The Chief of Staff As… Strategist
Welcome to “The Chief of Staff As…” series. Part 3 - Strategist.
(Don’t miss pt. 1 Generalist and pt. 2 Connector!)
To be successful in their role as a CoS, a person has to possess a level of strategic prowess in order to help architect success in their organization. Why? Because you’ve got a responsibility to:
Align teams to organizational goals (aka your Strategic Plan)
Support proper decision-making (your principal will rely on you for this)
Prioritize resource allocation (time, budget, and manpower are finite after all…)
Adapt to change (it’s inevitable - you’ve got to anticipate, adapt, and guide through it)
Manage stakeholders (relationships help you tailor your communication)
Manage risk (every decision carries some level - assess, mitigate, and navigate…)
A Chief of Staff’s ability to be a Strategist directly ties to an organizations’ ability to be successful. It boils down to 3 core areas.
Crafting a Compelling Vision
Look at any CoS who thrived in their role. Every one of them had the ability to craft and articulate a compelling vision for their organization.
In other words, they were skilled communicators.
With a keen understanding of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, Chiefs of Staff work with their team to develop strategies that position the organization for success in an ever-changing landscape.
Aligning Priorities
A key responsibility of a CoS is to ensure alignment toward strategic priorities.
Resources are finite - time, budget, man power, brain power...
Your goal is to maximize impact and drive results. If your CEO gets thrown “all the things”, they won’t be able to run an organization effectively. You have to be able to identify the things that they actually need to make decisions on — what the priorities are — and then bind that to action.
Driving Execution and Accountability
Crafting a strategic vision is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in executing that vision.
Chiefs of Staff serve as drivers of execution, working closely with cross-functional teams to implement strategic initiatives and deliver measurable results.
Here are two pieces of key advice:
Avoid silo-mentality like a plague.
Have a cadence of consistently measuring KPIs.
These things will help establish and maintain clear goals, metrics, and milestones that track progress and hold teams accountable for their performance.
So, what sets the Chief of Staff apart as a strategist in the world of leadership?
It's their ability to craft a compelling vision, align priorities, and drive execution with precision and excellence. They possess a unique talent for translating strategic objectives into actionable plans, ensuring that every resource is deployed to strategically advance the organization. By orchestrating the plans that fill the gap between vision and action, Chiefs of Staff play a pivotal role in guiding their organizations towards success, even in the midst of change.
We’ll take a look at a different vantage point next round as we continue to explore the multifaceted role of the Chief of Staff. Cheers!
