CHIEF OF STAFF TO CEO:

WHY DO YOU NEED ONE?

BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS
LONELY AND UNNATURAL:
THE MAKING OF A FOUNDER CEO

To be successful, CEO needs to grow into role

as the company grows.

But CEOs are made, not born. No one starts

ready to be CEO.

Hiring a Chief of Staff to CEO will support and

accelerate the making of the CEO,
maximizing the potential of the company.

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

HOW COS WORKED IN LINKEDIN EARLY
DAYS

REID HOFFMAN SARAH IMBACH

CEO Chief of Staff

• 2003: Started • 2004 – 2007: Chief of

LinkedIn Staff
• 2004: Hired Sarah as • Responsible for all
Chief of Staff day to day
operations for
• 2005: Began looking
LinkedIn.
for professional CEO
• CFO, acting VP
• 2007: Brought in Dan
Product, and
Nye
responsible for
• 2008: Came back as HR, Sales, and
CEO Customer
• 2009: Brought in Jeff Operations.
Weiner • 2007 – 2009: VP
Revenue and
Customer Operations

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

 COS ROLE IS FLEXIBLE,
CHOOSE AREAS WHERE MOST LEVERAGE IS
CREATED

Operational Coaching /
Strategic Initiatives Stunt Double
Dashboards Accountability

• Communication • Definition • Meeting purpose • Provide

• Leadership • Data collection / and agenda summaries of
• Tracking analysis review internal meetings
• Coaching • Investigation • Pre-meeting • Represent
• Board meeting • Prepare preparation and company at
preparation Recommendations coaching external events
• Strategic • Eliminate • Meeting follow-
planning surprises up and tracking
• Decision making • Time
/ sounding board management
• Facilitate focus

Constant Improvements in Personal and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

WORKSHEET:
WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED FROM COS?

1. Allow you to focus on the activities that only CEO/Founder can

do

2. Add complementary skills and bandwidth for super-CEO

results

3. Your specific reason here

.
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
ANY ONE TRIGGER CAN BE ENOUGH TO
JUSTIFY CREATING COS POSITION

 Needs more time to think strategically

 Needs more time to think long-term
CEO 

Needs more time to be face of company
Surprises occur too frequently
 Overwhelmed by tasks that could be delegated

 CEO time and bandwidth are growth bottleneck

 Company not ready for COO or cannot find right
Board candidate
 Board meeting prep requires owner, additional time
and thought

 Not enough quality management time

Exec Team  Cross-functional initiatives needing attention
 Gaps in communication and coordination

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

ASSESS WHERE TIME IS SPENT VS.
BENCHMARKS

Sample Benchmark Distribution

Relative Differences By Company Size

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

WORKSHEET:
HOW IS YOUR TIME CURRENTLY SPENT?

How many hours do you spend in each on a weekly/monthly basis?

 Product  Operations

xx% xx%
 People  Sales & Marketing

xx% xx%
 Business Strategy /  Investor Relations
Partnerships
xx% xx%
 Other: ______________

xx%

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

WORKSHEET:
ENVISION IDEAL TIME ALLOCATION

Sample CEO Ideal Allocation

 Are there any categories where you spend

no time but need to start doing so?

 Where should we focus first for where you

want to spend more time? For less time?

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

COS ROI IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE BUT
IMPORTANT TO ESTIMATE

ACTION ITEM
 ROI will derive from improvements in What are the outcomes
one or more of the following: expected from adding a
Chief of Staff?

HARDER TO SOFTER BENEFITS

 Productivity (CEO, Board, Company) Define a set of
outcomes, beyond the
most likely case, that if
 Sales  Cost achieved would show a
desired ROI

 Output  Retention EXAMPLE

1.  Cost
 Employee
 Teamwork • more direct reports
Engagement 2.  Sales
• more time selling
3.  Productivity
• board decks out 5
days in advance
• more internal
comms
Reference (mostly): http://peopleedge.mindtouch.us/@api/deki/files/400/ICFMCAPresItalyHandouts2[1].ppt
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
COS CAN ENSURE BOARD TIME AND
ENGAGEMENT REACHES POTENTIAL
INCREASES IN …

OPPORTUNITIES TO MEASURE

• General time • Managerial risks taken

effectiveness
• Stress and pressure
• Time spent reaching level

DECREASES IN …
decisions
• Quantity of decisions
• Quality of decisions
• Information sharing
• Degree of delegation
downwards

Reference (mostly): http://www.slideshare.net/guest3307d2/return-on-investment-in-executive-coaching

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
 WORKSHEET:
WHERE SHOULD YOUR COS FOCUS?

Operational Coaching /
Strategic Initiatives Stunt Double
Dashboards Accountability

 Communications  Definition  Meeting purpose  Provide

 Leadership  Data collection / and agenda summaries of
 Tracking analysis review internal meetings
 Coaching  Investigation  Pre-meeting  Represent
 Board meeting  Prepare preparation and company at
preparation Recommendation coaching external events
 Strategic s  Meeting follow-  ______________
planning  Eliminate up and tracking
 Decision making surprises  Time
/ sounding board  ______________ management
 ______________  Facilitate focus
 ___________
Constant Improvements in Personal and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

WORKSHEET:
WHAT OUTCOMES WOULD JUSTIFY COS?

 Productivity (CEO, Board, Company)

 Sales  Cost

 Output  Retention

 Teamwork  Employee Engagement

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

USE YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS TO
GUIDE NEXT STEPS
UNDERSTAND

There are as many

variations on this role
SPECIFICS

as there are
combinations of

CUSTOMIZE
PROCESS
CEOs, COSs and
companies.
Creation and staffing of
COS role requires a
particularly thoughtful
and structured
approach.

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

CHIEF OF STAFF JOURNEY

5
SELECT BEST
MATCH
4 CANDIDATE
SEARCH
3 CREATE JOB
DESCRIPTION

2 EXPLORE
SCOPE AND
PURPOSE When you’re ready, the “How to Hire
COS” materials provide:
1 EVALUATE • Worksheets
COS OPTION • Samples
• Advice from the field

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

REFERENCES (1 OF 2)

 CEO Time Allocation

 http://hbr.org/2009/05/what-only-the-ceo-can-do/ar/1
 http://www.voxeu.org/article/how-do-ceos-spend-their-time / Refutation:
http://blogs.windward.net/davidt/2012/05/06/lies-damn-lies-and-survey-results/
 http://www.reaganconsulting.com/CEO%20Leadership%20Study.pdf
 http://hbr.org/2013/09/make-time-for-the-work-that-matters/ar/1
 Comparative Advantage
 http://bostonvcblog.typepad.com/vc/2011/07/the-start-up-law-of-comparative-advantage.html
 Chief of Staff Resources
 http://whiterhinoreport.blogspot.com/2007/02/chief-of-staff-white-paper-back-by.html
 http://jamieflinchbaugh.com/2012/01/chief-of-staff-the-new-ceo-necessity-guest-post/
 http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4564956&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
 http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/19/news/companies/ceo_chief_of_staff.fortune/
 http://hbr.org/2009/01/picking-the-right-insider-for-ceo-succession/ar/1
 http://bensonhendrix.com/blog/2012/10/why-do-you-need-a-chief-of-staff/
 http://www.globalrecruiters.org/archivos/newsletters/sphere_ceooffice.pdf
 Job Descriptions: http://goo.gl/QcdBso

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013

REFERENCES (2 OF 2)

 Definition of Success/ROI
 http://www.slideshare.net/guest3307d2/return-on-investment-in-executive-coaching
 http://peopleedge.mindtouch.us/@api/deki/files/400/ICFMCAPresItalyHandouts2[1].ppt
 http://icf.files.cms-plus.com/FileDownloads/2013OrgCoachingStudy.pdf
 http://www.carolrossandassociates.com/research-organization.shtml
 http://libraryofprofessionalcoaching.com/research/roi/the-state-of-the-art-in-return-on-investment-roi-in-coaching/
 Founder CEO Dilemma
 http://bhorowitz.com/2010/04/28/why-we-prefer-founding-ceos/
 http://bhorowitz.com/2012/10/17/making-yourself-a-ceo/
 http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130123161202-1213-if-why-and-how-founders-should-hire-a-
professional-ceo
 http://www.scalefinance.com/replacing-ceos-in-vc-backed-companies/
 http://m.theatlantic.com/business/print/2011/09/steve-jobss-law-why-founders-make-better-leaders/244439/
 http://www.blog.altosventures.com/vc/2008/07/ousting-the-fou.html

PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013