No single person can do all the duties required of a "boss" and that's why they have posts such as "chief of staff" or the equivalent. In wealth management organizations, including family offices, such a role can be critical. This brief commentary explains what's at stake.

A regular writer in these pages, Matthew Erskine, managing partner, of his law firm Erskine & Erskine in the US, talks about how family offices and other organizations of the wealthy need a kind of “chief of staff” to simplify life, filter out distractions and ensure that their bosses get access to those they value. For CEOs, they need such a person to work with them.

The editors are pleased to share these opinions; the usual editorial disclaimers apply to the views of outside contributors. Jump into the conversation! Email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com

If you are the CEO of a successful business, especially a business you created, you realize that no one person can fulfill all of the duties expected of being the boss. 

You need someone who is level-headed, patient, experienced, without a conflicting agenda and, most importantly, has the integrity both to stand up for you when you are right, and to stand up to you when you are wrong. Not only do you need this for your business, but also for family and for your wealth. Ideally, this person is able to lead, but chooses to work for you and sees your success as a higher purpose than gratifying their ego. When this role is confined to your business, this person is your chief of staff, but when this role crosses over into family, wealth and even community matters, this person is your consigliere. 

In the movie “The Godfather,” the consigliere is the family lawyer and often this is true in reality. They may be the chief legal officer on your business organizational chart, but their help is not limited to legal matters, as it includes business, family and personal matters as well. You are the ultimate decision-maker, but your consigliere enhances your decisions by collaborating with others, providing the connections needed to execute on your decisions, and communicating with both you and others as an advisor. Your consigliere goes beyond just giving advice by pushing back against your plans, asking if your strategy is necessary to achieve your objective, whether there are other, alternative, strategies better suited to reach that goal.

Useful as all of this is, the most important thing is that your consigliere is someone you trust. They must be someone who will keep their word, will not abuse their authority, ensure that “fair play” is done and will “do the right thing.” Your consigliere must have both competence and credibility. 

So, how do you find someone you can trust to be your consigliere? First is to find someone who has that competence and credibility, next is to enter a relationship with them where they can demonstrate their abilities to act as your consigliere, finally, be willing to let them take some of the duties that you now have as boss off your table.