Do You Know the Chief of Staff Role?
Four quick questions about one of leadership's most versatile positions.
What do you think a Chief of Staff primarily does?
- Manages the CEO's calendar — Scheduling is part of it — but a great Chief of Staff is far more than an executive assistant. They align strategy across entire organizations.
- Bridges strategy and execution across teams — Exactly right. The Chief of Staff role is about connecting leadership vision to day-to-day operations — across departments, platforms, and priorities.
- Handles HR and hiring decisions — HR is one piece — but the Chief of Staff's real value is organizational alignment and keeping complex initiatives on track across the whole company.
- Manages external communications and PR — Communications fluency is genuinely important — and rare. But a Chief of Staff also needs deep operational fluency, not just storytelling skills.
Which combination of skills makes a Chief of Staff most effective?
- Deep expertise in one function — Specialists are valuable — but Chiefs of Staff need breadth. Their job is to move fluidly between finance, communications, operations, and people.
- Communications skills + operational management fluency — This combination is rarer than it sounds. Many comms professionals are skilled storytellers but less comfortable with organizational mechanics — and vice versa.
- Executive presence and public speaking — Presence matters, but behind-the-scenes effectiveness matters more. The best Chiefs of Staff often don't need — or want — public credit for the outcomes they create.
- Technical and data skills — Data literacy helps — but the Chief of Staff's superpower is human coordination: keeping people, priorities, and plans aligned.
How has the Chief of Staff role changed in corporate America over the past decade?
- It's become less common as companies flatten hierarchies — Actually the opposite. The Chief of Staff position has grown significantly more common as organizations recognize the value of dedicated leadership coordination.
- It's grown more common and more strategically central — Correct. As companies operate more platforms and face faster-moving environments, having an organizational anchor at the leadership level has become essential.
- It's stayed roughly the same — The role has actually expanded significantly in both prevalence and scope — especially in media, tech, and large multi-platform organizations like Scripps.
- It's merged with the COO role at most companies — These roles overlap in some organizations, but the Chief of Staff typically focuses on leadership coordination and alignment rather than pure operations management.
In a fast-changing media company like Scripps, what does the Chief of Staff provide most?
- Cost-cutting and efficiency oversight — Efficiency matters — but the Chief of Staff's deeper value in a media environment is keeping leadership coordinated as audiences, platforms, and priorities constantly shift.
- An organizational anchor when priorities shift rapidly — Exactly. Media companies face constant adaptation — from audience behavior shifts to multi-platform demands. The Chief of Staff keeps leadership aligned through all of it.
- Content strategy and editorial direction — Editorial strategy is the journalists' domain. The Chief of Staff focuses on organizational alignment — making sure the people setting direction stay coordinated.
- External partnerships and business development — Business development is a separate function. The Chief of Staff works internally — bridging departments, supporting senior leadership, and keeping complex initiatives on track.
Welter's work at Scripps spans the kind of responsibilities that rarely appear in a single job description. She supports senior leadership, helps align teams across the organization, and keeps complex initiatives on track — all while navigating the fast-moving environment that comes with working in media.
It is, in short, the kind of job that requires someone who thrives on variety and doesn't need a lot of credit for the outcomes she helps create. In an industry that often celebrates the faces on camera, it's worth pausing to recognize the professionals working just off-screen.
Strong institutions are built as much by the people you don't always see as by the ones you do.On the Chief of Staff role at Scripps
What Sets the Best Chiefs of Staff Apart
| Common Expectation | The Reality | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Function | Scheduling & logistics | Strategy-to-execution bridge |
| Key Skill | One deep specialty | Fluency across comms + operations |
| Visibility | High-profile spokesperson | Behind-the-scenes anchor |
| Scope | Single department support | Cross-organizational alignment |
| Credit Model | Individual recognition | Shared organizational success |
Welter has also stepped into a public-facing role as a thought leader in communications and leadership. She has been recognized by Ragan Communications — a leading voice in the PR and corporate communications industry — as a notable speaker and practitioner in her field.
That recognition places her among professionals actively shaping how organizations think about internal communication, leadership alignment, and the evolving role of communications teams inside large companies.
How the Chief of Staff Role Has Evolved
A Decade Ago
- Rare Prevalence Mostly government & White House
- Focused on executive scheduling
- Single-function support
- Low strategic authority
Today
- Growing Prevalence Corporate standard at scale
- Cross-organizational alignment
- Comms + operations fluency required
- Seat at the strategy table
That expertise matters more than ever right now. Media companies like Scripps are operating in an environment that demands constant adaptation — from shifts in how audiences consume news to the pressures of running multiple platforms simultaneously.
In that context, the Chief of Staff becomes a kind of organizational anchor, helping leadership stay coordinated even as priorities shift. What makes Welter's perspective particularly relevant is that she understands both the communications side of the business and the operational demands of a large company — a combination that is rarer than it sounds.
Skills Profile: What a Modern Chief of Staff Needs
Common Misconceptions About the Chief of Staff Role
A Chief of Staff is basically a glorified executive assistant.
Verdict: false
The role goes far beyond scheduling. A Chief of Staff bridges departments, supports senior leadership strategy, keeps complex initiatives on track, and serves as an organizational anchor during periods of rapid change.
You need a purely operational background to succeed as Chief of Staff.
Verdict: mostly false
Operations fluency matters — but communications skill is equally critical. The most effective Chiefs of Staff combine both, which is why the role is genuinely hard to fill well.
The Chief of Staff role has grown more strategically important over the past decade.
Verdict: true
As organizations — especially media companies — operate across more platforms and face faster-moving environments, the need for dedicated leadership coordination has grown significantly.
The best Chiefs of Staff are often the loudest voices in the room.
Verdict: false
The opposite is usually true. Effectiveness in this role often means enabling others to succeed without seeking individual credit — a disposition that distinguishes truly great Chiefs of Staff.
About Ragan Communications Recognition
Ragan Communications is one of the leading voices in the PR and corporate communications industry, recognized for identifying and elevating practitioners who are shaping how organizations approach internal communication and leadership alignment.
Being recognized by Ragan places Beth Welter among a select group of professionals actively influencing the field — not just practitioners, but thought leaders who contribute to how the broader industry thinks about communications teams, organizational strategy, and the evolving Chief of Staff role inside large media companies.
What Makes the Chief of Staff Model Work at Scripps
- Trust at Every Level — The Chief of Staff must be equally credible with frontline teams and senior leadership — serving as a connective bridge, not a gatekeeper.
- Adaptability Across Functions — From budget spreadsheets to boardroom conversations, the role demands fluency across multiple disciplines without losing focus.
- Communications + Operations Fluency — Rare in any single professional — the ability to both articulate vision clearly and manage the mechanics of a large organization.
- Organizational Alignment — Keeping teams coordinated as priorities shift is the Chief of Staff's core function — especially in a multi-platform media environment.
- Behind-the-Scenes Leadership — The best outcomes often come from the professionals you don't always see. That invisible architecture is what makes a newsroom — or any organization — run.
Many communications professionals are skilled storytellers but less comfortable in the mechanics of organizational management. That combination — when you find it — is genuinely rare.On the value of Beth Welter's dual fluency
About The E.W. Scripps Company
- Local Television Stations: Scripps operates local TV stations in markets across the United States, delivering community-focused journalism to millions of viewers.
- National News Networks: The company runs national news platforms that reach audiences across the country, including Scripps News.
- Digital Properties: A range of digital platforms extends Scripps's reach beyond broadcast, requiring sophisticated cross-team coordination to operate simultaneously.
- Leadership Team: Behind Scripps's scale is a leadership structure built on trust, alignment, and the kind of behind-the-scenes expertise Beth Welter represents.