You just took a Chief of Staff role, and the job has no fixed shape. Nobody handed you a manual, because there mostly is not one. These 12 resources are the fastest way to build a real, working picture of the role before you are three weeks in and improvising your way through it.
They are grouped by type, so you can start where you have time. Read one canon article on the train, join a community this week, and come back for a course when you are ready. Do not try to consume all 12 at once. Pick the two that fit your next hard problem.
One note before you start. The role means something different at every company. A Chief of Staff at a 50-person startup and one at a 5,000-person firm share a title and little else. So read these for patterns and vocabulary, not for a script. The goal is to recognize your own situation faster, then decide what your version of the job should be with your principal.
Start here: the canon articles
These three show up in almost every serious conversation about the role. Read them first so you share a vocabulary with the people who have done the job.
1. "The Case for a Chief of Staff" (HBR, Dan Ciampa)
The clearest short argument for why the role exists and what a principal should expect from it. Useful for explaining your own job to people who do not get it yet, which will happen more than you think. Read it on HBR.
2. "How to be an Exceptional Chief of Staff" (First Round Review)
Practical, startup-flavored advice on how to scale your impact rather than just stay busy. This is the one to reread at the three-month mark, when you know enough to act on it. Read it on First Round Review.
3. "How to Hire a Chief of Staff" (a16z)
Written for the person hiring you, which is exactly why you should read it. It introduces the MOC framing (mission, outcomes, competencies) and shows you how your principal is likely thinking about the role. Read it on a16z.
Books for the long view
4. "An Insider's Perspective on the Chief of Staff" (Emily Sander)
A short, direct read from someone who has held the role, covering the day-to-day reality more than the theory. A good first book because you can finish it in a weekend and start applying it Monday.
5. "The Founder & The Force Multiplier" (Hallie Warner and Adam Hergenrother)
Written as a pair, from both the leader's and the right-hand's side, about how the partnership actually works. Helpful for thinking through the relationship with your principal, which is most of the job. The companion blog is a steady source of shorter pieces if you are not ready to commit to the book yet. Companion blog.
Communities: where the real answers are
Because the role is so undefined, other people in it are your best reference. Two communities are worth joining early.
6. Chief of Staff Network
A peer community with free and paid tiers. Good for quick questions, templates other people have shared, and the plain reassurance that your weird week is normal. Chief of Staff Network.
7. The Chief of Staff Association
A more formal professional body, with a certification program and a global membership. If you want the role to be a long career and not just a stop, this is where the professional structure lives. The Chief of Staff Association.
Courses when you want structure
8. Nova Chief of Staff Certification
A dedicated certification program aimed at the role, useful if you learn better with a set curriculum than by piecing it together yourself. Nova Chief of Staff Certification.
9. CoS Network Launchpad
The Chief of Staff Network's own fundamentals course, a lighter option for the basics without a full certification commitment. A reasonable first course if you are new and unsure. Launchpad.
Newsletters to keep it fresh
These land in your inbox and keep the role top of mind between the bigger commitments.
10. "Ask a Chief of Staff" (Clara Ma)
A Substack that answers real questions from people in the role, which makes it feel like advice rather than theory. Ask a Chief of Staff.
11. "Chief of Staff School" (Substack)
Regular, practical writing on the craft, good for a steady drip of ideas you can try. Chief of Staff School.
A podcast for the commute
12. The Chief of Staff Podcast (Scott Amenta)
Conversations with people in the role across different companies, which is the fastest way to hear how the job changes from one principal to the next. Good background listening while the reading sinks in, and a low-effort way to keep learning during the weeks when you have no time to read at all. The Chief of Staff Podcast.
One thing all of these will tell you
Read enough of these and a pattern shows up: the job is mostly about being the place decisions get made clear, written down, and findable. You end up as the person everyone asks "what did we decide about this?" and "who owns that now?" The more of that lives in your head, the more the whole operation waits on you being available.
That is worth designing against on purpose. We wrote more about building that habit in Chief of Staff decision infrastructure. The short version: decisions your principal makes should have a record that answers the follow-up questions without you in the room. StandIn is one way to do that. You write a short brief on what was decided and what it means, and while you are heads-down or out, it answers teammates from that record, with a source under each answer, and says so when something is not written down instead of guessing. Start with the resources above. Then make sure the answers you become known for do not all live in one place: you.
When you're off, your StandIn is on.
It answers your teammates' questions from work you've already done, in your words, with a source under every answer.