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Shaping the new and helping big ideas happen
Shaping the new and helping big ideas happen
Anoushka Healy
3 min read
Anoushka Healy identifies the characteristics of innovation leadership in the superpowers of the chief of staff
The chief of staff is often (rightly) seen as the secret weapon of the CEO and the leadership team.
Able to move both horizontally and vertically around the hierarchy, listening to people and applying subtle behavioural nudges, the chief of staff reaches parts of the business that members of the C-suite can’t.
They develop broad and detailed knowledge about products, processes and talent; spend time with people in all areas; make connections between strategy and practice; and bring people’s strengths and disciplines together, acting as a bridge between the leadership and the organisation.
These skills are the foundation of the core chief of staff responsibilities of being the eyes and ears of the principal, and aligning the organisation’s strategy, operations, and resources.
But they also put the chief of staff in a powerful position to influence and facilitate innovation – cultural, intellectual, and product-related. As with every other aspect of the chief of staff role, this is not about ownership or ego, but about thinking creatively and acting politically to nurture the best new ideas from wherever they emerge and bring them to fruition.
It is not difficult, and requires no special training or development. It is just about the subtle application of existing skills and identities.
The periscope
The periscope
The freedom to roam – to explore issues, risks and rewards, challenges and opportunities for each department – gives the chief of staff the potential to see round corners.
The vertical specialisation in most organisations encourages expertise and a single-minded focus on a defined set of issues. Which is fine: they have to do that. But too great a focus on specialisation can easily become tunnel vision and ossification of ideas. The chief of staff is the one who can connect the dots, see where a problem or opportunity in one department may affect another, and spot potential synergies and new combinations of resources that no one else has yet seen.
The safe space
The safe space
People sometimes need to have difficult conversations, a shoulder to cry on or someone to vent to. The chief of staff is usually positioned as an ‘honest broker’ who can facilitate discussions, particularly if there are conflicting views, reframe and explain decisions with the understanding that individual opinions, however forcefully expressed, do not leave the room.
This identity as an honest broker or safe space is invaluable when turned to support innovation.
The chief of staff is an ideal person to act as a sounding board. People can try out ideas that are perhaps not fully formed or feel risky. They might feel too nervous to do this in big meetings, especially online when nuanced opinions can get lost. Or they might be quieter, younger, or neurodivergent people who worry that they will be ignored or passed over. I urge all chiefs of staff to make it clear that they are not only someone whom people can come to in order to talk through and rehearse ideas, but someone who will pick up and advocate for those ideas and the people who had them.
The catalyst
The catalyst
Experienced chiefs of staff very quickly reach the point where they are no longer merely an avatar for their principal, but are invited to key meetings in their own right. They use their knowledge of the organisation to unlock insights and support teams to find solutions. However, they pride themselves on not getting in the way or being an extra layer in the decision-making. They are happy to contribute to innovation, but to let the originating teams take ownership.
The guide
The guide
Innovation often goes hand in hand with change, which can be discomfiting or even downright frightening for employees. Will they still have a job? If they still have a job but it has changed, will they be able to cope with the change? Will their colleagues and friends still be part of the same team?
Chiefs of staff can helpfully partner with HR and talent teams during periods of internal change. They can anticipate where teams are likely to find change most difficult and advise on how to provide appropriate reassurance, even when there is no clear idea about what the next step is.
The alchemist
The alchemist
Through leveraging all of these different personas, the chief of staff has the potential to create innovation gold. Part of every team, providing insights from every part of the business, helping everything to run a little further and faster: they show optimism and drive energy through sharing stories, insights, data, and action from around the business.
If something is going wrong, the chief of staff can help identify what and why and course correct without embarrassment or confrontation. If someone is getting something right, they know how to encourage them to keep on doing it and double down.
As trusted advisors, problem-solvers, boundary-spanners, and intellectual explorers, chiefs of staff are not just supporting change: they are leading it.
The curator
The curator
One of the biggest barriers to innovation in organisations is simply lack of time. The fast pace of organisational life leaves very little room for anyone to think laterally, explore new perspectives, or seize opportunities to learn.
It is not that chiefs of staff have any more time themselves than any other executive, but their job involves making space, and they are able to do this by summoning their curiosity and continually moving across organisational boundaries. Innovation can be encouraged by sharing articles; introducing mini-internships in different departments or encouraging senior executives to spend time on the front line; shaking up who attends which meetings; making sure everyone in the room has the chance to speak; bringing in different perspectives; and inviting guest speakers and customers to add weight and texture to the conversations that are happening.
Author Bio
Anoushka Healy
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at News Corporation
Anoushka Healy is the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of News Corp, a global and diversified media company that includes news and information services, book publishing, and digital real estate.
Ms. Healy oversees a dynamic team working on global mergers and acquisitions to further grow and diversify the company’s portfolio, while fostering innovation and synergies across News Corp businesses.
Previously, Ms. Healy served as Group Managing Editor of The Times and The Sunday Times of London. After joining The Times in 2002, she rose to serve in a variety of roles, including Managing Editor and Assistant Editor for Strategy & Development, responsible for launching new products and spearheading the redesign of the newspaper, which was named newspaper of the year at the 2009 Press Gazette British Press Awards.
Prior to that, Ms. Healy was Head of Corporate Communications at the Financial Times for seven years where, among other projects, she worked on the launch of the Weekend FT, the launch of the FT’s US edition and the launch of FT.com.
Additionally, Ms. Healy serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting, and the Times Newspapers Holdings Ltd.
