The Chief of Staff Podcast The Career Accelerant: Lessons from a Chief of Staff Turned COO
Feb 18, 2026
Bryan Silverman, COO at Suzy who rose from SDR to COO over ~11 years, shares his career arc and leadership mindset. He talks about stepping into a chief of staff role, creating operating cadences to align teams, moving into product and P&L work, learning to delegate with context, and always prioritizing leverage over mere output.
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Treat CoS As A Career Accelerator
- When offered a Chief of Staff role, treat it as a front door to learn the whole business and accelerate your career.
- Use your existing strengths (e.g., sales) to deliver impact while you gain cross-functional exposure.
Clarify Decision Rights Early
- Being “involved in everything but in charge of nothing” requires explicit decision rights to avoid confusion.
- Clarify who decides what and when you’re accelerating versus owning a project.
Built An Operating Cadence Pre-Remote
- Bryan led the shift from 'go, go, go' to a documented operating cadence before remote work amplified the need.
- That cadence helped align company energy and priorities during the March 2020 remote transition.