Most Important Skills for a Chief of Staff at UCLA Anderson School of Management

There are three things. My position needs to be successful. From my perspective, number one is flexibility. This means being able to pivot from one project or thought to another.

The dean had a great example. He was a faculty member for 25 years before becoming a dean. He explained it to me this way, and I think it's a perfect way to explain it. As a faculty member, he could spend a hundred hours concentrating on one particular thing, perhaps writing a paper, a book, or teaching a class. He could give his full concentration to that.

But as he moved into the dean role, and especially as Chief of Staff, I might get, let's say, 10 minutes to think about a hundred things. It's a very different perspective. You're constantly having to switch gears, if not mentally, sometimes physically, when you're on different parts of the campus. So, that flexibility is definitely key.

Number two is a concept we call managing up. I think it's something that is learned. It's about the person you supervise, whether it's a dean or a frontline manager. You have to be aware of how they like to receive information, what kind of information they like, and when to give it.

If you have a supervisor who can take in a lot of things very quickly, you need to have a lot of information ready for them to process. But if your manager prefers to deal with maybe two or three things at a time, then don't bombard them with 50 things.

The third part is knowing when to give information. I've found that sometimes when the dean comes back from a difficult meeting, I know about it, and I won't immediately say, "I need to talk to you about three different things." Instead, I'll give him a little pause to process because he's human. Then, I can go in, or I'll send an email saying, "Don't read until tomorrow," or "Let's talk about this when you have a moment."

The more comfortable I get with his style, the more I know what decisions I can make without checking in. I've been in this role for about 10 years and have had three deans, and they are all very different. So, apart from flexibility in pivoting, it's also about pivoting to different management styles as you manage up.

I think having a very calm attitude is important, not an apathetic one, but a calm one. This way, no matter what gets thrown your way, you remain steady, at least emotionally. When I first started, I tended to be a bit up and down depending on the situation, and it didn't help anyone. If I can remain calm, I can respond to anyone calmly. When I share information with my supervisor or a subordinate, it comes across as fact-based and solution-oriented, rather than overly emotional.