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Navigating the Decision: Develop or Hire an Operations Manager?
Updated: 1 day ago
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A founder recently shared that she was drafting a job posting for a Director of Operations. Her operations manager was unaware of this.
They had worked together for six years. Her ops manager knew every client, every project quirk, and every workaround. The founder trusted her completely with daily tasks.
However, the firm had grown to thirty people. The founder wanted someone who could think at the whole business level. She wasn't sure her ops manager was that person.
When I asked what made her unsure, she paused. Then she said, "I've never really seen her do it."
That pause is where this post begins.
Welcome back to Diary of a Leader, where we explore what is really happening beneath leadership, growth, and the structures meant to support both.
Why This Decision Stalls
I've had versions of this conversation many times. The shape is almost always the same.
The founder has someone good. Loyal, capable, and trusted with a lot.
The business has grown past what that person was hired to do. The founder now needs someone who can see the whole system: how work moves, where decisions stall, and what's coming in six months.
So the founder watches their operator and tries to read the ceiling.
Are they strategic enough? Can they hold their own with senior staff? Will they push back on me when I'm wrong?
The founder can't tell. The uncertainty drags on for months. Sometimes a year. Meanwhile, the founder keeps carrying the thinking the role was supposed to take on.
Hiring feels decisive. Developing feels slow. Both feel risky. So neither happens.
The decision stalls because the founder is trying to judge something they've never had a chance to see.
What You're Actually Measuring When You Develop or Hire an Operations Manager
Most founders treat this as a question about the person. Are they good enough?
Look at how most operators in a growing service business actually work. They carry a lot of responsibility and very little authority. Decisions still route back to the founder. Priorities shift in conversations they weren't part of. Their job description lists tasks. The thinking the founder hopes for was never written into it.
In that setup, the operator's day-to-day tells you very little about their ceiling.
You're watching someone work inside a structure that caps what they can show you.
That same structure is waiting for whoever you hire. I've watched founders bring in a senior operations leader with a great resume and see them stall within six months. The new person hits the same unclear decision rights, the same founder bottleneck, and the same missing context. They just hit it faster, and at a higher salary.
Before you judge your operator's ceiling, lift the one the structure put on them.
How to Run the Test
The better move is a short, deliberate test before you make the call.
1. Name the gap specifically.
Write down three to five things you need this role doing a year from now that nobody is doing today. "More strategic" is too vague to test. "Runs the monthly capacity review and tells me which projects we should turn down" is specific enough.
2. Sort each gap into one of three types.
A context gap means they could do it if they knew what you know.
An authority gap means they could do it if they were allowed to decide.
A capability gap means it asks for thinking they haven't shown, even with room.
Context and authority gaps are yours to close. Capability gaps are the only ones that are about them.
3. Hand over one real decision area.
Pick one item from your list. Write down three things: what they now decide on their own, what they check with you on, and what stays with you. Give it 60 to 90 days.
4. Meet weekly and talk about how they decided.
Ask what they weighed, what they almost did, and what they'd change next time. That conversation shows you the thinking.
5. Watch for the signals.
They're growing into it if they ask better questions, connect their area to other parts of the business, and push back on you with a reason.
The gap is real if they still wait for your approval on decisions that are now theirs, stay inside the task list, or need you to connect the dots.
6. Make the call.
If the gaps were mostly context and authority, and the test went well, develop them. Build a real plan for it. If the gap is capability and the test confirmed it, hire. Then talk honestly with your current operator about their role before any job posting goes up.
Sometimes the answer is both. You hire above your operator and keep them in a role that fits. That works when it's named early. It goes badly when they find out from a job posting.
A 90-day test with real authority tells you more than a year of watching.
The Question Worth Asking
Most founders ask:
"What is going wrong?"
The more useful question is:
Have I ever given this person the authority to show me what they can do?
Reflection Questions
What decisions does your operations manager make today without checking with you?
Which gaps on your list come from context you've never shared?
If you hired someone tomorrow, what would they walk into that your current operator already lives with?
What would your operator say if you asked where they want to grow?
Wrapping Up: Redesign Is a Sequence, Not an Event
Most founders make this call after months of watching someone in a role that was never set up to show them much.
A short test with real authority gives you something better to decide from.
Either answer can be right. The one you reach after the test is the one you can trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my operations manager can grow into a leadership role?
Give them real decision authority in one area for 60 to 90 days, with the boundaries written down. Watch whether they use it, connect it to the wider business, and bring you better questions over time.
Is it better to promote from within or hire an experienced operations leader?
It depends on the type of gap. Promoting from within keeps context the business can't buy. Hiring brings range your current operator may not have. If the gaps are mostly context and authority, develop. If they're capability gaps you've tested for, hire.
What happens if I hire above my current operations manager?
It can work well when both roles are clearly defined and the conversation happens early. It usually damages trust when the current operator learns about it from a job posting.
How long does it take to develop an operations manager?
The test gives you a signal in 60 to 90 days. Full development into a strategic role usually takes a year or more, with structured learning and a gradual transfer of decision authority.
You Don't Need to Solve This All at Once
If this resonated, that is enough for now.
Awareness comes first.
Clarity follows.
Change comes later.
When you're ready to look at the structure underneath your business, that is where the real work begins.
You can connect with me at SOLVED Collective.
Continue Reading
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Stay tuned for more real-world reflections on leadership, operational clarity, and purposeful growth in the next installment of Diary of a Leader.
