Somewhere right now, a founder is staring at their inbox thinking, “You know what I need? A Chief of Staff.”
And if that founder is anything like most execs, what they actually mean is:
"I need someone to sit in meetings I don’t want to attend, chase people for updates, and generally act as a human to-do list so I can focus on the real work."
I’ll forgive you for thinking this. But let’s set the record straight.
What a Chief of Staff Actually Does (and What They Don't)
If what you need is calendar management, travel bookings, and making sure your lunch isn’t late, hire an Executive Assistant.
If you need someone who can take the mess of strategy, leadership, and execution and turn it into actual results, you need a Chief of Staff.
Here’s how a CoS actually adds value:
✅ Fixes leadership bottlenecks—because if the exec team is out of sync, nothing moves.
✅ Makes strategy happen—not just sit in a doc collecting dust.
✅ Creates decision-making frameworks and facilitates tough conversations —because “we’ll circle back” is not a strategy and doesn't bring customer value.
✅ Gets high-stakes projects over the line—especially the ones everyone avoids because they’re “too complicated.”
✅ Spots (and solves) problems before they hit the bottom line.
What they don’t do:
🚫 Organise your inbox.
🚫 Take minutes in leadership meetings.
🚫 Manage your social calendar.
🚫 Solve problems without authority or resources. You gotta give them permission, time and clout to make stuff happen.
🚫 Read your mind — if you don't pick up the phone, leave notes or communicate they can look around corners but can only get so far
If you’re hiring a Chief of Staff just to lighten your admin load, you’re doing it wrong.
How Leaders Undervalue Their Chief of Staff (and Why That’s Their Loss)
Most execs don’t realise their own blind spots. They think they’re running at full capacity, making high-quality decisions, and keeping their leadership team aligned. They’re wrong.
A good Chief of Staff sees the gaps before they do.
📌 Exec team keeps circling the same problems? A CoS cuts through the noise and gets decisions made.
📌 Scaling too fast with no structure? They put in decision-making frameworks so your business doesn’t collapse under its own weight.
📌 Too many priorities and no real execution? They build clarity, process, and momentum.
When a Chief of Staff is used properly, the CEO and exec team aren’t just busier—they’re better.
📝 An Exercise: Do You Actually Need a Chief of Staff?
Before you start writing that job spec, ask yourself these five questions:
What decisions regularly get stuck because leadership isn’t aligned?
What major projects keep getting deprioritised because no one owns execution?
Where are we losing momentum because leadership is spending time on the wrong things
What’s the single biggest bottleneck in our ability to execute strategy?
What would actually change in our business if we had a Chief of Staff tomorrow?
If you can’t answer these clearly—or if reading them made you wince—you don’t just need a Chief of Staff. You need to rethink how your leadership team operates.
Where do we go from here?
If you’re a founder or exec leader and this hit a nerve, I work with scaling businesses as a Fractional Chief of Staff—helping teams move from stuck strategy to structured execution. Let’s talk.
Want more insights on leadership, execution, and how to make strategy actually work? Drop your email here for first access to my newsletter.
Still not sure? Start with a simple audit: What’s the #1 execution problem your business faces right now? Write it down, and then ask yourself—why hasn’t it been solved yet?
📌 Want to work together or chat about your leadership challenges? Let's talk about how I can help