Description

A focused course, tailored for you

Consultancy Chief of Staff's Operating-Defence Playbook

How a Chief of Staff frames an operating function as defensible when the consultancy runs its first-ever cycle of cuts.

When a strategy-tech consultancy runs first-ever layoffs, the COO and the leader-of-region read operating functions through a different lens. Chiefs of Staff who already framed the function survive the framing.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Strategy-tech consultancies running their first-ever cycle of layoffs change permanently. The next cycle arrives 12 to 18 months later. Operating functions across regional offices are reviewed in both.

The Chiefs of Staff who survive own a defensible operating-function story with measurable outcomes the regional leader cites. Plus an operating cadence the leadership team adopts. Plus a weekly operating-state artefact the COO reads first. Chiefs of Staff who continue running 'operations' in general are read as the cost layer the cycle can compress.

The course covers the three artefacts and the 90-day path to operating-defence framing. Plus a hand-built implementation playbook against your real operating scope.

What you walk away with

A defensible operating-function story with measurable outcomes.
An operating cadence the leadership team adopts as the standard.
A weekly operating-state artefact the COO reads first.
A clean translation from generic CoS to operating-defence framing.
A defensible answer when the operating-model review asks why the CoS seat survives.
A 90-day plan to land the framing before the next cycle review.

The 12 modules

Module 1. Reading the first-cycle layoff for second-cycle implications

First-ever layoffs at strategy-tech firms change leadership reading of every operating function. The diagnostic for which operating-function patterns land on the protected side of the next slide and which land on the rationalisation side. The signals you can read months before the second-cycle review.

Module 2. Generic CoS vs operating-defence framing

Two structurally different framings of the same chief-of-staff seat. Cost-of-coordination reads as overhead; operating-defence reads as the layer leadership protects. The shift requires three artefacts visible above the regional level.

Module 3. Your defensible operating-function story

Construct your operating-function story with measurable outcomes the regional leader will quote at the next leadership offsite. Decision velocity, cross-team alignment, programme spend per outcome. The document that converts CoS work into operating leadership.

Module 4. Operating cadence the leadership team adopts

The leadership-team cadence you run by reference: meeting choreography, decision-rights, escalation rhythm. The artefact that turns 'how Stephanie runs things' into 'how the leadership team runs'. Reproducible enough to survive your reassignment.

Module 5. Weekly operating-state artefact for the COO

Three worked examples of the weekly operating-state artefact calibrated for consultancy regional operations. Format that lands as time-saver in the COO's existing inbox, not as extra work. Specific to first-cycle and second-cycle consultancy operating models.

Module 6. Working with finance, HR, and capture

Operating functions overlap finance, HR, and capture in tier-one consultancies. The collaboration pattern that strengthens your operating-defence story rather than getting absorbed into another function's scope. Worked examples of credit-sharing that holds up.

Module 7. Regional vs global operating framing

Regional operating functions face different defensibility tests than global ones. The framing that works for ANZ scope: smaller team, less abstract programme, more direct outcome attribution. The specific document that survives a global-vs-regional review.

Module 8. Decision pipeline ownership

Decisions pile up in leadership inboxes and become the visible chokepoint. The CoS who owns the decision pipeline (queue, dependencies, deadlines) becomes the seat the leadership team cannot operate without. The pipeline-ownership document.

Module 9. Cross-function partnership without role-fatigue

Cross-function partnership without role-fatigue. The pattern that lets you sit across all functions while strengthening rather than diluting influence. Specifically the relationships that survive when the second-cycle review redistributes scope.

Module 10. Scope statement: CoS vs Head of Operations

Two overlapping seats. The scope statement that puts you on the head-of-operations track defensibly. The language. The framing. The conversation with your COO that opens the head-of-operations succession path.

Module 11. Promotion mechanics inside strategy-tech consultancies

Internal path from CoS to head of operations or programme director. The promotion artefact. The two reviewers who matter. The fallback move if the answer is 'not this cycle'.

Module 12. Your 90-day move to operating-defence framing

Day-by-day plan. Operating-function story v1 written by end of week one. Cadence formalised in week two. Weekly artefact running in week three. COO conversation in month two. Head-of-operations conversation in month three.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Modules 1 and 2 cover the diagnostic for a CoS at a strategy-tech consultancy in or facing a layoff cycle.

Modules 3 to 5 produce the three artefacts (function story, cadence, weekly artefact) every operating-defence CoS has.

Modules 6 to 9 cover cross-function cadence, regional framing, decision pipeline, and partnership.

Modules 10 to 12 cover scope, promotion, and 90-day execution.

What you get with this course

The 12-module course delivered as text plus downloadable templates.
Templates for the operating-function story, the operating cadence, and the weekly operating-state artefact.
A hand-built implementation playbook generated for your specific scope (CoS at a strategy-tech consultancy in or facing a layoff cycle).
Three worked examples of the weekly artefact (calibrated for different operating-function profiles).
Scripted talking points for the COO conversation about operating-defence framing.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Day 1: Operating-function story scaffold drafted.

Week 1: Story v1 written; cadence v1 drafted.

Month 1: Weekly artefact landing with COO; head-of-operations conversation scheduled.

Before and after

Before

You run operating work. Things happen. The first-ever layoff cycle is being processed. The COO and regional leader know your work. There is no document with your name on it that frames the operating function as defensible.

After

Your operating-function story is the document the COO and regional leader open first. The cadence is the standard the leadership team runs by reference. The weekly artefact lands above CoS level. The head-of-operations conversation is scheduled.

What happens if you do not address this

First-cycle layoffs trigger second-cycle layoffs within 12 to 18 months. CoS seats without an operating-defence framing get the operations-cost compression. The window is the months before the next cycle review.

Who it is for

For Chiefs of Staff, Senior Chiefs of Staff, and Operations Leaders at strategy-tech consultancies in or facing their first or second cycle of layoffs.

Who this is NOT for. Chiefs of Staff at firms with no operating-cycle pressure. EA-style roles without operating-scope ownership. Junior associates still ramping.

How it arrives

Text-based course via LMS, plus downloadable templates and the hand-built implementation playbook.

Time investment. Roughly 10 hours of reading and 12 to 16 hours producing your real artefacts.

Why $199 is the right number

Internal consultancy CoS training is general. External CoS communities cover technique not the operating-defence move during first-cycle layoffs. A senior head of operations mentor would cover maybe four of these 12 modules informally. $199 buys the focused playbook plus the implementation document for your real scope.

FAQ

Will the COO actually read my operating-function story first?

Module 3 is built around the format COOs read first. Specific, defensible, comparable across functions.

What if my CoS scope is split across two regions?

Module 7 covers that case. Cross-region operating framing is in the worked examples.

Why pay for this instead of reading free CoS content?

Free content covers framing. This covers the operating-defence move during first-cycle layoffs at strategy-tech consultancies.

Is the head-of-operations seat actually open?

Module 10 covers that diagnostic.

What is in the implementation playbook for me specifically?

A draft operating-function story against your real scope; a draft cadence; a 90-day visibility plan with conversations against your COO and regional leader.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.