Did I mention lonely?

As a close confidant to the CEO, you’ll have no one to confide in. Your loyalty to your boss and the organization will prohibit you from sharing your challenges with others. Your access to confidential matters will make it hard to seek counsel from many in your organization. And because you want to make life easier on your boss, it’s unlikely you’ll go to him or her when times get tough.

So, what’s a chief of staff to do?

• Remember that isolation is a reality of the job.
• Maintain friendships far outside the workplace; they can be a source of feedback and relief.
• Seek a mentor who has experience as a chief of staff, someone who can relate to the unique challenges of the role and give you insights and wisdom.

What I won’t tell you is to turn off the work, maintain work/life balance, or find outlets that disconnect you from your responsibilities. Those are freedoms afforded to very few chiefs of staff. But I would encourage, on the rare occasions that you can:

• Have dinner with family and friends.
• Do something you enjoy like concerts, museums, or walks in the park.
• Read a good book that has nothing to do with work or self-improvement.
• Just sit idle on the couch watching a movie, while eating ice cream.

Those moments won’t come often. We chiefs of staff tend to run a marathon like it’s a sprint. It’s why we’re good at what we do.

But we won’t stay good very long unless we find ways to combat the key hazard of the job!

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