What is the ROI of adding a Chief of Staff? At what point should a CEO consider this option? How should a candidate think about the role? This presentation is for both sides of the relationship, the CEO and the potential Chief of Staff, to think through what is a fairly ambiguous role and what objectives make sense.
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Chief of Staff to CEO – when, why and how to hire one
1. CHIEF OF STAFF TO CEO:
WHY DO YOU NEED ONE?
BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS
2. LONELY AND UNNATURAL:
THE MAKING OF A FOUNDER CEO
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
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.
3. HOW COS WORKED IN LINKEDIN EARLY
DAYS
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
• 2003: Started
LinkedIn
• 2004: Hired Sarah as
Chief of Staff
• 2005: Began looking
for professional CEO
• 2007: Brought in Dan
Nye
• 2008: Came back as
CEO
• 2009: Brought in Jeff
Weiner
• 2004 – 2007: Chief of
Staff
• Responsible for all
day to day
operations for
LinkedIn.
• CFO, acting VP
Product, and
responsible for
HR, Sales, and
Customer
Operations.
• 2007 – 2009: VP
Revenue and
Customer Operations
REID HOFFMAN
CEO
SARAH IMBACH
Chief of Staff
4. COS ROLE IS FLEXIBLE,
CHOOSE AREAS WHERE MOST LEVERAGE IS
CREATED
Strategic Initiatives
• Communication
• Leadership
• Tracking
• Coaching
• Board meeting
preparation
• Strategic
planning
• Decision making
/ sounding board
Operational
Dashboards
• Definition
• Data collection /
analysis
• Investigation
• Prepare
Recommendations
• Eliminate
surprises
Coaching /
Accountability
• Meeting purpose
and agenda
review
• Pre-meeting
preparation and
coaching
• Meeting follow-
up and tracking
• Time
management
• Facilitate focus
Stunt Double
• Provide
summaries of
internal meetings
• Represent
company at
external events
Constant Improvements in Personal and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
5. 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
6. ANY ONE TRIGGER CAN BE ENOUGH TO
JUSTIFY CREATING COS POSITION
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
Needs more time to think strategically
Needs more time to think long-term
Needs more time to be face of company
Surprises occur too frequently
Overwhelmed by tasks that could be delegated
CEO
CEO time and bandwidth are growth bottleneck
Company not ready for COO or cannot find right
candidate
Board meeting prep requires owner, additional time
and thought
Board
Not enough quality management time
Cross-functional initiatives needing attention
Gaps in communication and coordination
Exec Team
7. ASSESS WHERE TIME IS SPENT VS.
BENCHMARKS
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
Sample Benchmark Distribution
Relative Differences By Company Size
8. WORKSHEET:
HOW IS YOUR TIME CURRENTLY SPENT?
Product
People
Business Strategy /
Partnerships
Operations
Sales & Marketing
Investor Relations
Other: ______________
How many hours do you spend in each on a weekly/monthly basis?
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
xx%
xx%
xx%xx%
xx%
xx%
xx%
9. WORKSHEET:
ENVISION IDEAL TIME 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
Sample CEO Ideal Allocation
10. COS ROI IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE BUT
IMPORTANT TO ESTIMATE
ROI will derive from improvements in
one or more of the following:
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
Reference (mostly): http://peopleedge.mindtouch.us/@api/deki/files/400/ICFMCAPresItalyHandouts2[1].ppt
Productivity (CEO, Board, Company)
Sales Cost
Employee
Engagement
Teamwork
Retention Output
What are the outcomes
expected from adding a
Chief of Staff?
Define a set of
outcomes, beyond the
most likely case, that if
achieved would show a
desired ROI
ACTION ITEM
HARDERTOSOFTERBENEFITS
1. Cost
• more direct reports
2. Sales
• more time selling
3. Productivity
• board decks out 5
days in advance
• more internal
comms
EXAMPLE
11. COS CAN ENSURE BOARD TIME AND
ENGAGEMENT REACHES POTENTIAL
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
Reference (mostly): http://www.slideshare.net/guest3307d2/return-on-investment-in-executive-coaching
• General time
effectiveness
• Time spent reaching
decisions
• Quantity of decisions
• Quality of decisions
• Information sharing
• Degree of delegation
downwards
• Managerial risks taken
• Stress and pressure
level
INCREASESIN…
DECREASESIN…
OPPORTUNITIES TO MEASURE
12. WORKSHEET:
WHERE SHOULD YOUR COS FOCUS?
Strategic Initiatives
Communications
Leadership
Tracking
Coaching
Board meeting
preparation
Strategic
planning
Decision making
/ sounding board
______________
Operational
Dashboards
Definition
Data collection /
analysis
Investigation
Prepare
Recommendation
s
Eliminate
surprises
______________
Coaching /
Accountability
Meeting purpose
and agenda
review
Pre-meeting
preparation and
coaching
Meeting follow-
up and tracking
Time
management
Facilitate focus
___________
Stunt Double
Provide
summaries of
internal meetings
Represent
company at
external events
______________
Constant Improvements in Personal and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
13. WORKSHEET:
WHAT OUTCOMES WOULD JUSTIFY COS?
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
Productivity (CEO, Board, Company)
Sales Cost
Employee Engagement Teamwork
Retention Output
14. USE YOUR SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS TO
GUIDE NEXT STEPS
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
There are as many
variations on this role
as there are
combinations of
CEOs, COSs and
companies.
Creation and staffing of
COS role requires a
particularly thoughtful
and structured
approach.
UNDERSTAND
SPECIFICS
CUSTOMIZE
PROCESS
15. CHIEF OF STAFF JOURNEY
PREPARED BY MELISSA WINGARD-PHILLIPS, 20 SEPTEMBER 2013
EVALUATE
COS OPTION
EXPLORE
SCOPE AND
PURPOSE
CREATE JOB
DESCRIPTION
CANDIDATE
SEARCH
SELECT BEST
MATCH
1
2
3
4
5
When you’re ready, the “How to Hire
COS” materials provide:
• Worksheets
• Samples
• Advice from the field
17. 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
18. 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
Editor's Notes
For company to succeed, CEO needs to grow into role as the company growsCEO performance impacts every area of company and needs to be top notchEveryone wants the founding CEO to succeed, replacement is difficult and riskyBut CEOs are made, not born. No one starts ready to be CEO.Being CEO requires continual discomfort and ongoing personal developmentGrowth is invariably constrained by the bandwidth and skills of the CEOHiring a Chief of Staff to CEO will support and accelerate the making of the CEO, maximizing the potential of the company.COS brings additional bandwidth and complementary skills as well as providing the CEO with a vital sounding board
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