Why Listen: Understanding the role of the Chief of Staff.
Do you address the elephant in the room head-on? Do you sometimes let things burn to prioritize what’s truly important? Layla, the Chief of Staff at a high-growth startup, shares what it takes to excel in this dynamic role. In this ideal generalist role, the COS balances analytical and humanistic approaches, translating strategic decisions into actionable insights for the entire organization. Layla, an OG in the Chief of Staff and Generalist circles, offers real-life examples of influencing leadership and strategies to avoid burnout.
Key Highlights:
- Types of Chief of Staff: How Chief of Staffs can be either more analytic or more humanistic, and how they connect the dots across the organization.
- Data and people skills: Examples of how data analysts and Chief of Staffs can use their generalist skills to provide insights and communication across different departments and levels.
- Cascading strategic information: Layla explained how she translates and frames the strategic decisions made by the executive team to the rest of the organization, and how she raises the feedback and voice of the operators.
- Managing executive expectations: How to deal with the urgency and capacity issues of working with the C-suite, and how to use discernment, prioritization, and communication skills to manage the workload and expectations.
- Generalist identity and career path: Layla and Julie reflected on how they came to accept and embrace their generalist identity, and how they see the value and potential of generalists in different roles and industries.
About Layla Lyne-Walker
Layla is an experienced operator and expert generalist who helps people find clarity in complexity. With a diverse career across research, operations, strategy, and coaching, she brings a mix of sharp insight, emotional intelligence, and practical wisdom to her work and collaborations. Her gift for seeing the bigger picture, finding gaps, and connecting the dots, helps guide people and teams toward meaningful action.
As Chief of Staff at a high-growth startup, Layla has played a pivotal role in building and scaling operations, driving strategic initiatives, and fostering cross-functional collaboration. A skilled and practical problem-solver, she specializes in bridging vision and execution, empowering people to make informed choices that drive progress.
Layla’s expertise is grounded in both analytical and intuitive thinking, blending structured strategy with human-centered leadership. She holds degrees in Anthropology and Art from UC Santa Barbara, Visual Culture from California College of the Arts, and has pursued additional studies in coaching, organizational leadership, and business fundamentals. When not helping others, she can be found curled up with a book or joyfully experiencing movies, music, and art.
Find Layla Here