6 Simple Moves You Can Do to Build a Strategic Operations Leader
You’ve got someone on your Operations team who’s solid. They show up, they get stuff done, they’ve earned your trust. So, you promote them. You give them more. Then we “hope” they figure it out on their own. But hope is not a strategy. And most C-Suite leaders don’t have time to coach, or let’s be honest, we assume people just know how to lead and develop others.
If you’ve got someone you believe in, someone with potential that you don’t want to lose, here are six moves that you can do to level them up as leaders.
- Stop giving them a list of tasks. Start giving them a metric they own. This is one of the simplest but most transformative shifts you can make. For example, if you’ve got them running client onboarding, don’t say “own client onboarding”, say, “your job is to reduce onboarding time from 17 days to 12 this quarter.” Now they’re not just reacting, they’re thinking about the end goal. They’re solving. They’re measuring. That’s what smart executives do.
- Let them in the room when things go sideways. Most of us shield our team from postmortems or big strategic discussions because we don’t want to overwhelm them. But that’s the problem. If they never hear how you break down problems or make trade-offs, they won’t learn how to lead through them. Start bringing them into the debriefs. Ask what they would’ve done. This is where real judgment gets developed.
- Give them the meeting reps. If they’re not leading one recurring meeting every week, they’re not getting the reps they need to grow. Start small: a team huddle or a weekly update. Let them own it fully. Tell them what success looks like, let them run it, then give clear feedback. You’ll learn a lot about their readiness, and they’ll gain confidence every time they stand in front of the team. This is one of the fastest ways to build leadership muscle.
- Share your thinking. If you want them to think like an owner, give them access to your decision-making. When you make a tough call, loop them in after and explain your thought process. It takes two minutes. You might say, “Here’s why I didn’t go with Option A. It looked good on paper, but we didn’t have the margin for error, and I’ve seen this play out before.” That’s how you transfer judgment. It’s invisible to them until you say it out loud. And let them share their thinking with you too!
- Set the bar high and show them you believe in them. Make sure they feel both trusted and accountable. Too many leaders do one or the other. If your ops person only hears what they’re doing wrong, they’ll hesitate to try something new. But if all they get is encouragement with no expectations, they will stop being motivated. Instead, sit down and say, “I believe you can do this, and here’s exactly what success looks like.” Set the bar, then let them figure out how they will get it done (better yet, let them explain what success looks like and coach them through it!).
- Build the 1:1 habit before there’s a crisis. It doesn’t take much. Even 15 minutes every other week can change the game. Ask: “What’s one thing you’re stuck on?” and “Where are you spending time you shouldn’t be?” You’ll uncover blind spots, prevent fires, and build trust. Don’t wait for a crisis to coach them. Build that 1:1 muscle with them.
Have a leader you want to help? If you’ve got someone you’re ready to invest in but you don’t have the time, tools, or headspace to coach them the way you want to, I’ve built a program for exactly that. (Three other clients asked me to create it!)
It’s called Level Up: Operations, and it’s a game-changing 6-month leadership accelerator where I personally coach your operations leader on business and leadership skills. My focus is on building real leadership skills: thinking strategically, leading others, and driving results.
If someone on your team comes to mind while reading this, you can nominate them below. It’s invite-only because I’m curating a room of A+ players who are serious about growing and helping others grow too.
👉 Get the details and nomination form here: https://www.freedomgoalgroup.com/level-up-operations
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