A good chief of staff is as close to being indispensable as any employee could be. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme allied commander in Europe during World War II, was an avid golfer throughout his long military career, two-term presidency, and retirement. He understood—certainly from his military experience, but perhaps from his golf game as well—that many decisions didn’t need to reach his desk. They could be made by others. To ensure that, he became the first U.S. President to have a formal, full-time Chief of Staff to control access, information, and decision-making. A chief of staff has one of the most demanding jobs imaginable, often requiring the skills and temperament of a traffic cop, gatekeeper, data aggregator, analyst, strategist, psychologist, and decision-maker, while serving as the discrete confidant—some use the word “partner”—of a high-ranking official or C-suite executive. Chiefs of Staff At Work, On The Golf Course Their skill set, in fact, is similar in many respects to a top-notch golf caddy’s. Sure, you can play golf without a caddy; many weekend “duffers” do. But professionals, and other serious golfers, don’t. While a professional caddy’s duties may not perfectly parallel those of a government or corporate chief of staff, they come close. Caddies, like most other chiefs of staff, have multiple responsibilities, from keeping score to the more mundane, such as carrying the golfers’ equipment, keeping the clubs clean, and raking the sand to restore the contours of a bunker after their golfer chips out of a sand trap. MORE FOR YOU iOS 18.5—Apple Just Gave All iPhone Users 33 Reasons To Update Now ‘NYT Mini’ Crossword Hints And Answers For Wednesday, May 14 Trump Meets Syrian President And Says Dropping Sanctions Would ‘Give Them A Chance’ It’s not all grunt work, however. If you pay close attention, you’ll also see that professional caddies are deeply involved in the play. They serve as expert advisers to the golfer with whom they work (on distances, club selection, wind conditions, contours and condition of the greens, location of hazards, and placement of flags, among other matters), provide an all-important “second set of eyes” before many key decisions are made, and try to keep their boss focused when he or she is having a rough hole or an off day. Caddies are highly valued for their expertise. New Zealander Steve Williams, for example, caddied for Greg Norman for seven years, Raymond Floyd for 10, and Tiger Woods for a baker’s dozen. The fact that his job title is “caddy,” rather than something else, doesn’t negate the role he played. As Rory McIlroy said of Harry Diamond (a friend since boyhood and his caddy since 2017) following his victory at this year’s Masters championship, “this one is just as much his as it is mine.” What You Need To Succeed So, what are some of the key attributes Chiefs of Staff and CoS candidates should possess? Influence. Among other things, chiefs of staff often decide what gets on the agenda and how the items are prioritized; who gets face time with the boss and how much; what gets sent home for the boss to read and in what form; and whose calls get answered—and in what order. It’s a position of influence, and requires authority and influence to be exercised properly. People skills. In addition to long hours and hard work, often under stress, the chief of staff needs to know how to get along and facilitate congeniality. People skills—such as the ability to bring people together, calm tense situations, mediate disputes, and say “no” without hurting the rejected party’s feelings—are a must. Institutional knowledge. Iain Conn, former CEO of Centrica, a major British energy supplier, ranks institutional knowledge at or near the top. “I think it’s dangerous to bring in a CoS from outside the company. It’s not impossible, but I would counsel against it, because … institutional knowledge is really important,” he says. Foresight. While a chief of staff’s portfolio typically focuses primarily on the here and now and the day-to-day, it’s good to have a nose for tomorrow as well. While crystal ball gazing is notoriously unreliable, the more you know about the challenges and potential threats your organization faces, both internally and externally, the better able you can help deal with them if and when the time comes. Versatility. As Virginia Grebbien, former chief of staff at Parsons Corporation, the global engineering, infrastructure, and defense contractor, notes, “The chief of staff is a utility player. You can put that person wherever you need them.” But first they must know the business. That may give internal CoS candidates a built-in advantage, but it shouldn’t rule out “outsiders,” who need to be prepared to learn—perhaps by rotating through a six-month deep-immersion program at the side of the key executives and line managers with whom he or she will be working. A strong work ethic. This is no job for clock-watchers. A 2024 article by Patricia Sabga, executive editor of “The CEO Agenda,” quotes Rahul Desai, general manager of the Chief of Staff Network, a professional membership organization: “We solicited data on how many hours a week our members work,” he said, and “by and large it’s sixty-plus.” In short, a chief of staff is anything but a cookie-cutter position. If they’re doing their jobs right, they’re probably as close to being indispensable as any employee at any organization possibly could be. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades