Watch any political show, from The West Wing to Veep, and you know the Chief of Staff is a pivotal power player. But the high-stakes role is no longer primarily reserved for politics and the military — more corporate organizations are adding the position to support the C-Suite.
The role has seen a 30% jump since 2019 in net headcount, driven in large part by its growth at smaller companies, according to research by Chief of Staff Network. While they aren’t typically considered C-Suite executives and tasked with running a department, they attend executive leadership meetings, can serve as a stand-in for the C-level executive they serve, and communicate bi-directionally between the C-Suite and other departments.
Due to the increasing complexity of operations and speed of business, the need for a point person to be able to communicate, collaborate, and organize across different teams has never been higher. With CEOs under the weight of enormous stress, many need a strategic partner to lighten the load. Enter the Chief of Staff.
“The CEO needs an experienced, knowledgeable partner to help leverage their agenda across every part of an organization,” says Judith Webb, Chief of Staff at the International WELL Building Institute. “The CoS role is a bridge between leadership and the rest of the organization, to ‘carry the context’ between an organization’s silos, identifying and unknotting problems and being an early warning system for top execs about challenges their teams are facing.”
Because the role is so aligned with the CEO (or other C-Suite member), the duties can differentiate across organizations much more than a standard executive position. But those who are able to use it as an executive stepping stone know how to transform their position from administrative taskmaster to strategic partner.
A Tale of Two Chiefs
While the average CoS has 12 years of work experience according to McKinsey, most positions either are held by those who have five to 10 years of career experience, or those who have 15 to 20 years of experience. The former tends to take on more administrative tasks like tracking KPIs or preparing board meetings, while the latter tends to take on more leadership, serving as the CEO or equivalent’s proxy in meetings.
“What the company needs from a Chief of Staff role will differ at every company, so you’ll want to get clear on what this role means for you, at this phase of the company’s growth.” says Katie Egan, former Chief of Staff at DoorDash, now General Manager for DoorDash for Business. “Before you say ‘yes’ to the Chief of Staff role, it’s important to build those relationships and ask questions up front.”
She spent several weeks speaking with every member of the exec team before she started in the role. By day one, she had compiled a list of 5 to 10 strategic priorities that didn’t have a clear home within a business unit, but had been mentioned by multiple leaders. By achieving some of those “big wins,” she found more leaders started coming to her for help.
The Inside Track
Building a rapport with the C-Suite is key, so you understand their priorities, values, style and specific objectives. In fact, nearly two-thirds of those filling the CoS role were hired from within the organization, according to McKinsey, due to a preference for strong institutional knowledge and existing internal networks.
“To make the jump from purely administrative to being a strategic asset to driving revenue, you need trust from the rest of the leadership team,” says Nicole Elzer, Chief of Staff at Conscious Capitalism. “For anyone aiming to become a CoS, the best path is to get experience working with and in every aspect of the business — operations, communications, strategy, sales, marketing, relationship management — and translate larger-than-life ideas into concrete, actionable plans.”
The ability to manage both up and down, between staff and top leadership, is also key. “The work is broad, general, and strategic, not linear, task-focused or deferential,” says Webb. That said, never think calendar management isn’t strategic for CEOs, she advises. “A good CoS will have an intuitive sense about what’s important and how to reprioritize the CEO’s time on demand, and stand in for them when necessary.” Partnering with a logistically-focused executive assistant can help.
A Short Tenure Focused on Teamwork
The tenure of a CoS is relatively short — just 2.3 years on average — as many use it as a springboard to other opportunities. Sheryl Sandberg served as Chief of Staff for the US Treasury Department before jumping to COO at Facebook, and Aileen Lee worked as Chief of Staff for The Gap, before becoming head of VC firm Cowboy Ventures.
But the key to success in the role is less about driving your own vision, and more about supporting a wider coalition. “Reframe your thinking from ‘How can I solve this problem?’ to ‘How can I make this team/leader successful?’,” says Egan. “It’s about creating the right conditions for them to be effective, so treat everyone like they are on your team.”
