The Two Skills Every Chief of Staff Must Master
There are many skills that make a strong Chief of Staff—but two show up again and again as true force multipliers…
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From Strengths to Traps: How Chiefs of Staff Can Avoid Slipping Back into Specialist Mode
⏱️ 3 min read One of the most common challenges I see with new Chiefs of Staff is this: you step into the role with deep expertise from a past life — finance, operations, communications, project management, you name it. That’s part of what makes you valuable. But it can also be the very thing
30 Questions You Can Ask in Your First 30 Days as Chief of Staff
When you step into the Chief of Staff role, the temptation to jump in and start fixing things is strong. After all, you were hired (or promoted) to make the organization run better. But here’s the truth: your first 30 days aren’t about fixing. They’re about learning. This is the moment to listen, gather perspective,
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5 Reasons to Make the Chief of Staff Title Official (Instead of De Facto)
Recently, in a coaching conversation with a CEO, we explored a familiar question: Should we formalize our Chief of Staff role, or just keep it as-is? Like many leaders, they had a trusted right-hand person already operating in a de facto Chief of Staff capacity. But the team didn’t know them by that title, and
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4 Tools to Align a Fractured Leadership Team
We’ve all been in those meetings. Everyone agrees on the goals. The strategy is clear enough. But somehow… progress stalls. Decisions get recycled. Follow-through slips. Tensions bubble under the surface. When a leadership team is stuck, it’s rarely because people don’t care. It’s because they don’t have the structure and support to move forward together.
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Delegate vs. Empower: Which Path Grows Your Team—and Your Impact?
We hear it all the time: “Leaders should delegate more.” Or “Great leaders empower their people.” But too often, those terms get lumped together—when in reality, they’re very different leadership moves. Let’s start with the definitions: On the surface, they might seem interchangeable. But the difference is subtle—and important. Delegation: Giving Tasks Delegation is about
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When Clarity Isn’t Enough: How One Chief of Staff United a Divided Executive Team
Jerry* was a sharp, systems-minded Chief of Staff with a big challenge: the executive team at his company was pulling in different directions, and his CEO was tired of playing referee. Jerry had what many Chiefs of Staff dream of—direct access to the CEO, the authority to drive change, and a genuine mandate to “fix
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From Shut Out to Strategic Partner: How One Chief of Staff Earned Her CEO’s Trust
I recently caught up over a virtual coffee with a former coaching client, Amber. When I reminded her that her biggest challenge used to be getting her CEO to let her help, she looked surprised, then laughed and said: “Wow, I’d forgotten how hard that was. I can’t believe how far we’ve come.” Just over
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Drive Accountability for Tasks (Without Micromanaging)
One of the most common questions I hear from Chiefs of Staff is: Let me tell you about a Chief of Staff I coached—let’s call her Marnie. When we first started working together, Marnie was deeply frustrated. “We have smart, capable people,” she said. “But stuff still falls through the cracks—and no one seems all
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Is Your Org Great at Talking… but Struggling to Execute?
Why Decision & Execution Discipline is the #1 Weak Spot for Leadership Teams—And What to Do About It After dozens of leaders and Chiefs of Staff have taken my Strategic Operating System assessment, a clear pattern has emerged: The lowest scores—by far—show up in Decision & Execution Discipline. It’s not that these leaders don’t know
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