Instruments for the work, not just reading about it.
Free templates, checklists, and guides built from how the exec-ops role is actually done. Check up to four, enter your email once, and each one arrives as its own email. You'll also be on The Brief for the roles and insights each week.
Ready to use, the same day.
Fill-in tools you can put straight to work. No fluff, no setup, no course to buy first.
First 90 Days Chief of Staff Operating Plan
A structured, fill-in template for your first three months in a new seat. Map the principal, the priorities, and the early wins that build trust.
Leadership Team Meeting Agenda and Run Sheet
The agenda structure and run sheet the best operators use to make leadership meetings actually decide things.
Effective 1:1 Template for Operators
A repeatable format for one-on-ones that surface the real issues instead of status updates.
Decision Log and Single Source of Truth
A clean template for capturing decisions, owners, and context so nothing gets relitigated or lost.
Weekly Executive Priorities Brief
A one-page format for aligning your principal and the team on what actually matters this week.
Chief of Staff Interview Prep Checklist
The questions to prepare for, the stories to have ready, and the signals to read before you walk into an exec-ops interview.
Board Meeting Prep Checklist and Deck Outline
The send timeline, the six-section deck outline, a pre-meeting one-on-one call script, and the follow-up format. Reuse it every quarter.
Deeper references, still free.
Short, sourced guides you can read in a sitting and return to when you need them.
The EA-to-Chief-of-Staff Roadmap
A practical path from executive assistant to Chief of Staff: the skills to build, the gaps to close, and how to make the case for the move.
Chief of Staff Certification and Course Comparison Guide
An honest look at the main Chief of Staff courses and certifications, what each one is good for, and whether any of them is worth the money. Includes the Nova Chief of Staff course among several options, presented fairly.
Chief of Staff Salary and Leveling Guide
What the role pays by level, stage, and market, what drives the range, and how to place yourself in it. Built from published comp data.
The Operator's Toolkit: 25 Systems Every Chief of Staff Should Know
A field guide to the 25 systems and habits that separate strong operators from busy ones.
Chief of Staff Offer Negotiation One-Pager
A concise reference for negotiating base, bonus, equity, scope, title, and the terms operators forget until it's too late.
Resume and LinkedIn Repositioning Worksheet
A practical worksheet for turning EA, consulting, finance, or operator experience into the language exec-ops recruiters actually search.
Interview Packet and Portfolio Guide
A guide to building the small set of artifacts that help you show judgment in an exec-ops interview, not just describe it.
Use the tools directly.
Hands-on tools for salary calibration, first-90-days planning, and Chief of Staff readiness. Open them here, use what you need, and come back when the next decision gets sharper.
Salary and comp benchmarker
Compare Executive Assistant, Chief of Staff, and Operations pay using role-specific published sources. See each source's population and measure instead of one blended market number.
First 90 days interactive plan
The operating plan as a guided, interactive tool. Answer a short set of questions and get a tailored first-90-days map for your specific seat.
Chief of Staff readiness quiz
Score your readiness across the six dimensions that separate people who thrive in the role from people who stall.
Offer evaluator
Break an EA, Chief of Staff, or Operations offer into guaranteed cash, target cash, bonus, equity readiness, and terms, then compare it with role-relevant sources.
Working tools, ready to duplicate.
Live Notion databases, not worksheets: real views, seeded examples, ready to run the day you copy them. Check the ones you want and they arrive alongside anything else you picked.
Decision Log and Single Source of Truth
A running record of what was decided, who owns it, why, and when to revisit, with the full field schema the printable version has to cut. Decisions stop getting relitigated.
Weekly Executive Priorities Dashboard
The one-page brief your principal actually reads, as a live board: priorities, flags, what needs them, and a lightweight archive of past weeks.
First 90 Days Chief of Staff Tracker
The full 30/60/90 plan pre-loaded as a working tracker: every focus item, artifact, and milestone, with phase board and timeline views.
Exec-Ops Job Search Tracker
A light pipeline for your search: every role, its stage, the comp on the table, and the single next step that keeps it moving. Pairs with the live roles board.
Find the communities built for this work.
Browse a reviewed directory of professional communities, associations, training programs, and career resources for Executive Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, and operations professionals.
Executive Operations Communities & Resources
Compare 14 communities, associations, training providers, and professional platforms across the EA, Chief of Staff, and operations ecosystem.
Get every new tool first.
New templates, guides, and tools go out to Brief subscribers before they land anywhere else, alongside the week's curated roles and one operator insight. Free.