5 things nobody tells you about being a ceo’s ea.

Being the right hand to a CEO is an incredible experience. So much visibility, learning opportunities and variety, but life at the top has some unique challenges that nobody really prepares you for.

If you have aspirations of becoming a CEO’s assistant (or even chief of staff), here are 5 things you should be prepared for.

It can be an unpopular job

You deliver a lot of uncomfortable messages including some you won’t personally agree with.

You enforce discipline and rigor needed to create an efficient, no surprises culture (and enforce consequences).

You decide who gets what and when which means on any given day someone is unhappy with an outcome.

You're at the coal face of change - not everyone is comfortable with the status quo shifting and you'll take some heat.

You experience the same level of pressure.

You might not be on the hook for accountability, but you feel the pressure the CEO is under acutely and personally.

Having strategies, habits and routines to maintain sanity and protect resilience is critical.

It's a lonely job

A CEO's EA can never be in a position where discretion and integrity can be compromised.

Socialising with colleagues or being drawn into office chit chat can put the CEO's EA in the uncomfortable, awkward position of dancing around prying questions or being exposed to unhelpful motivations.

Having visibility of everything confidential necessitates laying down an invisible line people can't cross.

The only confidant the CEO's EA can really have is the CEO.

It's an outlier role - part of everything and nothing at once.

Disconnecting can be near impossible.

While the world won't fall apart if we take a day off, if there's something major and confidential bubbling away the harsh reality is it may not be appropriate to have someone step in as back up.

Be prepared for always being semi 'on'.

You're often left to fend for yourself.

Having the top role doesn't automatically mean you're developed in the same way the senior leadership cohort is.

Own your own development.

Gatecrash if you don't get an invitation.

Be courageous and ask for what you need and what you see other senior leadership roles accessing.

I love hearing from community, you’re always welcome in my inbox. Get me at hello@rachaelbonetti.com

If you’d like to work together there’s a few ways: full team workshops, group coaching programs and private mentoring. Visit the EA Development page to see current courses and programs.