Ask the COO: How to Find and Sustain Alignment with Your CEO

This Q&A with Chuck Orzechowski explores the dynamic nature of the COO role and the need to actively manage CEO-COO alignment.
Feb. 17, 2026
4 min read

Key Highlights

  • CEO-COO alignment is a dynamic, ongoing process that requires deliberate effort and regular recalibration to adapt to evolving business needs.
  • Misalignment often starts subtly through assumptions and infrequent communication, gradually leading to frustration and decision-making gaps.
  • COOs should treat alignment as strategic infrastructure, making expectations explicit and revisiting them more often than they might expect, especially during periods of change.
  • Trust is the foundation of effective alignment; building and maintaining trust through consistency, transparency and reliability is essential.
  • When alignment is broken beyond repair, recognizing the signs and making mature decisions — including potential exit — are crucial for long-term leadership health.
Chuck Orzechowski
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The risk is real.

The COO role is often described as the most powerful — and most precarious — seat in the C-suite. While COOs are hired to bring structure, execution and operational rigor, their long-term success hinges on one critical variable: alignment with the CEO.

Misalignment rarely happens overnight. It develops slowly, through shifting expectations, unspoken assumptions, changing business realities and infrequent recalibration. When alignment erodes, even highly capable COOs can find themselves sidelined, frustrated or ultimately replaced.

Chuck Orzechowski, CEO of COO Forum, shares insights drawn from two decades of working with hundreds of COOs across industries. His perspective reflects a hard truth: Operational excellence alone is not enough. Sustained COO success requires intentional, ongoing alignment with the CEO.

Why is CEO–COO alignment so critical to the success of the COO role?

The COO role is not a fixed job description. It is a living agreement shaped by the CEO’s needs, leadership style and the company’s stage of growth. More than any other executive role, the COO’s effectiveness depends on how clearly and consistently that agreement is understood.

When alignment is strong, the COO becomes an extension of the CEO’s intent. Strategy turns into execution, decisions accelerate, and the organization operates with coherence. When alignment weakens, even highly capable COOs can find themselves uncertain about priorities, authority and what success actually looks like. Alignment is not about agreeing on everything. It is about sharing the same understanding of where the company is going and how each leader contributes to getting there. 

How does misalignment typically show up between a CEO and COO?

Misalignment rarely starts with conflict. I know this from my own experience as a COO. It usually begins with assumptions. The CEO assumes the COO understands what matters most. The COO assumes that silence means approval. Over time, expectations shift while conversations stay the same. Strategic discussions become less frequent. Decisions happen without the COO in the room. Authority becomes blurry. By the time frustration surfaces, the gap has often been growing quietly for months. What used to be an environment of what I call “positive friction” now becomes “negative friction.” The ability to disagree constructively is lost, and simple decisions take on a feeling of winning or losing.

Alignment decays quietly. Regular recalibration prevents surprise.

What is the biggest mistake COOs make when trying to stay aligned?

Assuming alignment is permanent. Many COOs invest heavily in alignment during their first year, then treat it as something that will naturally hold. But businesses evolve constantly. CEOs change focus. External pressure reshapes priorities. Alignment that is not actively maintained will drift. COOs who wait for the CEO to raise alignment issues usually find out too late that expectations have already changed.

What practical steps can a COO take to build stronger alignment with their CEO?

Alignment starts with making expectations explicit. Strong CEO-COO pairs regularly clarify what the CEO wants to own personally, where the COO has full authority, how decisions should be made under pressure, and what success will look like over the next phase of the business. These conversations must be intentional and structured, not implied through day-to-day execution. Alignment conversations are strategic work. They deserve dedicated time and focus, separate from operational updates or problem-solving meetings.

How often should alignment be revisited?

More often than most COOs expect. Alignment should be revisited whenever strategy shifts, the company scales, leadership dynamics change or the business encounters significant stress. Some CEO-COO pairs reset alignment quarterly. Others embed it into monthly strategic check-ins. The cadence matters less than the commitment to revisit assumptions before misalignment becomes visible. Alignment decays quietly. Regular recalibration prevents surprise.

What role does trust play in sustaining alignment?

Trust is the foundation that makes alignment possible. Without trust, alignment conversations become guarded and political. With trust, they become direct and productive. COOs build trust by being consistent, surfacing issues early, exercising good judgment and delivering on commitments. CEOs reinforce trust by being clear, accessible and willing to engage in honest dialogue. Trust does not require perfection, but it does require reliability.

Can alignment be repaired once it’s broken?

Sometimes, but not always. Alignment can be rebuilt if both leaders are willing to acknowledge the gap and reset expectations. In some cases, external facilitation or coaching helps surface unspoken assumptions and restore clarity. In other cases, the CEO’s needs have fundamentally changed, or trust has eroded beyond repair. In those situations, the most aligned decision may be an intentional exit. Knowing when alignment is no longer possible is a mark of executive maturity.

What is the most important mindset shift COOs need to make?

Stop treating alignment as a soft skill. Alignment is strategic infrastructure. It determines decision speed, execution quality and organizational clarity. COOs who manage alignment with the same rigor they apply to operations dramatically increase both their impact and their longevity.

Chuck Orzechowski is CEO of COO Forum, a peer community exclusively for Chief Operating Officers and Operations Executives. Since 2004, COO Forum has helped COOs navigate role ambiguity, strengthen CEO alignment, and lead enterprise execution through peer learning and shared insight.

About the Author

Josh Renicker

Josh Renicker

Contributor

As COO at Energy Access, Josh guides cross-functional teams through the complexity of scaling power electronics solutions, from custom battery charging systems to full-system integration. He thrives on turning chaos into clarity and bringing structure to high-growth environments. 

Beyond his day job, he serves as Member Ambassador Director of the COO Forum, where he connects operations leaders and creates space for the kind of conversations that drive transformation. At home, he's a husband, a dad, and a firm believer that leadership isn’t just what you do; it’s how you show up, everywhere.

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