Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

The #1 Mistake CEOs Make (And How COOs Fix It)

17 Oct 2025 · 0 min

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Cameron Herold explains that CEOs often avoid firing people and that a COO’s role includes handling those difficult decisions. The COO’s job is framed as protecting and enhancing the CEO’s internal reputation—making the CEO look iconic and ensuring staff continue to support the CEO after tough calls.

CEO's don't like firing people. That's why you have a COO to do that for you. Our job as a COO is to make the entrepreneur look good. One of the core roles of the COO is to make the CEO iconic. One of the CEO's jobs is internally, to make sure we look good. Your job internally, when he has to roll the tough decisions, when he has to fire people, when he has to say no, when he has to say we can't because of. Your job, is to make sure everybody internally still loves him.