New York Times, Why So Many C.E.O.s Are Getting a Chief of Staff:
Since early 2020, postings for [a chief of staff] role have increased 85 percent, according to Indeed, the job posting site. That’s a faster clip than for executive assistants and secretaries, whose jobs are also tied to helping business leaders manage their day.
Unlike executive assistants, the chief of staff is often a senior level role, according to data from Indeed, because they serve as a second brain for the busy boss.
An executive assistant “figures out what time something goes on the calendar, but a chief of staff figures out whether it should go on the calendar at all,” said Clara Ma, founder and chief executive of Ask a Chief of Staff, a networking platform that brings together chiefs of staff across various industries. According to a survey she conducted, the position pays $150,000 to more than $200,000 a year, depending on experience. …
A chief of staff’s tasks can vary widely, depending on what the boss wants or what a business needs. Some have direct reports; others don’t. The common thread is that the chief of staff has a single constituent: the boss. …
After winning over the boss, the chief of staff has to gain the respect of other executives. He or she makes sure different business units (and their leaders) are communicating well with one another and completing the companywide tasks that the chief executive wants done. Leaders turn to their chief of staff for a neutral perspective when weighing differences of opinion.
Unlike in the military or politics, chiefs of staff in business “don’t have structural authority,” said David Astorino, senior partner at the leadership consulting firm RHR. …
While chief executives stressed that the complexity of business right now makes having a trusted adviser essential, some executives want a chief of staff even if they don’t quite know what to do with one.
“There’s a lot of people who are like Oprah — you should get a chief of staff! You should get a chief of staff,” Ms. Berardi said. “They’re such a follow the leader when it comes to this position.”
AALS Lens: Holding the Center: The Critical Role of the Chief of Staff in Legal Education, by Katie Crowley (Associate Dean for Administration & Chief of Staff, Catholic) & Kellye Y. Testy (CEO & Executive Director, AALS):
From our two vantage points — one forged in the daily, often unseen work of serving as a Chief of Staff after coming up through the ranks of nearly every corner of their law school, the other shaped by years in the dean’s chair and national leadership roles across legal education — we have come to share a simple conviction: no dean should have to lead a law school alone.
There are just under 200 ABA-accredited law schools in the United States. While a growing number of schools have embraced formal Chief of Staff-type roles, many still rely on the dean to carry too much of the weight for strategic leadership, operational oversight, and institutional memory. To be sure, deans are supported by capable academic leaders, but their tenures are often too brief and their administrative portfolios are inherently part-time, layered atop critical teaching and scholarly responsibilities. Likewise, while the dean benefits from strong professional staff in key functional areas, such as admissions, career services, development, and finance, those leaders are necessarily focused on running their own complex operations. What remains missing in many schools is a senior role devoted to integrating these pieces, sustaining momentum, and ensuring that the work of leadership does not reset with each change in personnel.
In an environment marked by constant change, increasing complexity, and frequent leadership turnover, the legacy model of law school leadership and management is becoming harder to sustain. Modern legal education is demanding and increasingly “24/7.” There are seasons of confidence and forward motion, and other times when everything feels urgent, fragile, and on the brink. As such, long-term strategy is repeatedly interrupted by immediate realities. In that environment, the Chief of Staff becomes the person who holds the center: steady when emotions run high, attentive to what others miss, quietly absorbing pressure so the dean can focus on strategic priorities and resource development, and the institution can keep moving forward.
Where the Role Comes From, and Why It Endures. The Chief of Staff role did not arise by accident. It emerged in military settings where leaders learned, often the hard way, that strategy and execution, while inseparable, cannot always be carried by the same person at the same time. Commanders needed a trusted partner to translate intent into coordinated action, to absorb operational complexity, and to anticipate risk before it became failure. The corporate sector soon adopted the model as the size and complexities of business operations grew beyond the capacity of the “one CEO” model.
That logic translates cleanly to law schools. As institutions grow more complex, a dean’s effectiveness can depend on having someone to manage execution, so the dean can focus on mission, strategy, and long-term direction. The Chief of Staff does not replace leadership or compete for authority. The role strengthens leadership by making it sustainable. …
If the origins of the role explain why it exists, the work of the institutional doer explains how it functions day-to-day. The title “Chief of Staff” can be misleading. It sounds lofty. In reality, the role, when performed well, is grounded. If there is a mission-critical project without a clear home, the Chief of Staff becomes the home. Reaccreditation efforts, cross-unit initiatives, sensitive personnel matters, crisis response, and the work that inevitably falls between offices tend to land here. …
By blocking and tackling the day-to-day execution of institutional priorities, wherever they arise, the Chief of Staff creates the space for the dean to think at a higher altitude about mission, strategy, and the long-term direction of the school. When the role is working as intended, the dean is freed to lead where only the dean can lead. …
Steadiness, Judgment, and Seeing What Others Miss. Law schools can be intense organizations. Strong personalities, high stakes, and real consequences create emotional turbulence. One of the least visible but most important parts of the Chief of Staff role is absorbing that turbulence without amplifying it. …
Memory, History, and Continuity. Deans move fast. They have to. Over time, the Chief of Staff becomes the institutional memory, tracking commitments, context, and history so that nothing important is lost to pace. …
Service as the Organizing Principle. All of this work, execution, steadiness, perception, memory, and continuity, rests on a single organizing principle: service. The students and the team come first. The institution comes first. The mission comes first. The dean comes first. The Chief of Staff often does the most when they leave the lightest fingerprints. …
The Partnership Depends on the Dean. The case for a Chief of Staff, however, is inseparable from the kind of leadership willing to build that partnership. The success of a Chief of Staff does not rest on the role alone. It depends equally on the kind of dean who chooses to build that partnership. Not every leadership style makes room for a Chief of Staff, and that is worth saying plainly. …
The Quiet Architecture. Thriving law schools are rarely built by accident. They endure and succeed because of the quiet, disciplined stewardship of many individuals and teams. Within that work, the Chief of Staff often serves as the unseen structure that helps keep the institution connected and upright through cycles of change and challenge.
As law schools face significant headwinds from many sources, we need effective leadership that lasts. Decanal and thus institutional success will be furthered by a structure that includes a capable Chief of Staff who stands together with the dean, holding the center when it matters most.
I have been blessed beyond measure having two outstanding Chiefs of Staff during my time as Dean of Pepperdine Caruso Law School: Danny Dewalt (2017-2019), who served as Chief of Staff and Associate Dean of Administration and Leadership Development in my first two years as dean before leaving the law school to serve as Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President for Global Impact for Pepperdine University’s new President, Jim Gash, formerly Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Admissions, Alumni, and Global Justice at the law school; and Arnold Barba (2022-), Chief of Staff, Senior Associate Dean, Co-Director of Parris Institute for Professional Excellence, and Assistant Professor of Law and Practice.
Law school chiefs of staff:
- Christene A. J. (Wash U)
- Frank Aiello (Chicago)
- Jay Baer (Michigan)
- Arnold Barba (Pepperdine)
- Katie Crowley (Catholic)
- Susan Fleischmann (Stanford)
- Eden Harrington (Texas)
- Jenny Kwon (UC-SF)
- Sabrina Mendoza (Miami)
- Diane Miller (Northwestern)
- Magdelena Morrow (NYU)
- Lara Pulliam (Georgia)
- Seth Zweifler (Penn)
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