Chief of Staff vs. Executive Assistant: When to Upgrade Your Support

Chief of Staff vs. Executive Assistant: When to Upgrade Your Support

If you're a high-growth leader, your Executive Assistant might be hitting a ceiling where their focus on calendar management and logistics starts taking away from urgent strategic planning and internal Corporate governance. You're not looking for more admin help; you're looking for a strategic advisor and operational right-hand partner, which indicates you need to consider the chief of staff role.

We work with London's leaders to precisely define the need for a Chief of Staff versus an Executive Assistant, ensuring you acquire leadership support that actively manages the organisational structure and executes critical initiatives. Understanding the difference is the step from tactical efficiency to strategic output.

Key Takeaways:

• The chief of staff role is a senior, strategic operating position focused on Corporate governance and project execution, not administrative duties.
• A Chief of Staff (CoS) acts as a strategic advisor and right-hand partner, managing the executive's time and the internal organisational structure.
• CoS responsibilities include preparing board materials, managing leadership teams, and driving cross-functional projects to completion.
• You need to upgrade when your current support role is consistently managing what you do, rather than actively managing how the business executes your strategy.

The Chief of Staff Function: A Strategic Advisor

The Chief of Staff function serves as a strategic advisor and proxy for the executive, focusing on the efficiency of the entire organisational structure and ensuring alignment across key business units.

What does a Chief of Staff do?

A Chief of Staff executes the executive's vision by managing the operating rhythm of the company, prioritising internal and external commitments, preparing materials for Corporate governance, and acting as the right-hand partner to ensure the entire organisation is focused on the correct strategic priorities.

Do I need a Chief of Staff or an EA?

You need a Chief of Staff when your key problem is a lack of operational capacity to execute your strategy (e.g., managing direct reports, driving cross-functional projects). You need an Executive Assistant when your key problem is time management and logistical support (e.g., calendar management, travel booking). The Chief of Staff takes over the strategic portion of your workload.

Key Chief of Staff Responsibilities

CoS responsibilities are fundamentally different from traditional support roles, integrating directly into Strategic planning and Corporate governance at the highest levels.

How does a CoS assist with strategic planning?

A Chief of Staff assists with Strategic planning by translating the CEO's long-term vision into actionable priorities, tracking departmental KPIs against those goals, and preparing the executive for board meetings with concise, data-driven summaries. They are essentially internal consultants who ensure focus.

What is the role of the Chief of Staff in the organisational structure?

The Chief of Staff plays a key role in the organisational structure by improving communication flow, identifying and resolving friction points between departments, and sometimes managing special projects or direct reports to improve internal efficiency. This elevates the executive's leadership support.

Chief of Staff vs. Director: Understanding the Hierarchy

While the chief of staff role is highly senior, it operates differently within the organisational structure than a functional leader like a Director.

Is Chief of Staff higher than Director?

The Chief of Staff is generally not "higher" than a functional Director, but their authority is broader and derived directly from the CEO. A Director owns a specific department (e.g., Marketing, Finance), while the CoS owns the CEO’s time, priorities, and cross-functional initiatives across the entire organisational structure.

When should the Chief of Staff become the right-hand partner?

The Chief of Staff should become the right-hand partner when the executive's professional workload is dominated by competing internal politics, unaligned leadership teams, and too many high-level strategic projects that require internal oversight and project management outside of standard reporting lines.

How to Assess the Need for a Chief of Staff

Assessing the need for a Chief of Staff requires evaluating the percentage of your time currently spent on internal management and strategic alignment versus your core external duties.

Step 1. Identify Strategic Bottlenecks:

Pinpoint the three critical, cross-functional projects currently stalled or failing due to lack of central oversight. If the executive must personally manage these, a Chief of Staff is needed.

Step 2. Audit Strategic Time Allocation:

Document how much of the executive's day is spent managing internal leadership teams and resolving interdepartmental conflict. If the amount exceeds the threshold, you require high-level leadership support.

Step 3. Define the CoS Responsibilities:

Write the Chief of Staff responsibilities description with a clear mandate for execution – focusing on strategy, corporate governance, and project delivery – not traditional administrative duties.

 

FAQs

What does a Chief of Staff do?

A Chief of Staff acts as a strategic advisor and operational right-hand partner to an executive, managing internal priorities, driving key cross-functional initiatives, and supporting Corporate governance decisions.

Do I need a Chief of Staff or an EA?

You need a Chief of Staff when your support requirement is strategic execution, project management, and aligning the organisational structure; you need an Executive Assistant for logistical management, scheduling, and high-level admin support.

Is Chief of Staff higher than Director?

The Chief of Staff is not hierarchically higher than a functional Director, but they operate with superior delegated authority across the whole organisation, derived directly from the executive they support.

What are the key CoS responsibilities?

Key CoS responsibilities include leading Strategic planning sessions, managing the flow of information to the C-Suite, ensuring internal alignment on priorities, and overseeing complex, sensitive projects or changes to the organisational structure.

 

Upgrade your executive capacity from administrative management to strategic execution – secure your next Chief of Staff with our specialist London recruiters.

 

Author Bio

Margaret George is a professional recruiter with 21 years recruitment experience predominantly working with a FTSE 250 client base within the London market.

With experience ranging from multiple national branch network responsibilities, on-site recruitment solutions, interim and permanent resourcing, Margaret understands that building a successful business can only be done through developing dedicated and committed teams of people.