LEVEL UP
“Chief of Staff” Looks Good On You
You have a clear vision for your career. You see one bright shiny goal at the top of your climb: becoming chief of staff. So how do you get from where you are now to where you want to be?
A member from State of The Executive Assistant asked herself this same question. Here’s what you can learn from her journey:
Prepare a pitch. You’ll need to answer two overarching (and inevitable) questions:
1) “What value would you bring as chief of staff?”
Paint a picture of all the organizational problems and needs you could address as chief of staff.
- Be specific about your plans.
- Explain how your plans hedge on your growth into a new role.
2) “Why can’t you just take on these projects in your current role?”
- Your answer might touch on the extra support staff you could manage or additional training that would strengthen your plans.
Create a development plan. After you’ve sold your potential value as chief of staff, it’s time to ask for what you need. Create a list detailing…
- The skills you want to develop.
- The support you need to develop these skills. (E.g. tuition assistance for graduate school or a certificate program.)
- How these new skills equal solutions and add value to your organization.
Be ready to adapt. The EA who inspired this segment didn’t immediately land her dream position. However, when leadership turned down her pitch, she handled the news with professionalism and maturity.
Most importantly, she asked them where they did see her if not in a Chief of Staff role. By doing this, she invited a compromise and extended the conversation, ultimately earning tuition reimbursement for her MBA and also the opportunity to prepare, in smaller steps than she originally envisioned, for her dream role.
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