Career Development

From Change Practitioner to Chief of Staff: A Natural Evolution of Influence

For seasoned change practitioners, the Chief of Staff role is a natural next step. Explore how your skills in strategy, influence, and emotional intelligence can position you as a key advisor to senior leadership.

Dan Olson

19 May 2025 • 5 min read

When change leaders earn trust, navigate complexity, and think strategically — the path to Chief of Staff becomes clear. [Image by DALL-E]

For seasoned change practitioners, the path to leadership rarely follows a straight line. While some move into HR or strategy roles, others are discovering a compelling new trajectory - one that leverages their cross-functional savvy, deep organizational knowledge, and executive trust. More and more, veteran change practitioners are stepping into Chief of Staff roles. And when you break it down, it makes perfect sense.

This article explores how the skills developed in change management - stakeholder influence, organizational agility, systems thinking, and emotional intelligence - align naturally with the demands of a Chief of Staff. If you’re a practitioner looking for your next challenge, this might be the strategic leap forward you’ve been preparing for all along.

The Overlapping Skill Sets

Change managers and Chiefs of Staff often operate behind the scenes, enabling transformation, advising leaders, and connecting dots across the enterprise. Here’s where the two roles align:

Organizational Agility: Change practitioners are used to working across functions, navigating formal and informal power structures, and sensing cultural undercurrents. Chiefs of Staff do this daily.
Executive Proximity: Many change practitioners serve as trusted advisors to senior leaders. The Chief of Staff role builds on this by formalizing that partnership and expanding its scope.
Emotional Intelligence: Successful practitioners know when to push, when to listen, and how to adjust their approach. These interpersonal dynamics are core to Chief of Staff effectiveness.
Strategic Planning + Operational Focus: Change leads help translate vision into action. Chiefs of Staff operationalize strategy, often managing the rhythm of the business.
Communication Skills: Whether crafting change messaging or prepping leadership for a town hall, strong communication is central in both roles.

Key Career Signals: When You’re Ready to Make the Shift

You may be closer to a Chief of Staff transition than you think. Consider the following indicators:

You’re already coaching senior leaders, helping them anticipate resistance and frame decisions.
You routinely facilitate alignment between functions, smoothing handoffs and clarifying intent.
You’ve built credibility across silos and are often brought in for high-visibility or politically sensitive initiatives.
You’re trusted with nuance - understanding when something needs to be said versus when it needs to be heard.
You’re spending less time on tactical change delivery and more time shaping business rhythm and readiness.

Bridging the Gap: How to Prepare for the Chief of Staff Role

If you're interested in pivoting from practitioner to Chief of Staff, here are steps you can take:

Shift Your Perspective: Begin to see the organization from the leader’s seat. Ask yourself what keeps them up at night. What are the trade-offs they must manage?
Expand Your Exposure: Volunteer for enterprise initiatives. Step into roles where you coordinate across portfolios or help drive executive communications.
Level Up on Strategy: While change management often focuses on execution, Chiefs of Staff must be fluent in business strategy. Understand the levers that drive performance.
Learn the Language of the C-Suite: Talk less about tools and more about outcomes. Anchor your conversations in business impact, risk mitigation, and executive alignment.
Build Operational Credibility: Chiefs of Staff often manage calendars, meeting cadences, follow-ups, and internal priorities. Show you can bring structure and accountability to ambiguity.
Formalize a Sponsor Relationship: If you’re already supporting a senior leader, express your interest in growing into this role. Ask for mentorship and clarity about what it would take to step up.

Benefits of the Transition

Increased Scope and Visibility: Chiefs of Staff sit at the center of decision-making. You’ll gain insights into strategy, operations, and leadership dynamics.
Broader Influence: Rather than focusing on a single change initiative, you’ll help orchestrate change across the business.
Career Versatility: The Chief of Staff role is a springboard. Many go on to become COOs, Strategy Officers, or General Managers.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Over-relying on CM Tools: While valuable, your worth in the Chief of Staff role is in synthesis and leadership, not change templates.
Staying Behind the Curtain: Don’t shy away from visibility. Learn to represent your leader and speak with authority.
Neglecting Operational Skills: Influence is essential, but so is managing the calendar, corralling initiatives, and keeping priorities on track.

When Practitioners Make the Jump — Here’s What Works

Over the years, I’ve coached many experienced change practitioners as they stepped into Chief of Staff roles. The common thread? They already had the strategic awareness, cross-functional savvy, and leadership trust — they just needed help seeing how their change toolkit translated to the broader demands of the role.

I’ve worked with folks making this transition inside Fortune 500 orgs and growing businesses alike, and the same truth holds up: if you’ve led enterprise change, coached senior leaders, and navigated complexity from the inside out, you're closer to Chief of Staff readiness than you might think. My job has been to help practitioners recognize that, step into it, and thrive.

Final Thought: You’re Closer Than You Think

Change practitioners already possess many of the attributes required to serve as a trusted advisor at the highest levels. The leap to Chief of Staff is not a pivot - it’s a natural extension. With the right positioning, strategic exposure, and sponsorship, your career evolution may be less about reinvention and more about stepping into what you’ve already been doing - at a higher level.

Power to the Practitioner.

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