✨🪄The One Where You Didn’t Need to Be a CoS to Be Strategic

Hey there 👋

This month at Office of the EA, we’re diving straight into the EA to Chief of Staff conversation, the hype, the pressure, and the much-needed reality check.

Today’s issue? The One Where You Didn’t Need to Be a CoS to Be Strategic. Because let’s be honest: a whole lot of EAs are already doing CoS-level work… just without the rebrand. 💅

Let’s just say... the conversation’s been 🌶️ heating up, and yes, we noticed. 👀

To be clear, we’ve got nothing but love for our CoS counterparts. This isn’t shade, it’s clarity. We’re just here to separate facts from fluff and call out the narrative that every great EA must want to become a Chief of Staff.

And let’s not ignore this part: the people pushing that narrative? They often benefit from us not defining our roles, or recognizing our scope for what it truly is.

All month long, we’re unpacking the myths, the messaging, and what real growth looks like, when it’s defined by you, not someone else’s idea of a “next step.”

With love, and lots of coffee ☕️ ,

Chrissy

In today’s Issue

• 🧠 The Real Issue: It Was Never About the Title

• 💬 BS Translator

• 💡 Resource of the Week: The Strategic Scope Audit

• 😆 Just For Fun

🧠 The Real Issue: It Was Never About the Title

Let’s clear something up.

Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff are not comparable roles. This isn’t 🍎 apples to apples, it’s apples to 🥑 avocados. Sure, there’s overlap. Both support senior leadership, juggle shifting priorities, and keep the machine running. But the roles are built for different functions.

The Chief of Staff is a strategic operator. The EA is a high-level integrator. Calling one a promotion from the other is like saying EAs who lead projects should become Project Managers. We manage projects constantly, but no one’s flooding our LinkedIn Feeds trying to steer us in that direction.

It lives in its own lane. And so do we.

Let’s also not forget: Chief of Staff is a relatively new, still-developing role, one that’s only gained mainstream traction in the last few years. It’s not part of a long-established career ladder. And yet, we keep seeing it pitched as the next “logical step” for high-performing EAs.

But here’s the thing: a promotion is typically vertical within a professional track, like an associate becoming a senior associate at a law firm, or a resident becoming an attending physician. Same domain, deeper mastery, greater responsibility.

Jumping from EA to Chief of Staff? That’s not a ladder rung, it’s a career pivot. A transition into a fundamentally different role.

Sure, it may come with a pay bump or a broader scope. But so would moving from EA to Product Manager, or EA to Head of Ops. That doesn’t make those roles a promotion, it makes them a shift.

There’s nothing wrong with using the EA role as a stepping stone. But let’s not pretend this is some linear, inevitable path. Framing it that way flattens the complexity of both jobs and does a disservice to the people working hard in each lane.

And truthfully? We never expected the people who benefit from keeping our role misunderstood to be the ones advocating for our clarity 🤷‍♀️ . This conversation was never for them, it’s for us.

Because let’s be honest: the idea that “Chief of Staff” is the ultimate EA glow-up? It flattens the depth of what we already do.

What we need isn’t a title change. What we need is visibility.

That means vocalizing our impact. Speaking up about what we drive, lead, fix, and improve. It means not shying away from sharing our wins with our execs, and showing, not just telling, the value we bring.

That’s how we shift the narrative. That’s how we help the next generation of EAs walk into roles that are seen for what they really are: strategic, expansive, and powerful.

The goal isn’t to upgrade. It’s to own your lane, and light the path for whoever’s coming next. 💪 

🔍 Quick Gut Check:

Are you chasing a new role… or running from a lack of recognition?

Ask yourself:

• Am I already doing strategic work without credit?

• Do I want the role or just the respect?

• Will a new title fix the problem… or repackage it?

💬 BS Translator

💡 Resource of the Week: The Strategic Scope Audit

Think you have to be a Chief of Staff to do strategic work? Think again.

This worksheet helps you take stock of what you’re actually doing, and spoiler: it might already say a lot about your impact, regardless of title.

Use the Strategic Scope Audit to:

• Take inventory of your current responsibilities

• Spot where your work leans strategic vs. operational

• Start conversations about scope, influence, and recognition

Download the free worksheet [here] and use it as a mirror, a conversation starter, or just a reminder that your scope already says a lot, title or not.

💬 Let's Talk About It

Have you been told you should become a CoS but weren’t sure you wanted to?

Hit reply or drop your take in the comments. We’ll be breaking this down all month long.

😆 Just For Fun

corporatenatalie

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This is so relatable on so many levels. Anyone else guilty of doing this? 🙋‍♀️ 

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