I remember the days of my father's Chief Operating Officer and have a pretty clear idea of how my roles have been different. So, it was a bit refreshing to read the H&HN Magazine article Not Your Father's COO, which verbalizes the evolution to a much more complicated role requiring a more diverse skill set.
Today's COO has to be more actively involved in controlling costs because he/she best understands what will be less painful to the organization. The COO of today is interested in market share and strategy because it translates to revenues to cover costs and needs to maximize the return on investment. And, the COO is now much more visible and engaged with a broader range of stakeholders because they have to operationalize strategy and policy.
But, most importantly, it is no longer enough to keep the daily operations of a hospital humming along. It is imperative that today's COO be able to continually find ways to improve performance and operations, reduce costs, eliminate waste and identify value propositions. I'm not my father's COO and I'm proud of how far we have come during my lifetime.
I can't end without also mentioning the fact that today there are also so many more women who are COO's. We have come a long way baby and I believe have risen to the challenge along with our male peers.
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