Your Executive Is Not Your Benchmark.
The only person with a direct view of how you operate is calibrated against their own needs, not against a standard. That is not a criticism of them. It is a structural feature of the role.
It means the Chief of Staff is the one senior professional in an organization with no reliable external read on their own performance. Not because no one is paying attention, but because the architecture of the role makes that read structurally unavailable. The CoS Operating Program exists to provide that read, and to do something with it.
Twelve Weeks, Built Around What the Diagnostic Surfaces.
The program runs for twelve weeks in a cohort of no more than twelve Chiefs of Staff. It is bespoke — calibrated to what the diagnostic surfaces in you and the group, not built around a fixed curriculum — and built on direct practitioner experience of the role: what it requires, where it fails, and what operating at full capability actually looks like.
- Weekly group calls across the full cohort
- Three one-to-one sessions with Rachael and Suzi
- Delivered directly by Suzi Coul and Rachael Goldfarb
- Shaped by your diagnostic findings and the group’s
Two Phases: The Diagnostic, Then the Program.
Phase 1 · The Diagnostic Assessment
- Intake · About 15 MinutesA short form covering your current role, operating context, and what you want the assessment to address.
- Written Scenarios · About 45 MinutesReal situations the role involves. You write how you would handle them, in your own time, within 72 hours.
- Situational Judgment · About 20 MinutesFaster scenarios with structured options. No obvious right answer, only what you would actually do.
- Interview · 60 to 90 MinutesA structured interview with a practitioner. Your public professional profile is read independently beforehand.
- Practitioner Review and ReportEvery submission is reviewed by a practitioner. Where the sources agree, the finding is strong. Where they diverge, that divergence is itself diagnostic. Your report arrives within five working days of your interview, with a debrief call included.
Total time from you: approximately 2.5 to 3 hours.
Phase 2 · The Program
Twelve weeks of weekly group calls and one-to-one check-ins. The program is built from your diagnostic findings and the group’s. The cohort is capped at twelve. The next cohort begins in January 2027; assessments run in the weeks before it starts.
Twelve Capabilities. Three Layers. Multiple Independent Sources.
The diagnostic covers twelve capabilities across three layers, drawing on multiple independent data sources. Every submission is reviewed by a practitioner before the report reaches you, and that report is the basis on which your twelve weeks are built.
Foundational Wiring
The patterns underneath how you operate, before tools or tactics.
Operational Capabilities
How you run the role day to day, across the work the seat demands.
Skills
The specific, observable competencies the role is built on.
What you leave with is a capability picture that is yours — independent of any role, any executive, any organization.
Everything Included.
Covers the full diagnostic assessment, your report and debrief call, twelve weeks of weekly group calls, and three one-to-one sessions with Rachael and Suzi.
An Independent Read, Then Twelve Weeks of Work on It.
Not a peer network either. An independent, structured read on how you operate, delivered by practitioners who know the role from the inside, followed by twelve weeks of direct work on what it surfaces.
- Next cohort: January 2027 · twelve places · join the waitlist to hold one
- Payment plans are available on request · all prices in USD
- Your report is never shared without your consent
- Many organizations fund this. Our Funding Request Builder drafts the memo for you.
Questions, Answered.
Who Is This For?
Chiefs of Staff currently in role who want an independent read on how they are operating. It is not for candidates considering the role; that is the CoS Readiness Assessment.
What Is the Difference Between This and the Readiness Assessment?
The Readiness Assessment answers one question: are you ready for the role? The CoS Operating Program answers a different one: how are you running it? Same diagnostic framework, different frame, different output, different audience.
Is This a Performance Review?
No. It is not tied to your current role, your current executive, or your current organization. It is a read on you — your operating pattern and your capability picture — that exists independently of any single context.
Will My Employer See the Report?
No. Your report is yours alone, never shared with your employer or anyone else without your explicit consent. A shareable version is available on request if you choose to use it.
What If the Assessment Surfaces Something Difficult?
That is part of what it is for. A capability picture that only confirms what you already thought about yourself is not worth the time. The debrief call is where the findings are discussed directly, and the program is where you work with them.