How Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff Become Impact Players
If there was one book I wish I had written, it is Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact by Liz Wiseman. Wiseman wrote another of my favorites too, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. However, with Impact Players, I felt like she was writing directly to […]
7 Myths About Being a Chief of Staff
There are all sorts of myths and misperceptions about being a Chief of Staff (COS). Most of them come from our knowledge of Chiefs of Staff to the President of the United States (whether real – James A. Baker III and Dick Cheney or fictional – Doug Stamper and Olivia Pope). The Chief of Staff […]
The Loneliness Epidemic of Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff
“It’s Lonely at the Top” I’ve never really liked the phrase, “It’s lonely at the top.” Perhaps its just the context from which it’s usually said – from a place of privilege, as an excuse, or as a subtle request for pity. I swear I’m not cynical! Just bear with me here. “At the top” […]
What Business Metrics Should Entrepreneurs and Executive Assistants Track?
Think of the last time you missed a sports game that you wanted to watch. Maybe you were at a wedding and missed an NFL playoff game with your favorite sports team (go Steelers!) or maybe you just missed your kid’s soccer game because you were out of town on business. Either way, what’s the first question […]
How to Measure Success as an Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff
I was recently speaking at a summit for high-performing EAs and one of the questions that was asked was, “How do you measure success?” That’s a tough one for us Force Multipliers (Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff), isn’t it? For many other positions in an organization, the answers seem so cut and dry. For […]
Podcasts for Chiefs of Staff and Aspiring Chiefs of Staff
For your listening and learning pleasure, here is a curated list of podcasts for Chiefs of Staff and Aspiring Chiefs of Staff, who want to become better leaders, learn to think like their CEO, and level up their careers. Enjoy! FOUNDER’S JOURNAL WITH ALEX LIEBERMAN Alex Lieberman, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, is […]
Time Blocking Tips for Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff
Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff are notoriously racing against the clock to pack the most important things into their day to achieve results for themselves and their Executive. The following time blocking tips offer a solution to the ever-present challenge of time management for executive support staff. Over the past few years, our work […]
Survey Says: How Do I Focus on Less, But Do More?
Last week I posed this question to the Founder & Force Multiplier community: What one thing do you want to learn or change this year that would change the trajectory of your career or business? We got a lot of great responses ranging from tactical skills such as finance, marketing, and public speaking, to more […]
Should Force Multipliers Be Friends with Their Bosses?
Friendships and business partnerships. It can be a tricky situation to navigate. Should Force Multipliers be friends with their bosses? With the amount of time you spend together, how do you NOT cross over into a friendship with your Executive? A couple of weeks ago this topic came up during one of my webinars. I […]
The 36 Best Quotes for Maximizing Your Productivity
Dictionary.com defines productivity as “the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services”. If you couple that with Investopedia’s definition—”productivity, in economics, measures output per unit of input, such as labor, capital, or any other resource”—then you get a pretty good sense of what productivity means. […]
Chief of Staff Job Description
PLEASE NOTE – This post will continue to evolve as we learn more about the Chief of Staff position and its application across various business sectors. The sample job description below is certainly not exhaustive and serves as a jumping-off point for you to craft a job description that encompasses the work you do (or […]
11 Books for Executive Assistants & Aspiring Chiefs of Staff 2022
2021 was the year of upskilling, resignations, promotions, starting new careers, starting businesses, and more. Suffice it to say that there was a lot of movement in and out of the workforce this year. I saw this first hand with countless Executive Assistants who moved, were moving, or wanted to move into Chief of Staff […]
Are You a Wartime or a Peacetime Chief of Staff?
I recently attended the Chief of Staff Summit hosted by the Chief of Staff Network and the idea of a wartime vs. peacetime Chief of Staff was brought up by one of the speakers. It’s a concept that I was first introduced to several years ago by Ben Horowitz while reading The Hard Thing About […]
How to Create an Awesome Elevator Pitch for Executive Support Professionals
Explaining what I do in my role as a Chief of Staff is not always easy to sum up in a sentence or two. And to complicate matters, Chief of Staff roles, like that of Executive Assistants, can vary greatly between organizations. There is not a common frame of reference to well, reference. Long story […]
Do Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff Need an MBA Degree?
As I talk to Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff from around the world, one common question emerges: “Do I need an MBA?” I often answer that question with a few questions of my own, “Why do you want one? Do you think you need one? Why?” I’ll preface the rest of this post by […]
Everyday Carry (EDC) Lists for Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff
This week, Adam, Corie (our Executive Assistant) and I are in the mountains of Vermont for one of our quarterly Project | U retreats. We’ve already had a moose sighting, a Bernie Sanders sighting on the plane into Burlington, and last night, our fireside cocktail party was crashed by a black bear! I would say […]
Why Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff Continue to Thrive Amidst Constant Change
If I were to go into battle with anyone, it would be someone who was growth-minded, resourceful, adaptable, a creative problem solver, and an influential leader. Why? Because those individuals are not paralyzed by uncertainty, can take various pieces of information and come up with a workable solution, they are not afraid to take action, […]
Can One Person Be Both an Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff?
The conversation around the roles of Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff continues! There are so many nuances, iterations, and evolutions of both of these positions that, for me, the conversation never gets old. I’m here for it! My current situation has got me thinking a lot recently about whether or not one person can […]
Communicating Your Role as an Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff to Your Colleagues & Leadership Team
I’ve been working with Adam for about 10 years now and a couple of years ago the CFO for one of our companies said, “You realize no one has any idea what you do, right?” I laughed. How could it be possible that someone in our organization didn’t understand everything I do day in and […]
Navigating Decision Fatigue for Force Multipliers
Late last year, Adam wrote a great article about how Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff can help their Executive’s overcome decision fatigue. It’s an important topic and one I know that leaders and their Force Multipliers feel all too much. Decision fatigue is real. In the article, Adam outlined some strategic and tactical ways […]
Strategic Partnerships in Action: Jean Patrick, CEO and co-founder of ScaleUp Edge, with Chief of Staff Rory Hibbler
In this series, Strategic Partnerships in Action, we highlight some of the Executive and Force Multiplier duos who are doing it right. This week, we chatted with the powerful strategic partnership behind ScaleUp Edge. Jean Patrick and Rory Hibbler began their strategic partnership about eight months ago at the start of ScaleUp Edge – an exclusive community for […]
Why Asking for Help Actually Helps the Company
Force Multipliers are the badasses of the business world. Okay, yeah, I might be biased, but I have seen first hand what Force Multipliers can do. Force Multipliers are problem-solvers and fixers. They are some of the most resourceful and connected individuals in your organization. If you have a challenge, bring it to your nearest […]
What Does a Chief of Staff Do? Organize. Communicate. Delegate.
About 6 years ago, as I worked to develop my career path, I did a lot of research on the Chief of Staff role and many a Google search of “What does a Chief of Staff do?”. There weren’t many resources available back then that didn’t have to do with the military, government, or maybe […]
How 2020 Brought Clarity to My Work & Life
I recently asked my network what one word they would use to remember 2020, and the responses were all over the place (much like the year itself)! Here is a sample of the responses: amazing, battle, exhausting, forward, perseverance, growth, revelation, overcoming, learned, fantastic, whew, challenging, evolution, interesting, renewal, change, resilience, contentment, bonding, reflection, long, […]