Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has apparently notified his employees that he is looking for a second-in-command. The news comes after Kalanick said that he needed to grow up and become a better leader, following his verbal spat with an Uber driver, which was caught on camera.
The Uber founder also expressed his intentions through a blog post on Uber.
This morning I told the Uber team that we’re actively looking for a Chief Operating Officer: a peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journe
Kalanick wrote on the Uber blog.
Well, it certainly seems like the pressure of running a nearly 70 billion dollar company is getting to the Uber founder. 2017 in particular has not been very kind to either Kalanick or his company. Complaints of sexual allegation, executive departures, a deleteUber campaign and more formed what has to be one of Uber’s most dismal Februaries.
Meanwhile, hiring a COO will allow Kalanick to divest some of the day to day operations of the company. This will not only leave him free to focus upon expansion, but will also allow him to focus upon matters of policy. Indeed, Uber is one of the few companies of this magnitude that still do not have a Chief Operating Officer.
Hiring a COO also has the additional advantage of leaving a clear chain of command should the CEO step down for some reason. And while that is not likely to happen anytime soon with Uber, I am sure Travis Kalanick would be more than glad of the occasional breather taking up a COO could just provide him with.
Meanwhile, all we have are rumors to go upon beyond this point. It is being said that Kalanick is considering a female COO at this juncture. Considering that the company is struggling under all sorts of totally unhealthy allegations, putting a woman in a position of power second only to Kalanick himself could quell some wagging tongues. And of course, it might bring some balance to the diversity report Uber has promised to release come spring.
