Ep. 483 - Aligning Dreams with Reality: How to Find Your Next Right-Hand Leader

Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief

Second in Command with Cameron Herold

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Careers

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today's episode of the Second in Command podcast, Cameron discusses the process of identifying and attracting the right leadership talent who not only possess the necessary skills but also align deeply with your company’s vision and core values.

You’ll discover the importance of building a “virtual bench” of potential candidates and why proactive recruiting beats passive job postings when searching for a high-impact executive. Discover a structured interviewing process that evaluates both cultural fit and technical expertise, ensuring your new leader complements the CEO and drives the company forward. You’ll also understand how rigorous reference checks provide critical insights into a candidate’s true character and capabilities before making a hiring decision.

Cameron uncovers best practices for defining compensation, clarifying roles, and setting organizational expectations that attract and retain top executives. You’ll learn how to balance respect for existing leaders while empowering your new hire to remove obstacles and foster alignment across the company, creating a strong foundation for long-term success.

The podcast explores how careful alignment of expectations and responsibilities can help create a harmonious, effective leadership structure that drives a company forward without unnecessary friction.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the Second in Command podcast, be sure to leave a review and subscribe today!

Enjoy!

In This Episode You'll Learn:

The difficulty of finding COOs as they are rarely unemployed and often need to be poached. (1:05)
Why the old adage of 'hire for attitude, train for skill' no longer applies, and why you must hire for both cultural fit and skill set. (4:15)
The importance of choosing the right job title to match the responsibilities and compensation. (7:11)
The concept of maintaining a "virtual bench" of potential candidates for future roles. (23:04)
The role of HR in supporting the search 9not recruiting) and the importance of rigorous interviews. (24:32)
And much more...

Resources:

Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn

Get Cameron’s latest book – "Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO"

Get Cameron’s online course – Invest In Your Leaders

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Cameron Harold, the host of the Second Command podcast. Before we dive in, there's something you need to know.
0:05.5	If you're a C-O-O-V-P operations or you're in any role where you're the second-in-command to the CEO,
0:12.1	the C-O Alliance is the place for you. If you're the integrator to the visionary, you're going to want to join us.
0:18.4	The C-O Alliance is the world's leading community for the second command.
0:22.4	We've had over 500 members like you join from 17 countries to grow their skills,
0:27.6	connections, and confidence.
0:29.1	You'll get the tools, friendships, and a 10x guarantee to ensure that you get your
0:33.6	money's worth.
0:34.6	Go to COOalliance.com to learn more and see if you qualify.
0:38.9	You can even book a free call with our team to ask questions. Now let's jump into this week's
0:43.3	episode.
0:49.7	Welcome to the Second in Command podcast, produced by the C.O. Alliance and brought to you by its founder, Cameron Harold.
0:58.2	In the Second in Command podcast, we talk to top COOs who share the insights, strategies, and tactics that made them the chief behind the chief.
1:07.4	And now, here's your host, Cameron Harold.
1:14.2	Okay. I'm saying. And now, here's your host, Cameron Herald. Okay, on today's episode, we're going to talk about how do you hire the CFO, how do you actually interview them, how do you recruit them, what are the types of questions that you want to be asking these CIO candidates or second in command candidates?
1:26.7	What are the kinds of questions
1:27.8	that you're going to ask to not scare them away? And sometimes you're going to scare them away by
1:31.8	selling and overselling. The really best candidates want to be challenged in the interview process.
1:36.8	And we're going to go deep into how do you actually interview them? How do you hire them? How do
1:40.9	you bring them into your organization? We'll see you on the inside.
1:49.0	Because COOs are not transferable from one organization to another, finding them isn't always easy.
1:54.7	There's no central casting where you can hire the perfect fit. So it's usually a tough recruitment search.
	...

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