Chief of Stuffs: also known as IT person, ghostwriter, and mafia game host amongst many of the other hats I wore as a Chief of Staff (CoS) for the crypto team at a fintech company.
During that time, I also participated in communities for CoS run by On Deck, the Chief of Staff Network, and Primary Venture Partners.
I’m writing this to reflect on the experience, going into:
Every CoS role is a little different and my experience is only one data point.
However, regardless of the specifics, the purpose of the CoS is to provide leverage to the Principal (the manager of the CoS).
This can come in many forms. My responsibilities fell into the below buckets:
There’s A LOT to do. And often at the same time.
They say that the CoS role is a generalist role; however, I’d say that all CoS are masters at organization. Imagine having to zoom in and out from the most strategic work to the most tactical tasks - often multiple times per day.
For example, a day may involve running some meetings as the project manager, researching a new area for a business case, and then suddenly getting a call from your Principal asking for a draft of a memo to send to the Executive team on a recent market development… combined with responding to multiple pings from team members asking where things are / how they work - how fun!
The CoS is a figurative juggler of many balls.
Move over Harvard Business School case studies, in this role we learn by doing!
A CoS role is the fast-track to learning management regardless of seniority: