CEOs: How You Can Set Up Your New Chief of Staff for Success
The Chief of Staff (COS) is one of the buzziest roles in the business world right now. There’s a good reason for this. The right person can provide an invaluable X-factor for the right organization.
The role is flexible and dynamic, yet little understood and frequently underutilized.
I cover this topic in my blog post here, and I go into even more detail in my book An Insider’s Perspective on the Chief of Staff.
Basically, the COS is a key member of the executive leadership team, agnostic of any particular unit or department. They work very closely with the CEO and leadership team to devise the organization’s overall strategy and goals and to design the underlying systems that move the organization toward these goals. These systems might involve tangible things like lines of communication or workflows, to intangibles like company culture.
If you’re a CEO thinking of adding a Chief of Staff to your leadership team, there are a few things you can do to make sure they receive a warm welcome—and that they’ll be effective in their role as quickly as possible.
Why is this important? This is the C-suite we’re talking about. There are naturally some big egos involved. Your existing leadership team members need to understand who is coming on, why they’re coming on, and how this new person will improve the business. A lot can be determined by how you introduce your new COS to the rest of the leadership team. You want to get this right the first time, or you’ll spend months trying to course-correct.
Read on for a few key points you’ll want to cover with your leadership team to set your COS up for success.
Let people know a Chief of Staff is coming
Keep people from feeling blindsided or out of the loop. Inform relevant team members that you’re bringing on a COS as soon as you know for sure.
This is an important first step! You’ll probably get some questions about what this new leadership team member will be doing, especially if this role is new to your organization. Answer what you can, and let them know what sort of timeline you’re targeting. And keep in mind that breaking the news and keeping them informed might take more than one conversation.
What is the Chief of Staff role is meant to do
Let your leaders know what will be expected of the role and how it will improve the business.
First off, your leadership team needs to know that there’s nothing wrong. This isn’t about their shortcomings. You’re simply looking for opportunities for greater efficiency and higher quality leadership. You’re looking to build on what you’ve already got and get even better. The COS will make everyone’s lives easier. You’re looking for the stuff that drives results!
The top three responsibilities for the COS are:
Keeping the CEO and leadership team focused on the business’s highest priorities,
Improving the organization’s underlying systems and,
Clearing obstacles or challenges for the business or leadership team as they come up.
The COS also acts as a reliable confidant and coach to leadership.
A few other key talking points you may cover with your leadership team are:
Identifies priorities for the CEO
The COS also helps the CEO stay on track. They’ll help you make sure your time and energy is spent on the right initiatives, projects, and activities. If you’ve got good people on your leadership team, they should understand this, no questions asked!
Focuses leadership team’s priorities
How many times have you set annual goals or priorities that got lost in the fog of war as the quarters rolled on? The COS works with the leadership team to identify the top priorities for the business—and then helps keep everyone focused on those priorities over the coming months and quarters. The COS helps your team make a plan and stick to it!
Sees across the entire organization
The COS is responsible for seeing the business as a whole and understanding how its parts and pieces form a cohesive machine. Adding this perspective to your leadership team is invaluable. Let your leaders know that this move is about the business as a whole, not about any particular department or team.
Cross-department coordination
The COS works with all parts of the business. Yes, all of them. They’re responsible for figuring out who does what (and when), who needs to know what (and when)—and what’s keeping them from doing or knowing it. Are you missing certain processes? Are lines of communication unclear? Are departments or teams siloed or needlessly competitive? The COS will get into the weeds to figure out what’s going on, what needs to change. And then? They’ll make it happen.
Leveling up the team
Often, a COS is brought on when an organization reaches a tipping point.
A team or teams need to scale up, or the company has gotten so large that its old processes are no longer working. Everyone needs to raise their game, but no one knows quite how. That’s when you need a COS.
How the Chief of Staff interacts with the leadership team
Describe the scope and responsibilities of the new COS.
Members of your leadership team will wonder: “How does this impact me and my day-to-day?” How might this shift what the leadership team is doing? They’ll also want to know when and where they’ll see this new COS person. How does the COS integrate into existing meetings or initiatives?
Outline this as best you can. Since the COS is a flexible, adaptable role, don’t be afraid to leave some possibilities open. Acknowledge and embrace that your initial intention for the role might not be where it lands in three, six, or eighteen months. And, let your leadership team know you’ll be looking for their input along the way.
Here are some ways your leadership team might interact with your new COS.
Leadership meetings
The COS will be present at any and all leadership meetings. Whatever cadence you’ve established with your team—daily stand ups, weekly check-ins—the COS will be there.
Consolidating reporting for the board or other stakeholders
The COS will help collect relevant materials from all parties and make sure that information is presented consistently. The COS will streamline the information collection and synthesis process and make sure that you and your leadership team know what’s on the docket. Basically, they make you look really good in front of the board.
That initiative we’ve always talked about
You know that thing we’ve all been wanting to do? That no one quite has the time for? The COS will be jumping on that. Let your leadership team know they should look out for the meeting invites.
Helping bring on key hires
The COS will work with HR to support the company’s growth. They might be involved in determining and designing new roles as part of that growth. They might even take point on the interview process for key hires and/or serve as the primary point of contact for the interview loop.
They’ll be keeping you as CEO and the rest of the leadership team updated on these hires and bring in the team’s perspective at the right moments. Close involvement on key hires is one way the COS puts the right people in the right places as they work to implement a positive culture in the organization
Crafting communications
The COS will help you and the leadership team craft communications. Whether these are company-wide messages or a press release for a new product launch, the COS will make sure your message clearly conveys the information it needs to.
What authority the COS has
This is a big one. What can the COS do? What can’t they do? Is the COS in charge of me now? A COS coming in can be threatening, especially if people feel like they had direct access to you as the CEO and now they don’t. Even if this is true (which is rarely the case), your initial messaging around this is important. Be mindful of how you deliver this message. You’ll want to consider how it will best land for your audience and that you’re being truthful, direct, and clear.
Here are a few key points to clarify for your leadership team:
The leadership team still reports to the CEO
Reporting structures won’t change. The leadership team still rolls up directly to the CEO and will still be seeing a lot of them. The COS is a new member of the leadership team. Given the nature of the role, they’ll need to be kept in the loop on certain things.
If you know what these are, let your team know explicitly: “Please copy the COS on things like X, Y, Z.” You can also ask them to start copying the COS on everything they send to you. Alternatively, you can let people know you may be copying the COS on certain threads or communications. Looping in the COS helps them get up to speed on the most important issues.
Proxy for the CEO
At times, the COS will serve as your proxy. If you’re double-booked, traveling, or on vacation, they can serve as your proxy to make sure your perspective is represented, and keep you updated as soon as possible. Let your leadership team know if they see the COS in a meeting you’re usually in that they should treat the COS like they would treat you and give them full and honest information.
Coordinating initiatives
The COS needs the support and perspective of the leadership team to succeed on the initiatives they lead up. Let your leadership team know that emails, meetings, and calls from the COS should be given their full attention.
One COS I spoke with had a CEO who sent an email out to the entire company. The CEO endorsed the COS as his proxy. He reiterated that to his leadership team at their team meeting. It went a long way and set a good tone for the COS. The COS told me, “I felt like he really had my back and I would be able to do what I needed to do. It also made me very aware of the big responsibility I had. I needed to step up and play at the top of my game, because I didn’t want to betray that trust. I wanted to show he had made the right decision by doing that.”
Supporting the staff and leadership team
The COS is here to help. It’s their job to make sure all the staff are taken care of. If there are things your leadership team needs to do their jobs better, they should go to the COS.
You still sign the checks
Let your leadership team know what responsibilities you’ll still be taking care of. There are the big things: you’ll still be signing checks for the company, you’ve got the final word on big decisions and overall direction of the company. And there are the specifics: maybe there are ongoing initiatives you’ll wrap up, or longstanding vendor relationships you’ll continue to maintain.
What will change and what will stay the same
Let your leadership team know what things you expect to change and what will stay the same.
Nothing will change overnight. But, you’re not bringing on a COS to do nothing, right? There will be new things coming down the pipeline.
New meeting cadence
The COS may implement new rhythms for daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings. They may tweak who’s in those meetings and what purpose they serve.
New strategies and goals
The COS will help you and the leadership team get clear on where the business needs to go. They’ll work with you to clarify your vision and understand what you want the company to achieve.
New systems and culture
The COS will implement new systems. Part of their role is making sure the staff as a whole has what they need to function—and to achieve the organization's goals.
Give them access to the info they need
The incoming COS will need access to certain information to do their job well. Make sure they have the login credentials to systems and tools and that they’re given any reports they need from other team members in a timely and complete manner.
Eventually, the COS will have access to a lot of sensitive information: personnel, financial, as well as potential big moves for the company like M&A. If you want to take the first 90-120 days to ramp them up, that’s completely fine. Be clear with the COS what your plan is to start involving them in certain information.
Apply judgment. If giving them the keys to the kingdom on day one isn’t prudent, don’t. But don’t ask them to do a job with one hand behind their back either.
Give them time with you
Take the time to develop a great working relationship with your new COS. I know the last thing you probably want to hear is “take more time” on something. But if you make this investment up front, it will reap exponential dividends going forward—for you and your leadership team.
Have the COS shadow you whenever possible—attend meetings and calls, show them projects you’re working on, and share comms and emails.
Set aside time with them on a daily or weekly basis. Explain your thinking. Answer their questions. Give them context. Debrief on major updates. Get a sense of where they’re at and what they’re seeing and hearing. Remember they’ve got fresh eyes—get their input! And, just get to know them!
Do something outside of work. This can be a great way to get to know the whole person in a non-work setting. For example, our CEO and COO and I would go play Top-Golf every once in a while just to spend time together out of the office and have some fun.
Set your Chief of Staff up for success
The COS role represents enormous potential. They can literally supercharge your organization.
The role’s versatility and flexibility is its strength—but also a potential source of confusion. Yes, there will be an adjustment period, and the COS role should adapt over time. But in order for the COS to fulfill that enormous potential, you and your leadership team need to know what to expect—and how you can help.
By taking the time to think these things through, and make sure your leaders understand the why’s, how’s, and what’s of this new role, you’ll make life easier for yourself and your new COS.
Find out more about how to optimize the Chief of Staff role in, An Insider’s Perspective on the Chief of Staff. Buy it here on Amazon, and see www.chiefofstaffbook.com for more resources on this unique executive role.
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About The Author
Emily Sander is an ICF-certified leadership coach with more than 15 years of experience in the business world and the author of Hacking Executive Leadership. She’s been featured in several print publications, online articles, and podcasts, including CEO Today Magazine, Leading to Fulfillment, and Leadership Powered by Common Sense.
Emily has a passion for helping business leaders reach their full potential. Go here to read her story from seasoned executive to knowledgeable coach. If you want to send Emily a quick message, then visit her contact page here.