This is the first of two articles on how CEOs and their support staffs can work together to strengthen CEOs’ effectiveness with customers, shareholders, stakeholders, and citizens. This article examines the structure, roles, and practices of strong CEO offices and support staff. The next article will discuss how CEOs can develop high-performing support teams.

The most valuable resources of CEOs are their time and energy. They need to be efficient and effective in each interaction. High-performing support staffs can help their bosses achieve these aims, which are even more important in the coronavirus era, while amplifying their reach and sharpening their focus.

By CEO staff, we mean chiefs of staff and executive assistants (EAs). Less commonly, an organization will have a dedicated office of the CEO. In bringing structure, roles, and practices to the CEO’s day, these critical staff members can boost a CEO’s effectiveness.

As well as actively leading, CEOs must make room for strategically focused reflection and creativity, energizing the organization, and receiving candid feedback. CEO staffs help their bosses identify, prioritize, and protect time for these things, which can make the difference between realized ambition and lost opportunity.

Despite their importance, the inner workings of CEO support staffs are not generally well understood. Two otherwise similar companies can have vastly different staff practices and structures. Our recent, pre-COVID-19 survey of 94 companies and in-depth interviews with EAs and chiefs of staff reveals current practices and suggests some new approaches.^[1]We surveyed individuals at 94 enterprises. More than one-third of the respondents were CEOs, 40% were executive assistants, and about one-quarter were chiefs of staff. We also conducted in-depth … Continue reading