Brooks Running CEO Dan Sheridan filled many roles in his 27 years at the running shoe company—including chief operating officer—before he took the reins last year. One thing that’s helped him ascend is an ability to take a holistic view of the company’s needs.
COOs are typically brilliant at technical things but also need to understand how other functions play into a company’s overall success. So yes, a running shoe company has to nail supply-chain and e-commerce logistics, but it also has to get customers interested in its gear and make footwear that is competitive in today’s running shoe wars.
A COO is, of course, really in the thick of things operationally, helping him or her know a company intimately. A challenge for any aspiring CEO is being able to take a higher-level view without losing that deep knowledge of how the company runs, Sheridan told the Fortune COO Summit in Scottsdale on Monday. “I use this saying with my team: ‘Keep your head above the clouds, but keep your feet in the mud,’” he added.
“In that transition from COO to CEO you get your feet dirty at times, and you’re really trying to see above the clouds,” he added. He advised any COOs in the audience with CEO ambitions to try to envision their company’s needs from many perspectives, and shared leadership advice he was given by Berkshire Hathaway: “It’s understanding your biases and then really thinking long term as you move into the CEO role.”
As Sheridan steers Brooks through a period of enormous change, that long-term view is becoming ever more important. Brooks, which took in about $1.6 billion in revenue last year, could become a $4 billion brand, according to Sheridan.
Best known as a maker of shoes for serious runners, Brooks is far behind rivals like New Balance in offering more casual wear. Brooks also faces stiff competition, from newer sneaker brands like On and Hoka. What’s more, Brooks gets its sales primarily in North America.
“We’re mostly footwear, but we now have permission from the consumer to expand this brand,” he said.
All this change means Brooks operational prowess will be tested.
“We want to assort our brand wherever the greatest retailers are that are focused on running, and that creates complexity at an operational level, because we don’t own the systems of these retailers. We don’t own the distribution networks, the transportation networks,” he said. “So what we’ve had to do is build an operation that really taps with agility into all of these partners around the world.”