How to Use the Chief of Staff (for CEOs)
The Chief of Staff role is highly dynamic, with huge potential as part of an executive leadership team. This pivotal role adapts to the unique needs of an organization’s chief executives, acting as both a strategic advisor and an operational powerhouse. In this article, we’ll explore some of the Chief of Staff’s capabilities — and help you as the Chief Executive Officer maximize the role for your organization’s specific needs.
[For a deeper look at the Chief of Staff role and how they can support you as the CEO, check out my book, An Insider’s Perspective on the Chief of Staff: Why You Need One and How to Be a Great One.]
What Does a Chief of Staff Do?
First, a disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive. If you have a Chief of Staff on your team who doesn’t do any of these things — but they’re adding tremendous value to your organization in other ways — good! Keep doing whatever works. Different organizations have different needs — and so do different teams within those orgs — and the CoS job description can vary significantly.
Second, these are general signposts, not set-in-stone requirements. While people in this strategic role are typically capable of the following responsibilities, you probably shouldn’t expect your Chief of Staff to do all of these at once.
Now that we have those quick disclaimers out of the way, let’s hone in on what the Chief of Staff actually does. The Chief of Staff handles important work streams as the executive team’s utility player — a hybrid of strategist, advisor, project manager, and operational leader. While the CoS typically reports directly to you as the CEO, their responsibilities stretch well beyond the scope of an executive assistant role.
Strategic Planning
The Chief of Staff is a leadership role and should be involved on a regular basis in high-level strategic planning for your organization. They aren’t tied to any single department, which gives them a unique perspective on the business. Unlike department heads who focus on their respective areas, the Chief of Staff should understand how each part of the business functions together to achieve its goals.
The CoS works closely with C-suite executives to:
Get everyone aligned on priorities
Develop actionable plans
Communicate goals and processes across the organization
The Chief of Staff works with executive leadership team members to develop consensus and generate buy-in regarding the company’s goals. Once your executive team reaches a consensus on specific priorities, your Chief of Staff can help clarify the messaging for rollout to the broader organization. Since your Chief of Staff has a unique, big-picture perspective, they can also break the strategic plan down to help each department understand how they fit into the bigger picture.
Strategic plans are critical — but they aren’t bulletproof. Your Chief of Staff can help you monitor your goals and reevaluate them as things change.
Leading Strategic Projects and Initiatives
You can deploy your Chief of Staff on special projects that require coordination across multiple departments. This crucial role requires strong leadership skills and building relationships with staff members in various parts of the company. This might include:
Implementing a new process
Helping the operations manager launch a product or service
Creating and overseeing a new team
Managing internal communications
Assisting with project management
The CoS position helps align these efforts with the company’s overarching strategic objectives and allows the executives to maintain their primary focus on their own responsibilities.
Streamlining Executive Operations
Your Chief of Staff can design the frequency, format, and agenda of your executive team meetings. This is not the same thing as note-taking! Don’t expect your Chief of Staff to keep track of your to-do list or other administrative tasks — that’s part of an executive assistant’s job.
The CoS can also manage and advocate for your board and stakeholders. Whether your stakeholders are majority owners, independent members, advisory members, minority owners from an initial funding round, or appointed by private equity — the Chief of Staff can tap into their perspective.
The Chief of Staff helps the senior executives focus on what the board cares about (and vice versa). The role of the Chief of Staff can also determine who needs to be in board meetings — maybe there’s an up-and-comer in your org with a unique perspective that the board should hear from.
The Versatility of the Chief of Staff Role
The Chief of Staff must be adaptable, helping their organizations face diverse challenges while giving executive team members the freedom and flexibility to handle their responsibilities. As a CEO, you can deploy your CoS across many different scenarios.
Supporting Leadership Teams
Your Chief of Staff can help serve as an air traffic controller that directs your organization’s resources to the right spots. The CoS bridges gaps between leaders, driving collaboration and addressing tension. They can mediate when conflicts arise, provide context for important decisions, and align priorities across various departments.
Filling Interim Roles
Your Chief of Staff can fill gaps in your leadership team. If a critical leadership position suddenly becomes vacant, the CoS can step in to maintain momentum while you search for a permanent replacement. In my own experience as a Chief of Staff, I wore two hats for an entire year while we searched for the right person to take over the role long-term.
This is where the Chief of Staff’s flexibility and big-picture understanding come into play. You can tap them on the shoulder to fill C-suite positions, vice president roles, etc. This also puts the Chief of Staff in a great position to understand who should permanently fill the critical role and what key skills they should have.
Facilitating Mergers and Acquisitions
If your company is in the habit of expanding through acquisition, your Chief of Staff can conduct research and due diligence regarding potential acquisitions. With their broad understanding of your business, they’ll have a great eye for how other companies would complement or expand your existing product suite — and how the integration of the two companies might unfold. The Chief of Staff can also facilitate seamless transitions for employees and systems following an acquisition.
Driving Cultural Transformation
If your company needs a cultural reset, your Chief of Staff can lead efforts to establish or repair your organizational culture. Establishing a positive working culture is one of those intangible best practices that make people want to bring their best work to the table every day — and it pays dividends in the form of loyalty, enthusiasm, and more. The CoS can provide fresh perspectives and implement cultural strategies to build trust and engagement throughout the org.
Integrating New Leadership
When someone new joins the leadership team, they may have questions about why certain things are done in certain ways. Your Chief of Staff can help bring the newcomer up to speed with their wide-ranging institutional knowledge. They can accelerate your new executive’s understanding of the processes, practices, and personalities that make up your organization. Not only will this make things easier for your new leader, but it will also simplify and streamline matters for everyone around them.
Having the CEO’s Back
As the CEO, your Chief of Staff is your right hand — the CoS is often the CEO’s proxy as well. The CEO and the CoS should have a close working relationship. After all, part of their job is keeping you focused (and sane!). They can provide an outlet for frustrations behind closed doors — everyone needs to vent sometimes, and a little bit of emotional intelligence can go a long way.
They might be the only person who tells you when you do a good job. They might also be the only person who will call you on your BS and tell you like it is! The CoS can be a sounding board and thought partner to brainstorm ideas before presenting them to other executives.
Maintaining Effective Communication
Your Chief of Staff can help you implement consistent, effective communications throughout the entire organization. They can help you craft messages to get the right information to the right audiences. For instance, if you’re rolling out a new focus on product development, different departments will need different information.
The Chief of Staff position can distribute messages throughout the organization by creating a communication system that leaves no one in the dark.
Three Questions to Define Your Chief of Staff’s Role
There are a few key questions to consider as you determine what your Chief of Staff should do. Answering these questions can go a long way toward clarifying the business acumen and skills that your Chief of Staff needs to succeed.
What Do You Need?
What do you, as the CEO, need right now? Consider the following potential responsibilities for your Chief of Staff:
Handling day-to-day operations, allowing you to focus on fundraising or strategic initiatives
Helping you manage your precious time more effectively by delegating tasks
Serving as a sounding board for key decisions
Maximize your Chief of Staff’s potential by trusting them with important processes. In turn, this will free you to focus more intently on your key responsibilities.
2. What Does Your Leadership Team Need?
It’s also important to consider what your org’s other high-level executives might require from an effective CoS.
Mediating between conflicting personalities
Filling functional gaps in marketing, operations, human resources, or product development
Helping with the interview process
Onboarding new hires within the management team
Remember, even though the Chief of Staff reports directly to you, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be the only one who benefits from their presence. Your CoS can also help your fellow executives stay on task and on message.
3. What Does Your Organization Need?
What does your organization need in the next 12–18 months? This might include…
Scaling operations
Driving cultural and organizational changes
Implementing new strategic directions
Preparing for significant organizational shifts
With their department-agnostic perspective, your Chief of Staff is a great candidate for focusing on company-wide needs.
Industry-Specific Examples of Chief of Staff Impact
The role and responsibilities of a Chief of Staff can vary across industries. Let’s examine some key differences and examples of how various organizations can maximize the value of a CoS.
The Scale-Up CEO
A CEO in the tech industry leverages their Chief of Staff to manage the complexities of rapid growth and business development. The Chief of Staff coordinates between engineering, product, and sales teams to accomplish several important tasks:
Aligning objectives during product launches
Running quarterly planning sessions
Managing investor relations communications
This allows the CEO to focus on key strategic partnerships and fundraising efforts, which are especially important in the earlier stages of a company.
The University President
A university president uses their Chief of Staff to bridge academic and administrative functions. In this environment, the CoS…
Coordinates major initiatives between deans
Manages board relationships
Oversees crisis communication channels
Serves as the president’s proxy
Maintains consistent messaging and decision-making across campus
The CoS at an educational institution manages major initiatives and stakeholder relationships while maintaining the delicate balance of personalities and perspectives often found in academia.
The Healthcare Executive
A hospital system CEO employs their Chief of Staff to drive operational excellence initiatives. In this setting, the Chief of Staff often handles the following priorities:
Leading process improvement projects across departments
Coordinating between medical staff and administration
Managing the implementation of new healthcare technologies
The CoS also serves as a key liaison during regulatory compliance audits.
The Nonprofit Leader
The executive director of a non-governmental organization can utilize their Chief of Staff to maximize donor impact. The role of Chief of Staff in this environment may include…
Overseeing grant management
Coordinating between program teams and development staff
Managing board relations
They might also lead special initiatives like impact measurement projects and annual donor summits.
The Corporate Turnaround
Are you a newly appointed CEO bringing change to an established company? If so, you can use your Chief of Staff to help drive transformation. In this scenario, the CoS might…
Manage transitional initiatives across divisions
Coordinate alignment among senior leaders
Oversee strategic communications and maintain consistent messaging
If you’re tasked with leading an organization’s comeback effort, a great Chief of Staff that you can rely on is a must.
[Learn tips and tricks from successful Chiefs of Staff by listening to my podcast, Leveraging Leadership.]
Conclusion
Hiring the right Chief of Staff is vital to your success as a CEO. The CoS is an important role that, when given time and executed properly, can enhance the functionality of the entire executive team for a long time to come. Whether CEO is a new role for you or not, the list of ways a great CoS can help you is essentially limitless.
No matter what type of company you lead, well-defined responsibilities can help your Chief of Staff supercharge your org’s success. By aligning the CoS role with the company’s broader strategic goals, organizations can harness the Chief of Staff’s full potential as an invaluable long-term asset.
Whether they’re leading initiatives, managing crises, or having your back during challenging times, the Chief of Staff is an indispensable complement to any CEO.
About The Author
Emily Sander is a C-suite executive turned leadership coach. Her corporate career spanned Fortune 500 companies and scrappy start-ups. She is an ICF-certified leadership coach and the author of two books, An Insider’s Perspective on the Chief of Staff and Hacking Executive Leadership.
Emily works with early to senior executives to step into effective leadership with one-on-one coaching. Go here to read her story from seasoned executive to knowledgeable coach.