6 Paths to Become a Chief of Staff

Who am I? Does my face ring a bell for you? Do you recognize my wavy locks? I'll give you a hint: Greek mythology.

It’s Hercules! So, you're probably wondering why we're talking about Greek mythology today. I don't know if you had this pastime as a kid, but I was obsessed. I believe these tales are important because they help us understand origin stories.

Let’s examine Hercules’ origin story and then apply the same lens to the Chief of Staff role.

So first, I want you to ask yourself: Where did Hercules come from? What was his path from Zero to Hero?

TLDR: Hercules was born a mortal to Greek god Zeus and common human Alcmene. He was driven temporarily insane by Hera, so he murdered his wife and children. To absolve his guilt, Hercules then completed 12 labors, including slaying a three-headed dog, so that he could receive forgiveness and live forever amongst the gods.

Talk about a hero’s journey.

So in the same vein, let’s look at the 6 origin stories of a Chief of Staff.

1/  Personal Assistance. 

You start as a Personal Aide who develops into an Administrative Assistant who then develops into an Executive Assistant. From there, you become an Executive Business Partner. And then finally, Chief of Staff.

2/  Operations. 

Chiefs of Staff also come from the Operations side of the house. You start as a Project or Program Manager. Then you join the PMO office and progress to become a VP of Operations before assuming the Chief of Staff title.

3/  Strategy. 

Chiefs of Staff also come from Strategy. You start as an Analyst or an Associate Consultant at a management consultancy. You move to a Director of Strategy role in-house at the tech company before assuming the Chief of Staff title.

4/ Finance

Next up: Finance. You start in financial services as an Analyst, perhaps at a Tier 1 bank. You progress through Associate, and VP roles. Perhaps you move into Corporate Development in-house at a larger enterprise before making the case to your leader to become their Chief of Staff.

5/ Hybrid Roles.

The Chief of Staff can hold hybrid strategy & operations roles before getting to their current job. More typically seen in tech companies, you play a Strategy Operations Manager or Head of Biz Ops & Strategy role before becoming a Chief of Staff.

6/ C-Suite.

Finally, Chiefs of Staff come from the C-Suite. Perhaps you start at a startup that is acqui-hired or is forced to close shop. You hold the founder, CEO or C-Suite title before becoming a Chief of Staff at a different company. Or maybe you start in the Office of the CEO as an Analyst, develop your skills and then you work your way up to the Chief of Staff.

So there you have it. Those are the 6 different flavors of origin stories to the Chief of Staff role. If you’re trying to reach the Chief of Staff title, draw inspiration from Greek mythology and write your own story.

Here’s a handy infographic that describes the Paths to the Chief of Staff role. And check out my Youtube video here if you’d like to see more.

Get a Chief of Staff job.

I’m putting the finishing touches on a community-powered course for aspiring Chiefs of Staff and I can’t wait to share it with you!

What you’ll get out of my Chief of Staff Job Seekers Masterclass:

1. Identify your ideal target Chief of Staff job

2. Make a plan to become an A+ Chief of Staff candidate

3. Create a unique story for your Chief of Staff candidacy

4. Update your resume, cover letter & LinkedIn

5. Define a LinkedIn outreach strategy

6. Receive direct feedback from your peers

7. Attend live Weekly Office Hours with me

Today’s topic, Chief of Staff career pathing, is just one of 20+ video lessons and 8 unique exercises in my course on Circle.

Sign up for my waitlist here to gain early bird access, starting this Friday.

I’m hiring.

I’m looking for a part-time Business Ops & Strategy Analyst (Summer Intern) reporting directly to me. Longer-term engagement and/or full-time considered for exceptional candidates. Link here for more info.

You’ll join my Cedar team on our mission to help executives everywhere achieve high performance with a Chief of Staff.

At this stage of my business, I can’t pay much, but I can promise to give you a summer internship you won’t forget, packed with 1:1 mentorship, accelerated development & direct exposure to my Chief of Staff world.

You’ll work on the latest Cedar initiatives across marketing, sales & delivery. This could include publishing v2 of our Chief of Staff playbook, helping run business development outreach campaigns, and serving as an analyst for client delivery projects. You have a strong background in business, ops & strategy.

👉🏼 Reply to this email if you're interested with your resume, the hardest thing you've ever worked on, and why you'd be a good fit. Feel free to share this with a friend!

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