Learn/Guide

The chief of staff role

A chief of staff exists to make one leader's attention go further. They decide what reaches the principal, carry the decisions that follow a meeting, and hold context that would otherwise live in a single head. The role has no fixed job description because it is shaped entirely by the leader it serves — which is both its strength and the reason it so often goes wrong.

When this is the wrong answer

Your organisation is under fifty people and the executive team can still see each other's work directly. A chief of staff earns their place when a leader's attention has become the constraint, and hiring one earlier usually produces a very expensive coordinator.

Everything we've written on this

Frequently asked questions

What does a chief of staff actually do?
They protect and extend a leader's attention. In practice that means deciding what reaches the principal, chasing the decisions that follow a meeting, and holding the context that would otherwise live only in one head. The role is defined by the leader it serves, which is why two chief of staff jobs rarely look alike.
What is the difference between a chief of staff and an executive assistant?
An executive assistant manages the calendar and the logistics around a leader. A chief of staff manages the decisions and the follow-through. They overlap on gatekeeping and diverge sharply on authority: a chief of staff is expected to make calls on the principal's behalf, and an EA is not.
When should a company hire a chief of staff?
When the constraint is a leader's attention rather than the organisation's capacity. The signal is decisions queuing behind one person and context living in their head rather than anywhere retrievable. Below about fifty people that is rarely the binding constraint.
Who does a chief of staff report to?
The leader they serve, and only them. The role depends on being trusted with information the rest of the executive team does not have, which a dotted line elsewhere makes impossible. Ambiguity in that reporting line is the most common reason the role fails.

See what this looks like in practice

WaymakerOS is an all-in-one business platform: 20 tools for daily operations, a place to build the custom apps your business needs, and AI that already knows your work. From $19 per user per month.

See pricing