Own special projects

Chiefs of Staff, when your CEO asks who can take on their latest, most urgent, high impact special project, you should be their #1 pick.

You are uniquely positioned within the Office of the CEO to be the owner of their vital priority, whether it's international expansion or reducing employee attrition. You have the sponsorship and the direct access to your CEO to get it done fast, to their standard.

Need a competitive analysis about a new market? You got it.
Need to stop the sales bleeding in your #1 product category? You got it.
Need to raise emergency funding to pay for product development? You got it.

Smart CEOs rely on their Chief of Staff to get special projects done, especially if their C-suite team is overloaded or they don’t have the skills. You can clear a path into the jungle, find what you’re looking for, and then report back to your boss.

And even if it isn’t the most glamorous project, you can volunteer to be the company garbageman. This is a direct quote from my CEO Office research with a former Chief of Staff at a multibillion dollar education company. With all of the resources they had, even he had to take out the trash sometimes.

Remember, the more you get into the muck and emerge victorious, the more you develop your functional skills and reputation as someone who can just do it.

What’s the result? You win in the eyes of your CEO. You win in the eyes of your board and investors. And you win in the eyes of your leadership team. Your bias-towards-action and can-do-attitude on special projects are two qualities that define you as an excellent Chief of Staff and exceptional future C-suite leader.

So Chiefs of Staff, it’s time to buckle up for your next ride. Raise your hand for the next special project that crosses your desk, your CEO is depending on you.

Events

The Chief of Staff Playbook v2 ebook release, sometime in late February.

I released my last Chief of Staff playbook in February 2023, and I’ve been writing furiously since then on LinkedIn on all things related to Executive Operations, Chief of Staff and Office of the CEO.

Stay tuned to this newsletter for the forthcoming publication of the second edition of my Chief of Staff Playbook. I’ll make sure to give you advance notice.

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 1,000+ readers of this newsletter or need help hiring your next Chief of Staff, reply to this email.

Chief of Staff, Gold House, Los Angeles, CA or New York, NY, Collective, Non-profit

Chief of Staff, Generali, San Diego, CA, Insurance, Corporate

Chief of Staff, Room to Grow, Bronx, NY, Education, Non-profit

Chief of Staff, Intel, Santa Clara, CA, Tech, Corporate

Chief of Staff, TCW Group, Los Angeles, CA, Financial Services, Corporate

Associate Chief of Staff, Goldman Sachs, Dallas, TX, Financial Services, Corporate

Deputy Chief of Staff & Strategic Initiatives Manager, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Education, Non-profit

Chief of Staff, TrueVault, San Francisco, CA, Tech, Startup

Chief of Staff, Yale, New Haven, CT, Education, Non-profit

Help Us Grow

Our mission is to impact 1,000,000 leaders. If this newsletter would help someone in your network learn more about how to take on special projects as a Chief of Staff, please forward it to them.

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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 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.