I spent the last couple years doing fractional COO work. I'd drop in, stabilize the chaos, get everyone aligned, and hold things together while the founder caught their breath.
But here's what I realized:
I was basically a human shock absorber.
I was diagnosing strategy, prioritizing based on business stage, AND absorbing unclear roles and founder indecision—all while being held accountable for outcomes I didn't have the authority to control. I could stabilize things temporarily, but I couldn't fix the system that kept breaking because the founder struggled to make their own growth transition/business leadership.
That's when I changed my container and now train the team inside the business and I am the support/mentor/thought partner but not dropped into the middle of it.
Such an important topic! Do you have a transcript anywhere?
Yeah! Navigate to the episode and right next to the "share" button you'll see a "transcript" button
Thank you!!
This episode really hit home for me.
I spent the last couple years doing fractional COO work. I'd drop in, stabilize the chaos, get everyone aligned, and hold things together while the founder caught their breath.
But here's what I realized:
I was basically a human shock absorber.
I was diagnosing strategy, prioritizing based on business stage, AND absorbing unclear roles and founder indecision—all while being held accountable for outcomes I didn't have the authority to control. I could stabilize things temporarily, but I couldn't fix the system that kept breaking because the founder struggled to make their own growth transition/business leadership.
That's when I changed my container and now train the team inside the business and I am the support/mentor/thought partner but not dropped into the middle of it.