Charlene was co-founder and COO of AZA Finance (formerly BitPesa), former COO of Lantum, and is Co-Founder of Operations Nation, a community-led digital hub for Ops-specific content, resources, and training.

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