10 Ways the CEO/COO Relationship is Like Being Married (with children)
I'm not crying, you're crying (not sure if it's happiness or exhaustion though)
I originally wrote this as a thread on Twitter, but felt it was a good fit for my newsletter audience too. It harks back to the original title of the newsletter, WTFisaCOO!
Enjoy. Also, please follow me on Twitter.
You have a job to do, but ultimately it’s more of a personal relationship than a working one.
You will get to know each other VERY well. Including the bits the other one doesn’t want to know about you.
Your capacity to hurt each other is great, and increases with time.
You may divide up responsibilities, but everything one of you does profoundly affects the other.
You need to care about each other enough to get through the tough times.
If the two of you are not on the same page, the “kids” (employees) are the ones who really suffer.
It is easy to accidentally undermine each other. When you let that happen, the “kids” will play you like a pair of fiddles.
Communication, vulnerability, trust, and forgiveness are the bedrock of the relationship.
When it’s not working, it WILL affect your sleep.
When it IS working, it’s one of the most rewarding relationships in your life.