Frequently asked questions about Chiefs of Staff, coaching, and consulting work

  • A Chief of Staff works directly for the leader of an organisation. It’s a senior executive role, that primarily exists as an aide, an advisor, and a right hand to the leader. It can fit any number of different archetypes from the confidante to the broker to the operator.

    The proximity to the leader and the broad scope of the role mean that I don’t see the role as interchangeable with a COO, a CHRO, or an EA.

    There’s more here about the role itself.

  • Coaching is partnership and process. A coach supports clients in discovering their own insights and solutions through skilful questioning and active listening, without providing advice or direction. The coach helps clients clarify what’s important to them, increase self-awareness, and take deliberate action toward their desired outcomes.

  • I do that type of coaching, and I also share advice and teach where it makes sense to. It’s up to the client what that balance looks like. I believe there’s a place for both - coaching and mentoring are not mutually exclusive concepts.

  • Three things:

    1. My credentials. I’ve been a Chief of Staff, I’m still a fractional Chief of Staff, and I’ve researched and published on the role too. I’ve also been successful in line roles, and in consulting. Clients say that’s a very useful combination. I also bring pattern recognition and EQ gained over nearly two decades.

    2. The content. It’s coaching for Chiefs of Staff, not Chief of Staff coaching, so it can go in lots of directions. It can also be more tightly structured, if you like. It’s a blend of in-session work and self-paced study.

    3. The results. I can show you how to do your best work and be at your best. There’s no certification, since you probably won’t be a Chief of Staff forever, but you’ll always be able to apply what you learn in your career and life.

  • Yes, and that can be with individuals and cohorts. I mainly work with large corporate organisations.

  • If you know there’s something specific that you’re struggling with, a Solo programme makes most sense to start with. If you’re more interested in transformative coaching, with scope to work together for longer and on broader topics, it’d probably be Symphony. If you have a burning question and not much time, go for Intermezzo.

  • It means:

    • Typical consultancy basis, or

    • Part-time, or

    • Interim

    It means not full-time, and not employed.

  • Just like a full-time Chief of Staff, a consultant Chief of Staff would work directly for a CEO or founder in the capacity of aide, advisor and right hand. They can hit the ground running and leverage their experience and expertise to create value-add quickly.

    It could be for a day a week, it could be on a retainer basis, or it could be a one-off accelerator day.

  • This is another good use case for a consultant Chief of Staff. I could help in two main ways:

    • Referring you to the right search professionals

    • Preparing an onboarding plan for your new Chief of Staff and coaching them through their first 100 days

  • It varies per engagement, but would generally be a day rate or a retainer. I’m happy to discuss further - please email me at poppy@chieflycos.com.

  • As a consultant Chief of Staff, I’m now industry-agnostic, but my deepest expertise lies in automotive.

Book a free consultation call here if you have any more questions on how I can help you.