Chief of Staff - The Pitfalls

The following are some of the pitfalls that need to be avoided, if you want the Chief of Staff to be successful.

CEO/Leader-Chief of Staff Chemistry: The lynchpin for this role is the chemistry/trust with the CEO or leader. There almost needs to be an inner sanctum for truths and vulnerabilities to flow. If not, it will be suboptimal.

Maturity and EGO: Be wary of a power-hungry Chief with a point to prove. They can play politics and inappropriately use his/her proxy power and it can be disastrous. They need to be mature with their ego in check.

Lack of clarity on the role: Due to the role being new, others can become skeptical about the role. They can sometimes often wonder whether the CoS is a spy or just a bag handler for the CEO and solely there to do some of his/her dirty work. Then barriers go up and games begin to be played.

Feeling displaced: If the CoS spends a lot time with the CEO other Execs can simply get jealous and resentful. The CEO and the CoS need to be mindful of that. In start-ups it even happens that co-founders get sideways, and the right CoS can make all the difference in helping with that or could make it worse.

Right hand guy: It is quite common that the CFO or the COO view themselves as being the right-hand person to the CEO. It happens often that they become disenfranchised if the CoS is oversold as the Right-Hand Person. That is NEVER good. The CoS is usually an equal member of staff but should not be oversold.

Overly reliant on Chief of Staff: Sometimes the CEO can become OVERLY reliant on his/her CoS. They can then simply avoid attending meetings or having sufficient 1 on 1’s with his/her staff. This too is dangerous for obvious reasons, one of which is losing touch with the people and the nuance of the business.