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The Top Traits of a Director of Operations

06/17/2020

Have you ever wondered what makes a good Director of Operations? Are you interested in pursuing this line of work but unsure if you are the right fit for the role?

The Top Traits of a Director of Operations

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I often get people asking me what they can do to prepare to apply for the certification or if I think they are already qualified. Today we are going to talk about the top traits we see in Directors of Operations (DOO). 

 

Identifying Top Traits

We’ve just onboarded the fifth round of the DOO certification. This certification allows DOOs to create new offers and up-level who they are serving. During the onboarding process, we collect lots of data, and this is what the data tells us that a typical DOO candidate looks like.

 

We look at past operations experiences, their existing business structure, and when/how they have exercised leadership in the past. Many of these pieces are situational, meaning they are decisions they’ve made based on their surroundings or circumstances.

 

Think about the roles you’ve had along your journey and the ones you’ve unintentionally fell into. The role may not have been your dream position, but you learned something new. 

 

Other types of data we will collect are less variable. They tell me about operators in general and  having this data helps me connect high level business owners who come to me looking for operators. 

 

7 Top Traits of a DOO

These are the 7 most consistent themes I see in DOOs, but this doesn’t mean it’s a comprehensive list. If you don’t have all of them, it may just mean that you will build your business a little bit differently.

 

High Fact Finding

This is your instinctive need to gather as much information as possible. You either have this or you don’t, but this trait goes hand and hand with project managers.

 

Structure & Order

A DOO wants to compartmentalize things, find consistency and themes, and is less flexible with change. They love patterns and designing systems, workflows and SOPs. They love figuring out which steps to take, and crafting the business into a well oiled machine.  

 

Introversion

DOOs are the second in command, and they love supporting and contributing to other people’s visions. They will partner with extroverts, and run the back end of the business. For example, introverts love marketing systems, but they don’t love the forward facing end of it. When a DOO is an introvert, they complement the visionary perfectly because visionaries tend to be extroverts.

“Extroverts don’t want the competition of another extrovert.”

 

Creativity in Problem Solving

DOO creativity shows up in the way that they solve the problems for the business. They take complex things and break them down. 

 

Need to Know Expectations

DOOs want to know what is expected of them, their projects, and the team. They are analytical thinkers, and they love order. 

“A DOO creates expectations, and then measures themself against those expectations.” 

 

Long Processors

A DOO needs some time to determine the next steps to take. This can be frustrating for our visionary clients. Our clients move faster and see the end result, while we see every tiny step that will get us there. This is a benefit, because as we work through these plans they will be comprehensive, and we will address all of the gaps.

 

Leadership

DOOs are yes-maybe people, not yes ma’ams. Yes ma’ams take orders and perform at an entry level function. Yes-maybe’s add in the leadership layer that may include processing, measuring, and evaluating a process. DOO’s are capable of leading hard conversations, team meetings, holding peers accountable, assessing risk, etc. 

“Leadership is non-negotiable… it’s the one trait a DOO has to have!”

You don’t have to have all of these traits to be a successful DOO, but these are the themes I see in our community. Those who fall outside of the traits listed above usually tailor their business differently. 

There are lots of different ways to structure a business, and it’s important that as you come through the certification that we look at your Kolbe A Index. I coach you based on the results to determine what your business would look like. 

If you possess a lot of these traits, please look into the DOO certification program to see if it sounds like a good fit. We will have another cohort starting soon!

 

Weekly Ops Activity

Which of these 7 traits of a DOO do you naturally have? Join us in our Faceboook Group, and let us know!

 

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natalie gingrich

I am a no-nonsense, sports-loving, working mama who will push you to be your best self every day. I’m married to my college sweets, Jess and have two amazing and talented kiddos – Zachary and Emery. We live in the best darn state there is….Texas. I’m Southern, snarky and silly for school supplies.

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