My (Incorrect) Initial Assumption
When I stepped into the Chief of Staff role at Deloitte, I thought my job was simple: help the leader succeed. What I learned quickly was that this role isn’t about working in the shadows—it’s about ensuring the leader shines in the spotlight. You can’t just focus on the outcomes; you have to manage how those outcomes are perceived.
This subtle but crucial difference separates a good Chief of Staff from a great one. And in today’s high-stakes corporate world, perception is just as important as performance.
What I Did as Chief of Staff at Deloitte
At Deloitte, I served as Chief of Staff for the Quebec Consulting Leader. My responsibilities were wide-ranging, touching almost every aspect of the business:
- Talent Management: Oversaw recruiting, employee engagement, and workspace planning.
- Financial Oversight: Reviewed revenue targets, utilization, and key performance drivers.
- Pipeline & Strategy: Monitored our business pipeline, ensuring alignment with long-term goals.
- Market Positioning: Supported branding efforts and established external partnerships.
- Communications: Crafted messages that highlighted Quebec’s contributions at the national level.
- Leadership Operations: Organized leadership meetings, set agendas, and tracked execution.
- Internal Culture: Sponsored employee initiatives and coordinated firm-wide events.
The work was complex and often behind the scenes, but the results shaped how our practice was perceived across the firm and in the market.
The Real Job: Making Leaders Look Good
Here’s the truth: a Chief of Staff’s job isn’t just to help a leader succeed. It’s to ensure they succeed while looking good doing it.
- Perception matters. In senior leadership, outcomes are only half the story. If a leader appears disorganized, reactive, or disconnected, their reputation suffers—even if the numbers are strong.
- You are the mirror. The Chief of Staff reflects order, polish, and preparedness back onto the leader. If you’ve prepped the talking points, sharpened the deck, and anticipated tough questions, the leader shows up looking confident and in control.
- Managing optics. Success has to be visible. Wins need to be communicated clearly and consistently to employees, stakeholders, and other executives.
This doesn’t mean being superficial. It means recognizing that leadership is as much about trust and confidence as it is about raw results.
What It Takes to Be a Strong Chief of Staff
So how do you excel in this unique role? Based on my experience, here are the key traits:
- Anticipation: See around corners. Know what your leader will need before they do.
- Polish: Ensure every briefing, meeting, and communication makes the leader look prepared and credible.
- Influence without authority: You’ll work across functions, so you need soft power—relationship-building, trust, and discretion.
- Strategic thinking: Keep one eye on the long game, aligning day-to-day operations with multi-year goals.
- Emotional intelligence: Understand not just the business, but the personalities, politics, and perceptions at play.
The combination of these skills transforms the role from being a “project manager in disguise” to a trusted strategic partner.
Conclusion
Being a Chief of Staff is one of the most rewarding—and misunderstood—roles in leadership. It’s not about chasing the spotlight. It’s about making sure your leader stands in it with confidence, clarity, and credibility.
Because in the end, success isn’t enough. Success that looks good is what truly makes a leader—and their Chief of Staff—thrive.
