Hello and welcome to the 137 new readers of the Office of the CEO newsletter! I’m Mackenzie, and I write about all things Chief of Staff, Executive Operations and the CEO Office.

Every week, you’ll get 1 new leadership tip or tactic that you can implement, a roundup of our exclusive Office of the CEO events, a list of hot Chief of Staff jobs, and more.

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PS I’m hiring for 2 roles on my team: Engagement Manager / de facto Chief of Staff (FT, NYC Hybrid or US Time Zone Remote) plus a Sr Consultant (PT/FT Contractor, Remote, EMEA), both reporting to me. Check out more details below.

Death by 297,000 decisions

Your Office of the CEO makes 297,000 judgment calls every day. Here’s my calculation:

[ 33,000 decisions / person / day ] *
[ 3 people (CEO, Chief of Staff and Executive Assistant) ] *
[ 3x CEO Office workload / average human workload ]
——————————————————————————————
= 297,000 decisions / day.

Sources: Harvard Business Review and Cedar research.

Decisions to consider: Do you invest in a new product? Do you coach a failing leader? Do you meet with an unqualified prospect? If you’re not careful, these decisions add up and cause real decision fatigue.

So, how do you increase decision velocity without sacrificing quality? How do you document your decisions so you don’t forget what you decided to do? How do you avoid death by 297,000 decisions?

The answer is Decision Protocol - a rules-based process that helps decision groups and your Office of the CEO manage and document their reasoning. Here are 7 steps to speed up decision making and reduce decision exhaustion:

1 Scope the decision

Figure out what you are actually deciding on. Are you deciding to go to market in 5 new cities or 3 new countries? Define your decision criteria, which can include cost, time, or value.

2 Say yes or say no

Based on your decision scope, determine whether this is a decision for your Office of the CEO or if it can be delegated to someone else in your company. Remember, the more you empower your leaders to make their own decisions, the better they feel and the less work you have to do.

3 Assign the decision owner

If you must take on the decision, assign someone ownership to your Office of the CEO team - either your Executive Assistant, your Chief of Staff or your CEO as a last resort. This protects your CEO from decision fatigue.

4 Analyze possibilities

Identify the top 3 (maximum 5) decision options to simplify the decision process. Gather information on each choice and analyze all outcomes.

5 Make the decision

Make a call and commit to your decision, based on your decision criteria. Document your decision choice, reasoning and date in a referenceable Decision Log.

6 Take action

Communicate your decision, implement your decision and take immediate action. Track the business outcomes of your decision over time.

7 Review results

Review your Decision Log every quarter to complete a post-mortem on the quality of your decisions, the speed of your decision making and your Decision Protocol itself. Make adjustments as needed.

There you have it - 7 steps to implement Decision Protocol. Done well, you’ll avoid death by 297,000 decisions in your Office of the CEO.

I’m curious to hear about your own Decision Protocol in your Office of the CEO. Vote in my poll below.

I’m hiring for 2 roles on my team

I’m hiring an Engagement Manager / de facto Chief of Staff (FT, NYC Hybrid Preferred or US Time Zone Remote) plus a Sr Consultant (PT/FT Contractor, Remote, EMEA), to join us on our mission to help 1 million CEOs and their C-suite teams let go and do more of the things that matter.

Cedar is an industry-leading, global leadership consulting firm, empowering CEOs on their quest to become fast and fearless leaders.

We're a mission-driven team of high performers who have impacted 1,000s of Offices of the CEO around the world, including CEOs, Chiefs of Staff and Executive Assistants at top organizations like Salesforce, Citi and the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.

We love what we do - which is building Office of the CEO community, creating content on LinkedIn, publishing groundbreaking Office of the CEO thought leadership, running Chief of Staff executive searches, optimizing CEO protocol, implementing CEO operations data and analytics, and delivering leadership coaching & training.

As a result, we've developed relationships with 10,000+ leaders, consulted with dozens of clients, spoken at 10s of speaking events, and built a profitable business with a small but mighty team of 5.

If you're passionate about helping CEOs and Chiefs of Staff (and want to become one someday), want to see your work make a direct impact on 1,000s of companies, and want to work alongside the very best people - we'd love to have you join our mission!

Why these roles are exciting

↳ Work alongside a 2x Founder & CEO who is fiercely committed to building a world-class team and an environment that allows employees to do the best work of their lives

↳ Immediate opportunity to work on an Office of the Chairman design & implementation project for a multinational conglomerate

↳ Huge opportunity to scale Cedar's growth domestically and internationally in a growing, greenfield leadership services market, while making a direct impact on top CEOs and their leadership teams

↳ Unique blend of Office of the CEO, Chief of Staff, client delivery, business operations, strategy, and research work

↳ Flexible part time or full time working schedule

↳ Attractive compensation package

Check out the full job listings here: Engagement Manager JD and Sr Consultant JD.

We're looking for candidates with extremely strong consulting and operator track records, exceptional drive and insatiable curiosity.

Interested in applying? Connect with me on LinkedIn, Mackenzie Lee, and share what makes you the best candidate.

Know someone who might be a perfect fit? Share this newsletter with them.

Chief of Staff Jobs

Welcome to our Chief of Staff job board. If you have a Chief of Staff job you’d like shared to 2,500+ readers of this newsletter or need hands-on recruiting help to hire your Chief of Staff, reply to this email.

Engagement Manager / de facto Chief of Staff, Cedar, NYC or EST Time Zone, Professional Services

Sr Consultant, Cedar, EMEA, Professional Services

Chief of Staff, Independence Pet Group, Phoenix, Arizona, Finance, Corporate

Chief of Staff, Independence Pet Group, Phoenix, New York, NY, Corporate

Chief of Staff, Element Materials Technology, Columbus, OH, Tech, Corporate

Chief of Staff, ENIAC Ventures, New York, NY, Finance, VC

Chief of Staff, AI Startup, Stealth, San Francisco, CA, Tech, Startup

Help Us Grow

Our mission is to impact 1,000,000 leaders. If this newsletter would help someone in your network learn more about Decision Protocol, please forward it to them.

And if someone forwarded this newsletter to you, please don't leave without hitting that Subscribe button now.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next week’s edition.

Until next week,

Mackenzie

Mackenzie Lee | Founder & CEO
M: 650.283.4152 | E: [email protected]
New York City, NY
www.CedarChief.com

At Cedar, we turn executives into fast and fearless leaders.

Thanks to technology, changing markets, and demanding investors, the C-suite job is tougher than ever. We help executives find freedom from blockers and busywork.

Our mission is to help 1 million CEOs and their C-suite teams let go and do more of the things that matter. We help you hire a Chief of Staff, build an Office of the CEO, and implement C-suite operating systems.

On average our clients see a 25% meeting reduction, 20% strategic sales increase, and 2x speed-to-execution in their first 90 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve performance and accelerate growth.