Cameron Herold, founder of the COO Alliance, is a visionary leader who scaled 1-800-GOT-JUNK to incredible heights. He reveals how to hire and empower an exceptional second-in-command. Discover the hidden hiring mistakes that can sabotage even seasoned entrepreneurs and why a 'vivid vision' is essential. Cameron shares insights on the twelve soft skills leaders must master, especially in an age of AI. He also discusses navigating challenges with underperforming employees and the vital relationship between COOs and CEOs for operational success.
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insights INSIGHT
Power of Vivid Vision
Vivid Vision vividly depicts what a company looks like, feels like, and acts like in three years.
It aligns every stakeholder behind a clear, detailed picture to catalyze company culture and growth.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Run Effective Meetings
End meetings 5 minutes before schedule to allow on-time arrival for next meetings.
Require agendas with purpose, outcomes, order, and time allocations to prevent wasting time.
insights INSIGHT
Using AI in Meetings
AI can be invited as a named meeting participant to assist brainstorming and strategy.
Clarifying meeting type and decision expectations reduces participant frustration and improves communication.
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Getting Things Done (GTD) is a personal productivity system developed by David Allen. The book provides a detailed methodology for managing tasks, projects, and information, emphasizing the importance of capturing all tasks and ideas, clarifying their meaning, organizing them into actionable lists, reviewing the system regularly, and engaging in the tasks. The GTD method is designed to reduce stress and increase productivity by externalizing tasks and using a trusted system to manage them. The book is divided into three parts, covering the overview of the system, its implementation, and the deeper benefits of integrating GTD into one's work and life[2][3][5].
Start with Why
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek
In 'Start with Why', Simon Sinek introduces the concept of 'The Golden Circle', which consists of 'Why', 'How', and 'What'. He argues that successful leaders and organizations start with their purpose or 'Why', which inspires loyalty and trust. Sinek uses examples such as Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers to illustrate how this approach can lead to significant influence and success. The book emphasizes the importance of leadership and purpose in inspiring others and achieving long-term success.
Death by Meeting
A Leadership Fable...about Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business
Patrick Lencioni
In this book, Patrick Lencioni tells the story of Casey McDaniel, the founder and CEO of Yip Software, who is struggling with unproductive and demotivating meetings. With the help of an unlikely advisor, Will Peterson, Casey adopts a radical approach to transform meetings into engaging and productive sessions. The book introduces a framework of four distinct types of meetings: the Daily Check-In, the Weekly Tactical, the Monthly Strategic, and the Quarterly Off-Site Review. It emphasizes the importance of dramatic tension, conflict, and resolution in meetings to keep participants engaged and focused, ultimately improving team coordination, strategic planning, and overall work satisfaction.
Double Double
Cameron Herold
WTF? (Willing to Fail)
Brian Scudamore
Vivid Vision
Cameron Herold
Meetings Suck
Cameron Herold
Cameron Herold shares how to find, hire, and empower a world-class second-in-command to scale your business. From Vivid Vision to the real reason meetings suck, Cameron reveals the systems and mindset shifts that create unstoppable operational teams.
Here’s a glance at what you’ll discover in this episode:
How Cameron hired 800 franchisees—and trained them to recruit 8,000 people—in just 4 months, year after year. (Including the obscure system that made it possible.)
The Hidden Hiring Mistake That Fools Even Seasoned Entrepreneurs: Why "knowing how" isn’t enough—and how one candidate ran for his car mid-interview when Cameron called his bluff.
The ‘Detail-Oriented’ Test You’ve Never Heard Of: One question that reveals who actually lives what they preach.
Why most HR departments are wired to reject your best sales candidates—and what to do instead if you want to build a high-performing team.
Why vivid vision isn’t a ‘nice to have’—it’s the missing piece in every operational system on the planet. (And how it transformed 1-800-GOT-JUNK into a world-class culture machine.)
The 12 soft skills every leader must master—and why almost none of them can be outsourced to AI.
How to spot, coach, and scale your second-in-command...even if you're not ready to give up control. (PLUS: Cameron’s blueprint for the COO–CEO relationship that drives results.)
What almost bankrupted 1-800-GOT-JUNK at $100M—and how ego, not economics, nearly tanked the company.
Profit Sharing Gone Wrong: How Cameron’s team accidentally created entitlement—and why true performance alignment requires more than incentives.
The Truth About Golden Handcuffs: Why the best retention strategy isn’t equity, perks, or bonuses—it’s understanding what each A-player truly wants.
How to stop being a ‘Seagull CEO’—swooping in, crapping on the plan, and flying away. Here's Cameron’s elegant system to keep founders focused without killing momentum...
The One Agreement Cameron Had With Brian Scudamore: How he gained decision-making power—without needing constant permission. (And how you can use it to scale leadership without losing control.)
Why the best COOs will drive you crazy—and why that’s a feature, not a bug. (Plus: how to decide when it’s time to upgrade your #2.)
The Tattoo That Reframes It All: “None of this sh*t matters.” Why Cameron believes your job, your company, and your to-do list aren’t what’s important—and how to build a business that honors life, not escapes it.
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