‘Not sure if this is a good trend’: Sanjeev Sanyal questions rise of ‘Chief of Staff’ roles
Economist and a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Sanjeev Sanyal, has raised a red flag over the growing trend of companies appointing “Chief of Staff” roles—arguing that the position may be doing more harm than good in organisational structures.
In a post on X, Sanyal said the role was traditionally handled by a young executive assistant, which offered emerging talent direct senior-level exposure without making them a power centre.
Replacing this with senior-level Chiefs of Staff, he warned, could lead to opacity and hamper open communication inside companies. According to Sanyal, the title not only “sounds pretentious” but also risks turning the position into a gatekeeping layer between the CEO and the rest of the organisation.
“Not sure that this is a good trend. This role was traditionally done by a young executive assistant. This gave a young person good senior-level experience but ensured that they did not become too opaque as gatekeepers. Apart from sounding pretentious, a chief of staff will tend to be senior and will both act as gatekeeper and tread on the COO. Meanwhile, the CEO will quickly become detached from the ground,” he wrote.
He also shared a report in The Financial Times to further substantiate his point. As per this report, around 65 per cent of Fortune 500 CEOs and one in four Series B startups are hiring for the chief of staff role.
The role emerged in the latter half of the 20th century and is inspired by examples in the military and political spheres. In recent years, however, senior executives have been hiring Chiefs of Staff to manage their office operations.
As per a McKinsey & Company report, around three-quarters of chiefs of staff support CEOs, whereas the rest serve other C-suite executives, regional managing directors, and/or board chairs as of August 2024.
