How COOs Drive Culture Without Overshadowing the CEO

When people think about company culture, they usually picture the CEO setting the tone.
But behind the scenes, the COO plays a massive role in how culture actually lives inside the organization.

The challenge?
A COO must drive culture forward without overshadowing the CEO’s vision.

Here’s how the best seconds-in-command strike the balance.

Culture Is Built in Execution

A CEO may talk about values on stage — but it’s the COO who ensures those values show up in:

• How meetings are run
  
• How performance reviews are done
  
• How teams collaborate across departments
  

The COO operationalizes culture by embedding it into systems, processes, and daily behaviors.

The COO as the “People Protector”

Great COOs understand that culture isn’t a side project — it’s the foundation of performance.

They make sure that:

• A-players stay engaged and challenged
  
• Managers have the tools to grow their people
  
• Toxic behaviors are addressed early and decisively
  

By doing this, the COO protects the company’s most important asset: its people.

Balancing Vision and Execution

The CEO sets the “why” behind the culture.
The COO ensures the “how” actually happens.

• CEO: Defines the cultural vision (“We are a customer-obsessed company”).
  
• COO: Builds the systems that reinforce it (training, feedback loops, recognition programs).
  

Together, they ensure culture isn’t just words on a wall — it’s lived by everyone, every day.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Some COOs accidentally undermine culture by:

• Prioritizing efficiency over people
  
• Allowing silos to form
  
• Ignoring feedback from frontline employees
  

The best COOs keep a pulse on the organization — making culture both scalable and sustainable.

A COO doesn’t replace the CEO as the cultural leader.
Instead, they reinforce the vision and make it real in day-to-day operations.

When the CEO and COO work in sync, culture stops being an abstract idea — and becomes the engine that drives growth.

Want to learn how top COOs align culture with execution?
Join the COO Alliance, the only private community exclusively for seconds-in-command:https://cooalliance.com/apply-for-cooa