What does it take to sit at the right hand of three different CEOs, back to back, and make each partnership work?
In this Fan Favorite episode, Cameron Herold sits down with Laurie Aaron, former Chief of Staff at AT&T and now founder of Arron Coaching, LLC, to revisit one of the show’s most clarifying conversations on a role almost nobody truly understands.
Laurie’s path is rare: 30 years inside AT&T and three successive CEOs gave her a front-row seat to how the chief of staff role must reinvent itself with every leader. She breaks down what separates a chief of staff from a COO and an executive assistant, and why the best ones prevent problems the CEO never even sees.
Whether you’re wondering if you need a chief of staff, or wondering if you already are one, this conversation demystifies the role end to end. Listen now.
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Timestamped Highlights
00:00 Why the Chief of Staff Role Is So Misunderstood
02:10 The Origins: From the Military to the Corporate World
04:30 What Every Effective Chief of Staff Has in Common
07:15 Chief of Staff vs. COO: Where the Roles Diverge
10:05 My Right Hand and My Left Hand: Chief of Staff vs. Executive Assistant
13:40 How Title Inflation Diluted the Role
16:20 What Chiefs of Staff Are Actually Paid
19:00 Writing Who Has Your Back?
21:30 Can Any C-Suite Leader Have a Chief of Staff?
24:15 Where the Best Chiefs of Staff Really Come From
27:00 Why You Should Look Internally First
30:10 Building the Interview Squad
33:45 How Trust Gets Built Between a CEO and Their Chief
36:20 The Handshake Meeting: Setting the Vows
39:50 Knowing When and How to Challenge a CEO
43:00 Coaching CEOs and Chiefs of Staff as a Team
45:30 Speak Yourself Into the Room: Laurie’s Advice to Her Younger Self
About the Guest
Laurie Aaron built her expertise on the chief of staff role over 30 years at AT&T, where she served as chief of staff to three different CEOs in succession. She is now the founder and CEO of Arron Coaching, LLC, a trusted advisor and executive coach to C-Suite leaders and chiefs of staff, and the author of Who Has Your Back?: A Leader’s Guide to Getting the Support You Need by the Chief of Staff You Deserve.
Mentioned Resources
The Misunderstood Role of the COO
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