Every few months, I see another well-meaning post drawing a tidy line between Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff, as though one is a stepping stone to the other.
Yes, both roles support leadership. Yes, both demand strategic thinking, judgement, and influence. But they’re built to solve very different problems.
➡️ The Executive Assistant is the strategic force behind the executive – anticipating, managing, shielding, aligning. They’re embedded in the day-to-day engine of leadership, turning chaos into clarity. They don’t just free up the executive’s time, they multiply their impact. And the best ones? They manage and lead the executive, not just the calendar. A force multiplier for the executive.
➡️ The Chief of Staff, on the other hand, is embedded in the business. Their focus is cross-functional coordination, operational rhythm, and scaling the leader’s vision across teams. They’re a conduit between departments. A strategic operator. A force multiplier for the organisation.
There is a reason Chiefs of Staff typically earn 1.5–2× more than Executive Assistants.
Are there overlaps? Occasionally. Can a high-performing EA grow into a CoS? Absolutely, if they want to shift out of the assistant lane and into a business leadership track. But the idea that one is a ‘career progression’ for the other diminishes both.
Simone White, FEPAA, FInstAM put it brilliantly: it’s like comparing a nurse and a doctor. Both are essential. Both are experts. Both work in the same environment. But one doesn’t automatically get promoted to the other just by “doing more.” It takes a different focus, a different set of skills, and a clear pivot.
We need to stop framing the EA role as a rung below a Chief of Staff.
To the assistants who feel that pressure to “graduate”, pause.
You don’t need to become a Chief of Staff to be taken seriously.
You don’t need to give up being an assistant to grow.
You can lead, drive strategy, shape culture, and sit at the table as an Executive Assistant.
Instead, we should be making sure each company has options for career progression within the assistant profession, allowing senior EAs to advance to the role of a strategic administrative business partner.
It’s shouldn’t be about pushing people toward Chief of Staff roles just because they don’t see another option. Chief of Staff is a different job entirely.
Assistants deserve a path that reflects the value of what they do as assistants, not a narrative that implies they have to leave the profession to grow.
And if you do choose to pivot? Let it be because the Chief of Staff role excites you, not because someone else told you it was the only way up.
Let’s stop conflating value with title.
Let’s start recognising the power of choice.
