Some things need to get done inside the executive office. Some things need to get out of it.

Lately, a lot of people are calling themselves fractional Chiefs of Staff. I understand why. It's a good title, and it describes work that companies genuinely need.

But before you hire anyone selling it, there's one question worth asking: have you held the actual seat?

I have. For years, as Chief of Staff to CEOs at major corporations, in the room for the real conversations, responsible for turning what leadership decided into what the company actually did. Not adjacent to the seat. In it.

That matters because this role can't be learned from a course or reverse-engineered from a job description. Knowing which thread to pull when an initiative stalls, when to push a leadership team and when to protect it, how to ask the uncomfortable question without breaking the room. That judgment only comes from having carried the responsibility yourself.

So here's what I'll promise you. No vague scope, no hours for hours' sake. A working system, installed in your company, with a real finish line, and a partner who has done this job at the level where it counts.