At a speaking opportunity, I asked several senior executives to name the CEOs of Microsoft, Facebook (Meta), Google, and IBM. They all knew the names – Satya Nadella, Mark Zuckerberg, Sunder Pichai, and Arvind Krishna. Next, I asked, “Who are the COOs of the same companies?”

Crickets! No answer.

The CEOs are mostly public-facing and deal with external constituencies and stakeholders. People can name dozens of famous CEOs. But how about COOs? Not so much.

The COO is the “Secret Weapon” of the C-suite, building organizational strength and exemplary employees. …