The Chief of Staff Podcast

How do you measure success in a role with no clear KPIs? Itamar Melamed, Chief of Staff at Empathy, reveals his framework for managing up effectively: tracking decisions made on behalf of his CEO, anticipating needs before they're voiced, and building trust through careful observation of calendar patterns, communication styles, and organizational priorities. Learn why the best Chiefs of Staff operate as stunt doubles, not gatekeepers.Learn more about the Chief of Staff Network's membership, courses, and events here: https://www.chiefofstaff.network/

Emily Sander, Founder + CEO + Executive Leadership Coach at Next Level Coaching joins us to unpack one of the most fundamental tensions in the Chief of Staff role: when to zoom out for strategy and when to dive into operations. Drawing from her own experience running both a subsidiary and the Chief of Staff function simultaneously, Emily shares tactical frameworks for lifting yourself out of the weeds, communicating your strategic impact, and knowing when to switch hats—sometimes in the same meeting. Plus: why the question "who can help me?" might be more important than "how can I do more?"Learn more about the Chief of Staff Network's membership, courses, and events here:  https://www.chiefofstaff.network/

"I didn't inherit a broken one. I did inherit a non-existent one." Jamie Dalton, Chief of Staff at Adobe, joins the podcast with Scott to share her experience building operating rhythm from nothing. When the team moved from finance into IT, they brought Excel tracking, sporadic meetings, and no cross-functional visibility. Jamie walks through how she created structure without killing flexibility, why she limits meeting attendance despite FOMO, and what makes the Chief of Staff role uniquely positioned to drive horizontal alignment across vertical teams.Learn more about the Chief of Staff Network's membership, courses, and events here: https://www.chiefofstaff.network/

As Honeycomb crosses 250 employees, Ben Darfler is focused on one thing: making strategy actionable at scale. In this episode, Ben sits down with Scott Amenta to share how his engineering background shaped his approach to planning, decision-making, and building leadership systems that extend beyond the executive team. We cover the shift in team dynamics at scale, how to embed strategy through OKRs and rituals, and why lightweight processes often drive the most alignment. Learn more about the Chief of Staff Network's membership, courses, and events here: https://www.chiefofstaff.network/

Ena Patel, Team President at Innovation Baseball Partners, has built her career by stepping into complexity and turning it into momentum. In this episode, she joins Tom Guthrie, President of Chief of Staff Network, to share how she moved from tax law into the sports business, why shifting others’ perception (“not just a lawyer”) became one of her biggest early challenges, and how relationship-building across every business unit became her operating system.Ena walks through what it takes to be effective as a Chief of Staff in environments that are either being built from scratch or shaped by deep tradition. We also explore Ena’s leap into the #1 seat as President of Innovation Baseball Partners, acquiring and building independent minor league teams with a community-first approach. Her advice to Chiefs of Staff considering a similar step is simple and direct: don’t say no to yourself.Learn more about the Chief of Staff Network's membership, courses, and events here: https://www.chiefofstaff.network/