<aside> <img src="/icons/arrow-right_orange.svg" alt="/icons/arrow-right_orange.svg" width="40px" /> From the Guide to the Chief of Staff role

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Oprah, Elon & Obama all had killer Chiefs of Staff.

The common ingredients of each one:

Crafting a Chief of Staff role is like making the perfect pastry.

Most pastries start with a combination of flour, sugar and butter.

Similarly, Chief of Staff roles all start with the same basic ingredients:

operating, firefighting, organizing, communicating, supporting, etc.

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Five Zones of Common Need

In addition to these main ingredients (core competencies), there are five additional common ingredients (types of experience) that you’ll need in different amounts as dictated by your Zone of Genius and the needs of your business.

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  1. Thought Partner: Thinks through and acts as a sounding board to weigh ideas. Pushes you to be the better version of themselves (encourages them to do the things they need to do that they can’t delegate), may give feedback on improvement, etc.

  2. Domain-Specific: A focused business leader who manages and runs a specific set of domains of your business or businesses on a day-to-day and long-term strategy level.

  3. Operations Guru: A junior COO. Ensures day-to-day critical projects happen, supports/manages staff.

  4. Special Projects Lead: Autonomously executes important initiatives with little oversight. Implements the directive: “Can you make X happen?”

  5. Personal Brand Master: Writes and scales in your voice. Manages all of your social channels and public-facing content.

<aside> <img src="/icons/arrow-right_orange.svg" alt="/icons/arrow-right_orange.svg" width="40px" /> Read Next: CoS vs. EA vs. COO

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About Matt

Matt Schnuck is a serial entrepreneur, investor, advisor and content creator focused on EQ, entrepreneurship and building modern holding companies.

<aside> <img src="/icons/globe_orange.svg" alt="/icons/globe_orange.svg" width="40px" /> www.mattschnuck.com

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