The Chief of Staff at a growth stage company can play a pivotal role in taking any company to a new level. Often an extension of the CEO or the entire leadership team, the Chief of Staff can serve as a sounding board and new channel of communication that helps remove barriers, surface new ideas, and create a natural feedback loop between leadership and employees. 

Simply put, the Chief of Staff role done well helps a business operate more smoothly. 

Our latest guest on Aspiring Ops, Garr Punnett, captured this sentiment perfectly when he referred to his role as the Chief of Staff at Rheaply as being a ‘force multiplier’ across all areas of the business.  

On this episode, Garr shares why he views the Chief of Staff role as one that needs to be willing to embrace ambiguity, and why a problem-solving mentality is so important for an early stage company. 

For those Aspiring Ops leaders wondering what it looks like to join a startup as the fifth employee, and scale yourself, as well as the company through a Series A and beyond, you aren’t going to want to miss this one. 

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Our Takeaway

The role of a great Strategy and Operations leader at a growth stage company is always evolving. Partially because the company is continuously growing, but also due in part to the nature of the role. As Garr shares towards the end of the show, he and his team are always on the lookout for gaps in the business. 

Russell Lester, CFO at Calendly, also spoke on this topic on the first episode of Season One when he referenced curiosity as a key attribute he hires for and something that drives his team’s mission statement to create proactively persuasive insights.

For Strategy and Operations leaders, so often we get stuck reporting the news rather than making it. It’s important to create a culture and mindset within our teams of searching for gaps within the business or opportunities that help tear down silos and accelerate the company forward. 

Interested in learning more about Rheaply? Check out their site here. 

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