Emily Sander shares feedback from a listener who disagreed with her advice to ask, "How can I make your life easier?" as a new Chief of Staff. The listener argued this question could reduce the role to admin work and distract from driving the team's main objectives. Emily Sander explains her view that the approach can help in some situations, especially early on, but agrees it's important for a Chief of Staff to adapt and stay focused on results.

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Want more practical Chief of Staff advice? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.

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Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:25 Listener Pushback Setup

01:40 Fear of Admin Pigeonhole

03:31 When Empathy Makes Sense

04:53 Mixing Approaches as Chief of Staff

06:36 Drive Objectives Hard

09:23 Adapting by Team and Context

11:29 Feedback Invitation and Wrap

Rohit Bassi shares how his transition from consulting at McKinsey led him into a Chief of Staff role at a major PE-backed company, exposing him to real-world operations, M&A, and industry-changing deals. He explains his concept of "people quotient" (PQ) as a framework for evaluating leadership, organizational structure, and talent operations, and discusses how Chiefs of Staff can use PQ tools to make quick, impactful decisions about teams and company growth. The episode includes practical tips for applying PQ in both private equity due diligence and daily business operations.

Interested in private equity? Be sure to check out Emily's other podcast, Private Equity Experience.

Link Mentioned:
Rohit Bassi’s Website

Get in touch with Emily:
Want to chat with Emily? Book a quick clarity call here.

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Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:52 Rohit Chief of Staff Journey

02:38 Inside the CEO Seat

05:08 From Operator to Investor

08:07 PE Basics and Due Diligence

09:28 What Is People Quotient

11:41 PQ Pillars and No Scores

16:28 Why PE Misses People

25:17 Using PQ as Chief of Staff

28:23 Tools, Next Steps, Wrap Up

Emily Sander talks about how consultants who become Chief of Staff often excel at big-picture thinking and mapping companywide projects, but tend to get stuck over-analyzing instead of taking action. She shares real stories of consultants perfecting charts and data while delaying implementation, and suggests asking yourself if you need to "think more or do more" to avoid getting in your own way. The episode highlights both the strengths and blind spots consultants bring to the Chief of Staff role.

Get in touch with Emily:
Ready to move from overthinking to execution? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.

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Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:25 Background Shapes Your Lens

01:14 Consultant Superpowers

02:14 Analysis Paralysis Trap

02:58 Start Imperfectly

04:37 Think More Or Do More

05:48 Stop Getting In Your Way

07:09 Pretty Charts Vs Progress

09:13 Stakeholders And Big Picture

11:46 Wrap Up And Sponsor

Emily Sander talks with Yorm Ackuaku about building visibility as a Chief of Staff, especially in marketing-led organizations like Vista and Weight Watchers. Yorm shares practical tactics, such as highlighting team achievements on Slack, running engaging all-hands meetings, and managing culture during layoffs. She also gives advice for Chiefs of Staff working with new principals and for those navigating global teams.

Get in touch with Emily:
Want to chat with Emily? Book a quick clarity call here: https://www.nextlevel.coach/clarity-call

Free Leadership Resources: https://nextlevel.coach/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilysander/

Website: https://nextlevel.coach

Newsletter: https://emilysander.podia.com/newsletter-signup

Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:47 Making the CoS Role Visible

02:34 First 30 Days Relationship Map

06:30 Culture Rituals and Recognition

10:09 Leading Through Layoffs

13:34 Partnering With Your Principal

16:17 Adapting to a New CMO Style

21:09 Global Career and Culture Lessons

35:36 Final Advice and Wrap Up

Emily Sander shares a practical tip for communicating with busy executives: start with the bottom line first, then give a little necessary context, and invite questions if needed. Using the iceberg metaphor, Emily Sander explains that a Chief of Staff usually knows much more than they should share up front, and most conversations only need the essentials to help leaders make quick decisions.

Get in touch with Emily:
Want to sharpen how you communicate with executives? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.

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Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:25 The Bottom Line Tip

01:32 Bring the Decision Forward

02:35 Iceberg Communication Model

04:12 Resist Showing Your Work

05:03 Reverse Engineer the Details

06:29 When Longer Talks Matter

Executives and Chiefs of Staff share practical stories about how the Chief of Staff role shapes company culture, trust, and growth. Tim Moore explains how his Chief of Staff acts as his proxy to scale leadership, while Jessica Gonzalez highlights how having Ivan as her Chief of Staff lets her spend more time with her kids and trust things will get done. Guests discuss hiring from within, the unique qualities needed for the role, and the importance of loyalty, communication, and partnership.

Get in touch with Emily:
Want to chat with Emily? Book a quick clarity call here.

Free Leadership Resources

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Newsletter

Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:42 Tim Moore

05:04 Jessica Gonzalez

09:38 Perry Knoppert

18:27 Tracy Van Grack

24:50 Erika Aquino

Emily Sander answers a listener’s question about moving a tech company to AI-first, highlighting challenges when people use AI excessively or without checks. She shares practical ideas like approved use cases, tiered approval for AI spend, and the need for quality controls. Emily Sander also points out the importance of balancing AI experimentation with making sure standards and outcomes stay high.

Get in touch with Emily:
Want help leading your organization through AI adoption? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.

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Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:25 Listener Question Setup

01:20 AI First Culture Shift

02:11 Experimenting vs Standardizing

03:34 Trust but Verify

05:05 Token Spend Guardrails

06:45 Quality Checks and Controls

07:39 Center the Pendulum

Emily Sander shares a simple trick to boost energy and engagement in presentations: think about something you love, like movies, then bring that same excitement to your business talk. She uses a real story about bombing a dry run at a Risk Summit and how talking about her favorite movies helped her improve. Chiefs of Staff and executives can try this method to sound less flat or nervous during important presentations.

Get in touch with Emily:
Want to show up with more confidence and energy in your presentations? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.

Free Leadership Resources

LinkedIn

Website

Newsletter

Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:32 Why Presentations Fall Flat

02:31 Practice and Record Yourself

04:31 My First Big Dry Run

07:08 The Bombed Presentation

13:41 Monday Redemption Moment

16:10 Risk Summit Stage Debut

18:23 Beyond the Trick Long Term

20:37 Try It and Share Back

22:10 Wrap Up and Sponsor