The Exec Ops Brief About the Masthead  /  Since 2026
Colophon

Built for the people who run the room behind the room.

The Exec Ops Brief exists to be the most useful free resource for executive assistants, chiefs of staff, and the operators who make leaders effective.

Section 01  /  Why this exists

The role is everywhere. The reference for it was not.

I have spent years in executive operations, the work of making a leader and an organization run better. Chief of staff, executive assistant, business operations. The titles vary. The job is the same underneath: see the whole board, remove friction, and make good decisions happen faster than they would have without you.

It's one of the most leveraged roles in any company, and one of the least documented. When I was learning it, there was no clear reference. No plain description of what the work involves. No straight answer on what it pays or how to grow in it. I pieced it together from scattered advice, a few good mentors, and a lot of trial and error.

That gap is why this publication exists. Not another personality feed, and not a course funnel dressed up as help. A working reference for the field, built from practice and checked against credible sources.

Adrienne Gaughan, founder and editor of The Exec Ops Brief
Who writes this

Adrienne Gaughan

Founder and editor, The Exec Ops Brief

I've spent years in executive operations as a chief of staff, executive assistant, and business operations lead. I started The Exec Ops Brief because the reference I needed early in the role didn't exist. I write every issue of The Brief, check the claims, and build the tools on this site.

Connect with me on LinkedIn →
What we believe
The person who keeps the operation running should be the best-informed person in the market for their own career.

Operators spend their days making everyone else more effective. They are usually the last to invest that same care in their own path, because the good information is hard to find and the noise is everywhere.

The Exec Ops Brief is an attempt to fix that. Curate the roles worth your attention so you're not scrolling job boards at midnight. Publish clear, sourced playbooks so you're not guessing at the craft. Point to the tools and training that genuinely help, and say so plainly when something is a paid referral.

Section 02  /  How it works

Free first. Sourced throughout.

Three commitments that hold across everything published here.

01

The Brief comes first

The weekly dispatch is the heart of the publication. Up to six roles whose published-pay midpoint clears $100K, plus one practical playbook and one market signal, free, every week. Everything else feeds it.

02

The writing is sourced

Salaries, role definitions, and market claims are checked against credible sources and linked where it counts. If a claim can't be supported, it gets softened or cut.

03

The monetization is transparent

The publication stays free. Paid offerings include templates and guides, plus EOB Consulting: operations assessments, focused 30-day resets, and ongoing support for founders and leadership teams. Consulting engagements are scoped separately from the publication. Relevant training is presented fairly alongside other options, and any referral commission is disclosed.

Start this week

If you run executive operations, this is for you.

New to the role or already deep in it, The Brief is the fastest way to stay ahead of the market and sharp at the craft. One email a week. Free.

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.