COO Forum® - Blog , Peer Groups

2024 COO Forum Year in Review

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 21:14:23 +0000

Celebrating 20 years of serving Operations Executives!

2024 was a year of firsts and twentieths for COO Forum. We celebrated 20 years of serving Operations Executives and the broader operations community. From our humble beginning in Silicon Valley to our reach across many of the world's time zones, we continue to honor our mission: provide Operations Executives the best peer-based, professional development experience in the world.

Take a look below to read more about our firsts and the many accomplishments of our members.

COO Forum by the Numbers:

330 hours of chapter meetings

16 hours of monthly Executive Sessions
18 hours of monthly Presenter Series sessions
12 hours of workshops
2024 State of Operations Report
Over 40 new members
Launched our first learning Cohort: Executive Change Leadership
Held our first all-member conference in Indianapolis

We are also extremely proud of what our members accomplished in 2024:

Member Accomplishments:

Selected into Leadership Greater Chicago’s 40th Class of the Signature Fellows Program
Recognized by Black Leaders Worldwide™ as a 2024 Woman to Watch
Elected president of the Illinois Environmental Council
Nominated for the 2024 Inspirational Women Forum and Leadership Awards by L.A. Times B2B Publishing
Named as one of seven EdLoC members leading the charge in policy reform
Newly-Appointed to a board of directors
Named Top Nonprofit Executive in the Social Advocacy category at the Orange County Inspirational Women Forum and Leadership Awards
Recognized in The Software Report’s The Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS
Featured as an Ambassador for Women in Construction at New York Build Expo
Selected as Executive In Residence at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Named Leader of Influence in Los Angeles Business Journal
Moderated Mastering Difficult Dialogues for Effective Leadership at the Airport Minority Advisory Council's She Soars - Women in Aviation Summit
Presented at the IndustryWeek Operation's Leadership Conference
Delivered Powerhouse Perspective: Empowering Leaders for Business Breakthroughs podcast
Appeared on leadership podcasts
Earned advanced degrees

Member Company Accomplishments:

Recognized in Energage's Top Workplaces USA List for 2024
Named one of Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces for the 4th year in a row
Ranked #14 on USA TODAY's list of Top Workplaces for companies with 500-999 employees
Placed in the top 5 of Best Companies Group's Best Places to Work in Technology list
Awarded Ad Age's #1 Best Places to Work for 2024
Named one of the 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the 17th year in a row
Won the 2024 QSR Media Awards Brand Collaboration of the Year
Named Automotive Software Supplier of the Year
Received the Best Overall Connected Healthcare Solution in the 8th annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards
Recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Technology by Great Place To Work US and Fortune Magazine
Named a Top Employer of Gen Z for four consecutive years
Recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for 10 consecutive years
Received the Recharge Igniter Award for 2024
Named a Gold winner in the Achievement in Web Design category in The Stevie® Awards
Placed #22 for the Top 49ers list from Alaska Business Magazine
Ranked 3rd in Austin Business Journal's Fastest Growing Companies 2024
Named among Highest-Scoring Businesses on Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of Best Workplaces for 2024
Landed a spot on USA TODAY’s 2024 Top Workplaces list
Recognized with a Silver Award in the category of Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year - Technology Industries at The Stevie® Awards
Ranked #15 on Charlotte’s Fast 50 list for 2024
Rated Best Cell Phone Service in Watauga County for 2024
Received the prestigious 2023 GA Chapter Corporate Champion by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Named Top National Auto Insurer on CRASH NETWORK’s 2024 Annual Insurer Report Card for the fifth year
Received the Community Impact Award by Twin Cities Business for the Mental Health Collaboration Hub
Won 6 Muse Awards
Recognized in the 2025 Legal 500 UK Rankings
Placed #28 on Business North Carolina's N.C. Mid-Market Fast 40 list
Nominated for Best After-School Program for the 2024 Reader’s Choice Awards hosted by Parenting OC Magazine
Honored with the Supplier Champion Award at the 19th annual Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Supplier Diversity Achievement Awards
Named Best Places to Work by North Bay Business Journal two years in a row
Received Industrials Deal of the Year in the Deals Over $100 Million category by The M&A Advisor's 15th Annual International M&A Awards
Awarded a Top Workplaces 2024 honor by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ranked #1 Best Place to work in South Carolina for 2024
Named a Top Workplace by the Washington Post
Nominated in the financial services category in 2024 Best of Bloomingdale
Awarded the Silver Medal at the EuroTier Innovation Awards
Became a corporate member of Women in Manufacturing
Selected for Kansas City Business Journal's Fast 50: Fastest-Growing Businesses in the Kansas City Area
Featured in the latest issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review
Named a Top Rated IT & Engineering Staffing Firm for the first half of 2024 by Great Recruiters
Recognized in the 2024 Spencer Radio Group People’s Choice Awards
Named a Global Leader in the content and language industry by Slator
Awarded the UKG Aspire 2024 Innovation Award
Recognized with three awards at the 2024 Golden Trumpet Awards ceremony
Received two prestigious 2024 MarCom Awards
Named one of Computerworld’s Best Places to Work in IT for 2025
Nominated for four Children’s & Family Emmy Awards across Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Donkey Hodie
Ranked in the Inc. 5000 (multiple companies)
Named a 2024 Top Workplaces winner from Chicago Tribune
Opened new offices, won major deals, completed mergers and acquisitions

While all of these accomplishments are a source of great pride at the COO Forum, we are equally proud of our members' dedication to making their communities a better place.

Member Community Service:

Held company-wide blood drives
Donated for hurricane relief
Assembled care kits for a local domestic violence shelter
Used Volunteer Time Off to ring the bell for the Salvation Army
Raised Denim for Dollars donations for Feed Our Children
Donated over $1 million to local schools through the Communication 4 Education program
Participated in the Move for Mental Health Walk
Restocked local schools' supply closets
Helped pack 39,312 meals that will feed 108 children for a year
Built a playground in West Englewood for Brightpoint
Sorted and distributed over 3,000 pounds of meat sticks to support those in Metro Detroit
Brought books to life for Think Together students
Joined forces with Rise Against Hunger to pack over 10,000 meals for those in need worldwide
Funded 100,000 meals for children around the world
Participated in a sorting event at Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina
Volunteered for gardening, cleaning and painting at Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte
Packed 100 Mother's Day bags for those at Horizons for Homeless Children
Participated in the annual United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania's Big Book Drop for 30,000 children
Supported the Native Village of Eyak to provide funds to the Cordova School District
Participated in the American Cancer Society's Walk and Roll event
Donated dozens of bags and hundreds of clothing items to benefit the IBEW Local 701 Women’s Committee 2024 Clothing Drive and IBEW Local 134 Helping Hand Fundraiser
Participated in numerous American Red Cross relief efforts
Packed over 20,000 meals for those in need around the world
Good Neighbor Campaign raised $166,212 for local nonprofit organizations
Boxed meals for Feed My Starving Children
Restored veteran headstones at a local cemetery
Volunteered to feed over 800 families for Thanksgiving in Washington County
Chef for the Day at Ronald McDonald House Charities
Participated in the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services’ 29th Annual 5K - Race Judicata
Led the 2024 Autism Hero Walk at the Detroit Zoo
Volunteered with Nourish Up in Charlotte
Collected coats and winter gear to benefit the Coats for Kids Drive
Sponsored two local families this holiday season for Adopt-a-Family

Looking Forward to 2025

As we close out 2024, we are excited to kick off our 21st year in 2025. What can you expect from COO Forum in the new year?

First, we will continue to deliver on our mission of supporting Operations Executives through our monthly chapter meetings, Executive Sessions, national presenters and workshops.

Second, we are adding more learning programs for members through our diversity of partners such as The Change Architects, Double Gemini and The Breakthrough Co.

And finally, we are looking forward to innovating and learning alongside our members. Watch out for special opportunities to capitalize on unique meet-ups, author panels and more.

Here's to 2025!

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20 Years of Support for Operations Executives: Lifelines, Friendships and Trust

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:21:13 +0000

For nearly two decades, I've had the incredible opportunity to help drive the expansion of the COO Forum, a transformative space that has provided unparalleled support to Chief Operating Officers and Operations Executives. Being a part of the journey, I've seen our community grow, yet deeply hold to the foundation established in 2004, which is to provide a confidential space where Operations Executives can openly share their biggest challenges, work toward solutions, celebrate victories and find solidarity as fellow COOs.

As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, the COO Forum remains a beacon of support and collaboration for Chief Operating Officers across the country. Throughout the years, I've been privileged to witness firsthand the incredible power of peer collaboration and support. Every day I am inspired by the resilience and determination of our members as they navigate the ever-changing business landscape. More recently, these past four years have placed unprecedented pressure on COOs, and our members have faced incredible challenges brought about by the pandemic, talent management, remote work, AI integration, supply chain disruptions and (you name it). We continued throughout this challenging time to be the beacon of support!

Each COO's journey is as diverse and unique as they are, yet there's a common thread of being the driving force behind operational success. At the COO Forum, we've recognized that, despite the diversity of industry sectors and company size, COOs share common struggles and responsibilities. This understanding has empowered our members to connect, share experiences and draw from collective knowledge to overcome challenges.

It has been a privilege to be part of this close-knit community of Operations Executives, some of whom have been here nearly 20-years and many of whom have developed long-standing friendships and established unwavering trust. I am excited about the COO Forum's continued role as a vital support system that empowers COOs and reminds them that they are not alone in their journey to drive their organizations forward.

The COO Forum is more than just a professional network; it's a lifeline for Operations Executives, providing the enduring power of peer collaboration and support.

2024: Celebrating 20 Years Serving Operations Executives - Top Ten Insights

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 00:30:37 +0000

What do you do after searching for a community of Operations Executives to work on challenges unique to your role…and don’t find one?

You build one!

That’s exactly what we did in Silicon Valley in 2004. We built the first peer organization in the world exclusively to empower Operations Executives to achieve more. We understand that each operations leader might have a slightly different role based on industry, company size or company stage. That’s what makes each Operations Executive so unique. You can throw out the one-size-fits-all playbook for Operations Executives because there isn’t one.

Our strengths are grounded in the collective knowledge, experience and skills of our members. It’s why we attract the very best. After 1000s of conversations over the last 20 years, we have gotten to know Operations Executives better than any organization in the world. We’ve loved every minute of it…and all our members along the way.

Here are our Top Ten Insights:

Sales and revenue responsibilities on the rise: While the COO role is more commonly pointed inward, we have seen increasing focus placed on revenue generation. In 2022, we surveyed our members, asking about their top areas of focus. 48% identified scaling the business. It may be the result of more organizations adopting a Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process toward business planning or possibly the nature of an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to lift growth following the pandemic.
Navigating the CEO relationship is still a common challenge: It seems as if new COOs click very well with the CEO shortly after being hired. Then, as the novelty wears off or the “honeymoon period” ends, problems can arise. Our members have the benefit of drawing on similar experiences across their COO Forum peers to learn strategies to improve alignment with their CEOs. However, we have seen the best odds of success require designing a CEO/COO relationship prior to the hire in order to close any alignment gaps quickly.
Demands on the COO’s time are greater now than ever: During the past five years, there has been an explosion of additional duties and areas of focus placed on COOs. These responsibilities reflect the enormous change taking place in society, including environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), cybersecurity, work/life balance shifts, AI integration/policy making and more. It doesn't appear to be easing off any time soon!
COOs are the key change agent in their organizations: Typically, the CEO is given credit for being the visionary within the business and is associated with change and improvement. However, we know that the COO or Operations Executive is the key figure that interprets that vision, develops it into an organizational plan and executes the strategy. As Steve Jobs said, “..ideas are worth nothing unless executed.”
COOs are a resilient and gritty bunch! It takes a lot of pressure to create diamonds. COOs are no different. During the past 20 years, we have seen our members work through very stressful (high pressure) situations with success. They come through the other end of their challenges more resilient and stronger as an executive.
COOs are growth oriented: “The only easy day was yesterday” may be the motto of the US Navy Seals but we believe it applies to our members as well. The COO role requires constant growth and learning to stay ahead of the ever-changing business landscape. Our members are readers. They attend workshops and seminars. Some still find time to participate in other peer groups, including specialized industry associations.
COOs have heart: It is no coincidence that the COO is most often the go-to problem solver in their organization. They have honed their listening skills and empathetic approaches to employee challenges. This attracts people to their offices. COOs understand that people are the most important resource an organization has. Just look at last month’s blog article to see how the COO’s heart spills over into their communities as well: https://www.cooforum.net/blogs/post/2023-coo-forum-year-in-review
It really is lonely at the top: A common refrain we continue to hear from our members over these 20 years is “it is so great to feel understood, valued, and heard at the COO Forum." COOs put themselves out there for the entire organization and yet often do not give themselves the time to de-stress, share their challenges or recharge. It gives us all so much satisfaction to provide the support and community our COOs and Operations Executives need.
Post-pandemic changes are here to stay (mostly): Businesses have seen many different bubbles and crises over the years, including some in our more recent memories, such as the dot-com bust and the financial meltdown of 2008. While those crises had lasting effects, none affected us more than the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent return-to-office initiatives often make headlines, but we can tell you that remote and hybrid work is very much here to stay. Our COOs are still working through these challenges. It forces greater emphasis on leadership, communication, culture and preparation than ever before.
Yet to be written.

Wait! How can you end a Top Ten Insights list with #10 empty? All right, sure, we could probably name one hundred or so more insights we have gained over the last twenty years of serving the best Operations Executives in the world. But...we’re leaving #10 open for the next 20 years.

At the COO Forum, we like to say that our #1 strength is the collective knowledge of our members, Directors, thought leaders and team. That really is what defines the COO Forum peer experience. We aren’t just a single person who showcases all they’ve learned and offers to share their singular experience. Nope.

It has been the 1000s of conversations with members…their hardships, successes, laughs, cries and new insights over these past 20 years that have made us who we are.

Come and see what we are all about. You just might get to help us complete #10!

COO Forum®...the Original COO ChatGPT?

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 03:49:34 +0000

You decide...

Doesn’t it seem like it was only yesterday that we woke up and, suddenly, ChatGPT had swept in and captured all our minds? As COOs/Operations Executives, we are learning a new lexicon of words such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), deep learning neural networks, and even tensor parallelism. https://research.aimultiple.com/large-language-model-training/

It all seems so overwhelming. Where do we go from here?

See Tim Urban’s, The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html, for a wonderful recap of human intelligence from past to present - to future. Before we decide where we’re going, however, let’s take a brief look at where we’ve been.

In his article, Tim Urban highlights human history’s Law of Accelerating Returns. It states that “progress in our human history moves quicker and quicker as time goes on because more advanced societies have the ability to progress at a faster rate than less advanced societies.” In other words, if you took a person from the year 1500 and placed them in the year 1750, they might be surprised by what they saw but it would be far less disconcerting than going from 1750 to 2015 (both about 250 years apart).

Now imagine…

You were born in 1971…before the personal computer; when a “mobile phone” meant walking down to the corner to use a pay phone.

Fast forward to 1987…you saw the battle of VHS and Betamax come to an end; you bought your first PC, a Commodore 64, and started a user’s group. (Guilty! But, for the record, we had almost 50 paying members of the Beaver County Area Commodore User’s Group that year.) Plus…there was no internet.

A person born in 1971 has seen as much progress in the last 50 years as a person would have seen from the years 1500 to 1750. That is the Law of Accelerating Returns.

What will it look like in another 20 years? Probably mind blowing.

So, what does the COO Forum® have to do with AI and ChatGPT?

Maybe it’s no coincidence that we were founded in the heart of Silicon Valley by entrepreneur Bill Shepard in 2004. We really do function like the LLMs with input embedding, multi-head self-attention, feed-forward network with normalization and residual connections.

Wait, what?

Question:

If, according to Cem Dilmefani (AI Multiple, 2023), “a large language model is a type of machine learning model that is trained on a large corpus of text data to generate outputs for various natural language processing (NLP) tasks such as text generation, question-answering and machine translation“…then what is a peer-based professional development organization like the COO Forum®?

I would contend that the COO Forum® was the original COO ChatGPT!

With ChatGPT, you type questions into a faceless computer, relying on answers generated from an AI language model trained on a large body of text sources across the internet, including Wikipedia. Yikes!

At the COO Forum®, you have an actual conversation with the source data. I’m talking about a genuine, breathing person who gained experience by living the problem and emerging with useful insights. In fact, our multi-nodal datasets…er, members…are continually learning, which feeds back into our training datasets…uh, new insights. This means our COOs/Operations Executives always get the latest information, techniques and insights in real time.

If this isn’t a perfect case of tensor parallelism, I don’t know what is. But I digress.

So, where do Operations Executives go from here?

Time will tell.

But one thing is for sure. You’d better get your tensor parallelism in alignment with the right datasets, or you’ll be dropping results from an arbitrary MLP (Multilayer Perceptron) in no time!

If you would like to see what the world’s best COOs/Operations Executives are up to, come check us out at www.cooforum.net. We’re always on the lookout for adding new insights to our datasets…I mean, attracting the best and brightest Operations Executives.

The Benefits of a Peer Community

Fri, 26 May 2023 19:05:23 +0000

Learning, accountability, support...

Since 2004, COO Forum® has been making a difference in the personal and professional lives of COOs and their organizations. Joining such a group can be a highly valuable experience, providing numerous benefits that could significantly impact both personal and professional growth.

Below are six top reasons why an operations executive should consider joining a peer group, such as the COO Forum®, and the benefits they can expect to gain:

Professional and Personal Development: Being part of a peer group promotes personal and professional responsibility. Peer groups have regular meetings where executives can set goals, share progress, and hold each other accountable. This level of accountability can be a powerful motivator, pushing executives to strive for excellence and achieve their objectives. Additionally, peer groups provide a supportive environment for personal development, offering constructive feedback, mentorship, and guidance.

Continuous Learning: Peer groups often offer educational opportunities, workshops, and guest speaker sessions that cater to the professional development needs of executives. These programs focus on a variety of topics such as leadership development, strategic planning, and communication skills. By participating in such activities, executives continue to learn and grow, expanding their knowledge base and enhancing their leadership capabilities.

Networking Opportunities: Peer groups provide an excellent platform for executives to expand their professional network beyond their organization. Engaging with peers from diverse industries and backgrounds can lead to valuable connections, potential partnerships, and access to new business opportunities.

Exchange of Knowledge and Best Practices: Peer groups offer a rich environment for knowledge sharing as well as learning from the experience of others. Executives gain insights into industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices from their peers. By sharing challenges and discussing solutions, executives are able to tap into a collective intelligence that can significantly enhance their leadership skills and business acumen.

Access to Diverse Perspectives: Executives regularly face similar issues within their respective industries. However, joining a peer group allows them to benefit from diverse perspectives. By interacting with executives from different fields, geographies, and organizational sizes, members can question assumptions, uncover blind spots, and highlight potential risks, gaining a fresh point of view.

Enhanced Decision-Making: By engaging in regular discussions of important challenges, executives can sharpen their critical thinking and decision-making skills, ultimately leading to more informed and well-rounded decisions. This increased ability to make better decisions can positively impact the executive's organization, driving success and growth.

In conclusion, joining a peer group can provide executives with an array of benefits, including personal and professional development, continuous and mutual learning from a variety of perspectives, enhanced decision-making capabilities, and expanded networking opportunities-all within a supportive, confidential environment. Participating in a peer group can be a transformative experience that propels an executive's career and fosters both personal and professional growth.

But don’t just take it from us! Below is a quote from Tina Brown, one of our COO Forum® members: