For the Chief of Staff to a Group CEO
Many business units. Many CEOs. One Chairperson. And no formal authority over any of them.
You are the Chairperson's proxy, the bridge between leaders, and the filter for everything that reaches the top. all at once.
We have compiled a series of cases, tactical and strategic, to guide how a Chief of Staff acts in exactly these moments.
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What a Chief of Staff aspires for
alignmentGetting business unit CEOs on the same page
influenceEarning buy-in without any formal authority
proxyStanding in for the Chairperson in high-stakes meetings
tactSensitive, careful communication
no egos being hurtMoving things forward without bruising anyone's ego
strategic bandwidthClearing clutter from the Chairperson's schedule to free up strategic time
We have compiled a series of cases, tactical and strategic, to guide how a Chief of Staff acts in exactly these moments.
Free. Log in or sign up to open it.
For the Chief of Staff to a Group CEO
Describe the situation. I'll show you how a seasoned Chief of Staff would handle it.
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Principles followed
Through gradual, nuanced conversations, uncover the constraints and dependencies blocking progress. Then ask whether a disagreement is a real difference in judgment, or simply a discussion that hasn't happened yet.
Treat every interaction as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen relationships for future engagement.
Find the root cause before choosing a course of action. When a project reported as healthy suddenly fails, was it an unforeseen event, incorrect data, or the wrong intermediate metrics? And was the miss genuinely hard to anticipate, or an avoidable oversight?
Protect the Chairperson's credibility through preparation and accurate communication, without deferring every question. Excess caution makes meetings in their absence lose weight, and wastes senior leaders' time.