How To Be A Chief Of Staff

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What Does A Chief Of Staff Do? – Chief of Staff Career Path, Skills, Grooming, and More For 2023

How does a vision go from something you run into far in the distance, off in the shimmering hereafter, to something you lot can see, touch, and watch unfold in the present?

This magic happens when a chief of staff (CoS) does precisely what they practise best: brand things happen.

A razor-abrupt and prodigiously motivated main of staff brings visions to life by doing the planning, the work, the managing, and even the post-projection accountability reporting. Through their purposeful, systematic, day-to-24-hour interval actions, they build the figurative bridge betwixt a theoretical idea and a present reality.

"In that location's very trivial power altitude between the Chief of Staff and CEO aside from a few key strategic decisions," CoS Jessica Powell said during an interview. "Principal of Staff is basically a General Managing director who goes out and whips on behalf of the CEO to ensure their vision is realized."

If you're already a CoS, nosotros know what y'all might exist thinking: damn, right. If you lot're curious about this function or if you think you might want to be one someday, you might be thinking: wow, these people sound impressive and inspiring. Y'all might be wondering what building blocks — skills, training, and experience — go into these incredible people nosotros call chiefs of staff?

Through our own inquiry, starting time-hand interviews with real Chief of Staffs, and some help from The Assist customs, nosotros are able to answer your burning questions. Read on for a primer on the multi-faceted chief of staff job.

Page Contents (Click To Jump)

What is a Chief of Staff?

Leaders in their own right, chiefs of staff serve as complementary partners to the leaders they piece of work with, which include chief executive officers (CEOs), presidents, and vice presidents. They are the communicators, the problem-solvers, the innovators, the process drivers, and the day-to-day conclusion makers too as chief architects of the decision-making process.

They often serve as a sounding board for ideas, plans, and dreams, simply they besides accept enough of their own ideas, plans, and dreams.

"A Chief of Staff is a jack of all trades responsible for closing the gap between strategic objectives and objective reality — this encompasses whatsoever matters most for long-term company outcomes," says Powell.

In other words, chiefs of staff provide essential services; they do non simply serve.

Pro-Tip: The most of import thing a Main of Staff does is provide leverage to the CEO and the organization. An effective way to provide leverage is to increase cash flows, and ane of the easiest ways to do this is by checking to see if your organization qualifies for the Employee Memory Credit. It's a simple 60-second online qualification process, and some businesses are reaping 7-figure awards. It'due south an overlooked way for Chiefs of Staff to swoop in and be the visitor hero.

Is a Primary of Staff an Executive Assistant?

Brusque answer: No, a master of staff is non an executive banana.

A CoS and an EA will both enable leaders to practice their best piece of work. Their job descriptions may often overlap. Nevertheless, the master of staff role and the executive banana role have a few defining differences, especially in terms of their approach to supporting leaders.

A CoS's approach ordinarily revolves effectually people — managing staff, liaising with stakeholders, and cultivating top-to-bottom consensus.

An EA's approach usually revolves effectually tactics. EA duties ordinarily include things like managing tasks, prioritizing time, and optimizing productivity.

So the short and uncomplicated reply to the "chief of staff vs executive banana question" is a matter or process, not necessarily product. Equally is the case with other confusingly similar roles, such equally function administrator vs part manager, the true significance of the differences may not be articulate until you take on the role yourself.

Pro-tip: Executive assistants and chiefs of staff don't simply do different, but related things; executive assistants often get chiefs of staff. Whatsoever EA (whether interested in developing into a COS or non) tin can find ideas for making their work more fun, more efficient, and more strategic with these resources:

How to Choose The Executive Banana Career Path That's Right for Yous

17 Executive Banana Skills In 2023 For Insane Effectiveness

How to Be An Executive Assistant, As Told By The Experts

P.South. – Join other Primary of Staffs in signing up for The Assistance – a complimentary weekly newsletter dedicated to providing communication about workplace direction and other related topics!

Key Differences betwixt CoS, COO, and EA

What happens when we toss COO (primary operating officer) into the mix of roles and subtle differentiators we outlined above?

Unlike a chief of staff and an EA role, who both enable leaders to do their all-time work, the COO role is rarely seen as supportive to one particular individual in any capacity. When an EA or a CoS might be found coaching an executive or helping them program the annual summit, the COO can normally be establish doing their own thing, namely running the company, more or less.

When a COO talks almost their straight reports, they mean pretty much anybody. Investopedia provides a simple summit that perfectly and concisely describes the COO: second in control.

1 could contend that COOs support the office of the CEO by keeping businesses running, merely essentially, instead of helping individual leaders do their best work, the COO helps the unabridged organization exercise their all-time work.

If an EA, a CoS, and a COO all detect their way onto a pirate send, the COO would be the quartermaster, working independently, just running the show. The EA and the CoS could be seen as the navigators; the helm would get nowhere without them, but their duties remain hedged nether the captain's canopy.

This table highlights some overarching differences without any seafaring terms:

	EA	COS	COO
Modus operandi	Tactical and organizational acumen	Charismatic, just direct, leadership	Foresight combined with strategic presence
Principal goal	Ensure everything gets washed	Manage and nurture human majuscule	Keep business running optimally
Typically found doing …	Keeping meetings productive and efficient	Developing company-wide communications and correspondence	Coaching or collaborating with department heads
Slogan	"Leave no task standing."	"Let's exist clear."	"Always right and has the job title to evidence it."
Authority	Most apparent when interim on CEO's behalf	Unmistakable, but unofficial	Oversees pretty much everyone
Least favorite task	Managing inboxes	Monitoring department goals and metrics	Course correcting underperforming groups

Where can you find the CoS on an org nautical chart?

All over information technology! A multilateral function, oft with no meaningful definition outside of "practise what's necessary," chiefs of staff can be difficult to place on org charts and can, in different organizations or companies, end up in unlike places.

Most often, an organizational chart will place the CoS in between the highest level executive leadership team (CEOs, founders, presidents, and CIOs) and departmental leaders (directors, managers, and section heads). Other roles that might sit next to a CoS include vice presidents, senior directors, and leadership deputies. The CoS may or may not sit in the executive office with the balance of the executive team.

The White House org nautical chart is a classic case of CoS placement in the bureaucracy.

Is the CoS an executive?

Merriam-Webster defines an executive as "a directing or controlling office of an organization." By that definition, chiefs of staff are absolutely executives. They direct diplomacy and influence people. They're essential members of the leadership team.

However, in many organizations, chiefs of staff lack the documented say-so to officially direct people while remaining managerial in every meaningful sense. They tin influence and encourage staff members (and exercise so effectively mostly), but in that location'south nothing in writing that says employees take to listen to their guidance; they just do. In this way, the principal of staff acts as a trusted universal mentor to about all employees.

In the end, the question of a CoS's "executive-ship" is a question of semantics. Two people may proffer 2 dissimilar answers and all the same both exist correct. When it comes to a CoS, their level of authority and executive presence often becomes a country or listen and a country of perception.

Now that nosotros've primed you lot to consider the blurry lines between linguistic nuance and subjective interpretation, information technology's the perfect time to embrace primary of staff alternative titles — roles with the aforementioned functionality and authorisation called past different names.

Alternative titles for CoS

Chief Authoritative Officer
Primary Business Officer
Chief Concern Administrator
Personnel Director
Chief of Personnel
Staff Managing director

What does a Chief of Staff do?

A main of staff does whatever they deem necessary to achieve priority curt-term goals (including informing staff most a key policy change) and priority long-term goals (including delivering the last strategic plan operation indicator on a silver platter).

A chief of staff functions, for the most part, apart. They don't execute a set of tasks day after 24-hour interval. Each day, they determine what they need to exercise and then they practise it.

Ane of their main goals involves maintaining and developing productive relationships with everyone and anyone — stakeholders, staff, lath members, leaders, investors, and so much more than. As such, their to-do lists are as complex and varied as the people they're building relationships with.

What are the master duties and responsibilities of a Chief of Staff?

Although those in this part practise different things each day, they're usually centered effectually a core carte of chief of staff roles and responsibilities, which include, only are naturally not express, to:

Attending meetings, meetings, and more meetings. (And non just showing upward, but rounding up consensus, enforcing processes, and ensuring strategic buy-in.)
Preparing to make meetings successful meetings
Developing and delivering communications materials and collateral for everything from town halls to development training.)
Initiating, leading, and guiding special projects
Guiding and advising staff
Counseling and advising leaders
Gathering quantitative and qualitative evidence of process and project success and delivering course corrections
Hiring, training, and mentoring staff at all levels
Executive coaching
Performance coaching
Process review, documentation, and revision.

What department does a CoS oversee?

A CoS doesn't usually oversee ane specific department unless they've been tasked with a special project or with coaching and course correction. They practise, notwithstanding, generally oversee all departments, holding them accountable for goals and deadlines.

How practice you become a Chief of Staff?

You tin can become a chief of staff by being a chief of staff before you get the title. Act like a chief of staff. Think like a principal of staff. Deepen your responsibilities and skills, particularly in essential areas such as finance or homo resources.

Start navigating through your solar day as though every second counts, because it does.

"Become uncommonly self-aware," says Powell. "Devise what the exec needs during early conversations. Believe what's communicated between the lines. Exercise not compromise on who you are to be what they need."

Work on your relational skills by talking to anyone and everyone you tin. Every interaction tin be a learning experience for your future role.

Pro-tip: Check out EA Ignite — a precision preparation led by ASAP with sessions on how to have difficult conversions or earn CEUs toward your Pace certification. Earning the PACE certification enables you lot to demonstrate your depth of cognition, expertise, and delivery — all things employers desire in their primary of staff or senior executive assistant.

What makes a good Main of Staff?

Past now you've learned that chiefs of staff are accommodating powerhouses who tin can do pretty much anything they gear up their minds to. You might be thirsty for some more specific recommendations on how to be a slap-up chief of staff. Hither are some tips beyond generally beingness awesome and absolutely on top of everything.

Qualifications

8+ years managerial experience
Unilateral leadership skills
Proven experience translating data and metrics to action
Demonstrable experience managing high-profile projects
Robust written and verbal communication portfolio
Emotional intelligence
Power to achieve and maintain consensus amid various groups
Stiff belittling chapters
Shrewd and answerable decision-making skills
Projection management experience
Compassion and foresight

Chief of Staff Training

Cornell's Systems Thinking
SHRM People Managing director Qualifications (PMQ)
Design Thinking for Innovation
Leading: Man Resources Management and Leadership Specialization
People Analytics
Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization
Diversity and Inclusion for Hour Professionals

Bonus: EA Training and Development

Here's inspiration and resources EAs both on and off the CoS career track can leverage to find fulfillment where they are in the present.

How the Best Executive Assistants Set and Hit Their Goals
nine Of The Best Executive Assistant Conferences In 2023
20+ Essential Executive Assistant Training Courses

Experience

Co-ordinate to this trusted Linkedin job clarification template, an platonic master of staff candidate volition take a minimum of 7 years feel "in a business direction part, with a special focus on executive-level advising and interdepartmental collaboration. "

Other highlighted experience areas include:

Information assay
Directing multiple teams and departments
Consulting
Budget management

Pro-tip: If yous're an EA hoping to go a principal of staff, you can get there by constantly working on your craft, reading EA blogs, finding the right tools, seeking the right tips, and, most importantly, signing up for the Assist newsletter, a delightful mashup of all these resource combined with a healthy dose of community and camaraderie.

Tin can you lot get a Principal of Staff without any Executive Banana experience?

How?

Having executive banana experience is non a prerequisite for a chief of staff role. Getting better at juggling executive assistant responsibilities will certainly help y'all develop the skills, strengths, and shadow direction techniques yous need to be a successful CoS, only you can also proceeds similar experience in other roles that mix people and procedure direction, that mix planning processes with delivering results. Such titles include, only are certainly not limited to:

HR manager
Office managing director
Compliance officeholder
Department manager
Project manager
Business evolution manager

What can you do on your own, for free, to proceeds more than valuable skills for this role?

Plenty of independent development activities can help you proceeds translatable main of staff skills.

Practice: Seek out volunteer opportunities, including those on boards and councils, that involve the complexities of chief of staff work on a smaller scale. You tin can also start developing the task tracking prowess of a CoS with a little assistance from mon.com. (Consider this tool your CoS piece of work management training wheels.)

Network: Talk to chiefs of staff. If you don't know any, find some and talk to them.

Learn: Read books and blogs virtually the current skills in highest need for those seeking CoS roles. One classic recommendation is Tyler Parris's Principal Of Staff: The Strategic Partner Who Will Revolutionize Your Organization.

What are the almost sought afterward skills for a CoS to possess?

The most of import chief of staff skills are those related to emotional intelligence, leadership, data processing, and initiative. Additionally, some of a CoS'due south nearly essential skills are dependent on the people they work with.

"Complementary skills are extremely important between Chief of Staff and CEO," says Powell. "This said, uniform intuition and values are very useful for beingness able to speak and act on the CEO's behalf."

Really the list of skills these people tin can and do possess would require a browser with infinite scroll to cover in full, only here is a comprehensive selection:

one) Hard Skills

Data literacy
Management best practices
Process management
Project direction
Public speaking
Conflict resolution
Legal understanding
Strategic planning
Belittling skills
Inquiry literacy
Systems, blueprint, and divergent thinking
Tactical communication skills
Coaching techniques
Knowledge of psychological frameworks

two) Soft Skills

Resourcefulness
Trouble-solving
Self-awareness
Influence
Conscientiousness
Insight
Delivery and follow up
Organizational skills
Prioritizing
Rapid learning
Multitasking
Rapid learning and processing
Motivational leadership, including the ability to inspire staff members using employee recognition strategies and tools, like Nectar.

What's the boilerplate salary for a CoS?

The national salary average for a chief of staff is $122,225, according to Glassdoor. Other surveys, like this one from the Chief of Staff Network, more often than not align, showing that nearly seventy% of all chiefs of staff make $120,000 a year or more. According to the Economic Research Institute, that boilerplate salary could grow by as much as thirteen% in just five years.

The top 8 states by Salary for Chief of Staff

According to Indeed.com, these are the 8 locations with the highest CoS salaries:

New Orleans, LA
Pittsburgh, PA
Washington, DC
Chicago, IL
New York, NY
Albany, NY
Miami, FL
Boston, MA

What does the future of the Chief of Staff function look like?

The CoS role is essentially futureproof. What volition it expect like in the hereafter? Information technology will look like what companies and organizations need it to look like.

Chiefs of staff make things happen. They adapt. They arrange to small 24-hour interval-to-mean solar day changes, and they'll adapt to the changes — technological, cultural, and even geopolitical — sweeping over the workplaces of the future. The chief of staff career path of the future will grow as nuanced equally the future demands.

Some experts believe the CoS role might even play a pivotal role in breaking through that always-climbing proverbial drinking glass ceiling. Quoted in Forbes, powerhouse CoS Caroline Pugh said:

"Women that are chiefs of staff are sharing this career path and opportunity with their networks. It's having a domino effect where now more than and more women are the correct-hand women to CEOs of major Fortune 500 companies. They are being positioned as the next wave of C-suite executives themselves which is really exciting. The chief of staff role could be the very function that finally evens out the gender disparity in boardrooms."

If anyone tin can achieve this lofty goal, it would be a chief of staff.

Source: https://snacknation.com/blog/what-does-a-chief-of-staff-do/