The Feedback Chiefs of Staff Never Get
Every functional leader gets measured against something. A CFO has metrics. A VP of Sales has a number. Even a head of HR has engagement scores and retention data to point to.
The Chief of Staff has none of that. The role bends around the Principal it serves, which means it rarely looks the same from one organization to the next. That flexibility is the point. It's also why so few Chiefs of Staff ever get real, structured feedback on how they're doing.
I lived this firsthand. In my own time as a Chief of Staff, feedback was rarely formal or direct. It came sporadically, if it came at all, and it never gave me a real sense of how the rest of the organization actually perceived the role. I was operating without a clear signal on what was working and what wasn't, which makes it hard to grow with any intention.
We built Compass to close that gap.
Why Generic 360s Fall Short
Most 360-degree assessments are built for functional roles with clear scopes. Ask a generic tool to evaluate a Chief of Staff, and it defaults to leadership competencies that were never designed for the job: things like "strategic vision" or "team management" that may or may not apply, depending on how the seat is structured.
That mismatch leaves Chiefs of Staff without a real answer to a simple question: am I actually good at this?
Compass is the first 360-degree feedback tool built specifically to answer it.
What Compass Actually Measures
Compass is grounded in 12 research-backed competencies, developed in partnership with PSP Metrics and organizational researchers Dr. Christina Lacerenza and Dr. Liza Barnes. These competencies reflect the full range of what the role demands: strategic judgment, operational execution, and the kind of quiet leadership that rarely shows up on an org chart.
The assessment pulls feedback from every angle that matters:
Self-ratings, so the Chief of Staff can see their own view of their performance
Principal ratings, capturing the perspective of the person they support most directly
Peer and stakeholder ratings, rounding out the picture with input from the people who work alongside them
That combination is what makes it a true 360. Not just top-down feedback, and not just self-reflection, but a complete view built from every relationship the role depends on.
From Data to Action
A pile of feedback data is only useful if someone knows what to do with it. Compass includes a professional report that translates the ratings into clear findings: strengths, development areas, and reflection questions designed to prompt real thinking.
Then comes the part most assessments skip entirely: two guided debrief sessions with Prime advisors.
The first is just for the Chief of Staff, walking through their results and starting to shape next steps. The second brings the Principal into the room, so both people leave with a shared understanding of priorities and a development plan they can agree on.
That second session matters more than people expect. A Chief of Staff can have a crystal-clear picture of where they want to grow. But if their Principal isn't aligned on the same priorities, that growth plan goes nowhere.
Who Compass Is For
Compass works for three different starting points.
A Chief of Staff who wants to understand their own effectiveness and chart a path forward. A CEO who wants to better support their right hand and get more out of the partnership. An organization that recognizes the executive office is worth investing in, not just staffing.
Each of these is really the same underlying need: clarity. What is this person actually doing well? Where should they focus next? And how does the Principal-Chief of Staff relationship need to evolve to keep pace with the business?
Confidence, Not Anxiety
Feedback processes can create more fear than growth if they're handled poorly. That's a real risk in a role as relationally complex as Chief of Staff, where the working relationship with the Principal is often the entire job.
Compass is built to avoid that trap. The process is confidential, respectful, and designed to spark development, not defensiveness. Chiefs of Staff walk away with something rare: an honest, structured picture of their performance from every direction that matters, plus a clear plan for what comes next.
The role has been undefined for long enough. It's time it had a way to measure success.