The Modern CEO – Details, episodes & analysis

The Modern CEO's Guide to the Chief of Staff Role

In this episode of The Modern CEO, we covered the rising significance of the Chief of Staff role, joined by experienced Chief of Staff Catherine Shepherd and Nick from the Chief of Staff Association.

Catherine provides an insightful look into her day-to-day responsibilities, the importance of building trust and authority, and how she amplifies the effectiveness of a Principal or CEO.

Nick offers a broader perspective on the evolving nature of the role globally and identifies key indicators for organizations to know when they're ready to hire a Chief of Staff.

Tune in to understand the vital role a Chief of Staff plays in enhancing leadership and operational efficiency.

00:00 Introduction to the Chief of Staff Role
00:17 Meet the Guests: Catherine and Nick
01:21 A Day in the Life of a Chief of Staff
03:11 Stakeholder Engagement and Project Management
05:25 The Fixer Role and Ad Hoc Responsibilities
08:50 Different Models of Chief of Staff
11:36 Delivering Value to the CEO
16:13 Building Trust and Authority
17:56 When to Hire a Chief of Staff
24:11 Pathways to Becoming a Chief of Staff
30:08 Finding the Right Chief of Staff
33:22 Authority and Decision-Making
37:21 Conclusion and Contact Information 
#TheModernCEO #MrJoeLeech #ceocoach

Thanks for watching! If you enjoy my content and you want to get in touch to find out how I could work with you, or someone you know, you can reach me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/joeleech, or via email at: joe@mrjoe.uk Subscribe to the YT channel at  @mrjoe-coach ​

The Modern CEO Podcast, Episode 3: The CEO’s Guide to Success (Execution-First Leadership)


What separates good CEOs from great ones? In this episode of The Modern CEO, Joe is joined by Professor Steven Kaplan of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business,  one of the world’s leading voices on CEO performance, hiring, and boards.

About the guest:

• Steve Kaplan is a top private equity scholar and Chicago Booth professor.
• Co-created the Kaplan-Schoar PME and co-founded Booth’s New Venture Challenge.
• His students launched companies like GrubHub, Venmo, and Simple Mills.
• Named one of the top 12 business school teachers in the U.S.
• Serves on Morningstar’s board and has taught at Booth since 1988.

Together they covered:
👉 Why execution (not likability) is the top trait of high-performing CEOs
👉 How to avoid “analysis paralysis” at the top
👉 What boards often get wrong when choosing a CEO
👉 Practical advice for founders preparing to hand over the reins
👉 The biggest blind spots leaders face in times of uncertainty

Whether you're a CEO, board member, or aspiring leader.. this episode will challenge how you think about leadership and decision-making.

👉 Full episode available now.

Subscribe for more conversations on modern leadership. ‪@mrjoe-coach‬

🔗 Learn more about Professor Steven Kaplan: Chicago Booth Faculty Profile
🔗 Learn more about The Modern CEO Podcast: mrjoe.uk 

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy my content and you want to get in touch to find out how I could work with you, or someone you know, you can reach me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/joeleech, or via email at: joe@mrjoe.uk

Sally is Head of Engineering at Farewill, a company who helps people deal with death, think wills and funerals. Before that Sally was acting Engineering Director / web discipline lead at UK challenger bank Monzo.
Sally's website https://sallylait.com
Sally on Twitter https://twitter.com/sallylait
Farewill (They are hiring!) https://farewill.com/careers

Mr Joe Leech talks to Christian Gonzalez from YouTube.

Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-gonzalez-yt/

Christian lead’s a team of quantitative and qualitative User Experience Researchers at YouTube and has worked with various product teams at Google. He has a PHD in Human Factors and Applied Cognition and together we talk about how research drives product decision making at YouTube.

Mr Joe Leech talks to Martin Eriksson. Martin has helped shape the product management industry as we know it. As the co-Founder of both ProductTank and Mind the Product – together, the world’s largest product community that brings together people in more than 200 cities across the world. He’s also co-author of the best-selling book, Product Leadership: How Top Product Managers Launch Awesome Products and Build Successful Teams.

Mind the Product virtual conference, November 2020 https://www.mindtheproduct.com/mtpcon/digital/

Martin's Product Leadership book
https://amzn.to/31CKtgr

Mr Joe Leech talks to Curtis from Delivery Hero; the largest global food network outside of China, with more than 4 million food orders a day operating in 600 cities across the world. With brands like Food Panda they are a food global powerhouse you probably haven’t heard of as they don’t have a US or UK presence.
Curtis talks about planning product for many languages, countries and brands. How to be an expert at not being an expert and the importance of being upfront with the senior team.

Mr Joe Leech talks to Harpal Singh. Harpal has taken three AI / ML products from zero to $20M+ in revenue and scaled two products to $100M and $300M+ He’s also winner of the 2019 Product visionary award.
- Harpal Singh’s Website https://www.harpalsingh.com/
- Harpal on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/harpalcpo/

Mr Joe Leech talks to Booking.com / Rentalcars.com Global Head of Product Sarvesh Govindappa Sarvesh talks high level decision making, roadmap planning and large scale re-platforming.

Mr Joe Leech talks to Erin Casali from Wordpress / Automattic. Erin is Head of Design for Jetpack at Automattic, the creators of WordPress·com. WordPress powers one third of website on the internet today.

Episode 2 — The CEO’s Guide to Being Punched in the Face (Metaphorically, Mostly)

What does it really feel like to lead when the stakes are high, the spotlight’s on you, and everything’s breaking at once?

In this episode of The Modern CEO, Joe sits down with Roan Lavery, CEO and co-founder of FreeAgent — a UK-based accounting software platform for small businesses.

They talk about the real punches leaders take: the transition from co-founder to CEO, the weight of responsibility, and the difference between having opinions and actually leading the change.

From building FreeAgent over 18 years to managing through chaos and calm, Roan shares raw, behind-the-scenes lessons every leader needs to hear..

Listen now and hit subscribe for unfiltered conversations on power, pressure, and presence of the Modern CEO.