How Rob Boone Became The Chief of Staff at Columbia College and Thrives As A Utility Player
In the world of higher education leadership, the path to becoming a Chief of Staff is rarely straightforward. For Rob Boone, who has worked at Columbia College for over six years, the journey involved strategic positioning, demonstrating value, and a willingness to step up where needed—much like the "utility player" in baseball he fondly compares himself to.
The Path to Chief of Staff
Rob's journey at Columbia College began when he was hired as Associate Vice President to manage the college's military operations. With a 24-year military background and previous Chief of Staff experience in the armed forces, Rob brought valuable skills to the institution.
The pivotal moment came during the strategic planning process in 2021. When the president sent out an outline guidance before going on vacation, Rob took initiative by meeting with some of my peers, and said, 'this is how I'm doing this.'"
When the President returned, Rob was made the project manager for the strategic planning process going-forward.
From there, Rob gradually assumed more Chief of Staff duties:
"I started coming to the meetings outside of strategic planning, I noticed that there were action items and things that were being discussed. But no one was taking notes and no one was talking about action items. So I would meet with him separately to talk about the strategic planning, and I'd say, 'hey, last meeting we're in, here's all the action items that came out of it. How are we doing?'"
Rob also began drafting correspondence and messaging for the President, demonstrating his value through these "slow little incremental steps."
After functioning as an "informal chief of staff" and receiving support from other vice presidents, Rob officially became Chief of Staff about eight months ago.
Key Responsibilities and Working Style
As Chief of Staff, Rob's responsibilities include:
- Communication Management: Rob understands the president's preferred communication style—an "inverted pyramid" approach with the bottom line up front. "It's important as a Chief of Staff to understand the preferences of your boss and how he or she processes information, wants information, what kind of format it is," he shared.
- Project Management: "Managing projects across the college. Building coalitions across the college," Rob describes himself as "that extra staff that can kind of get you across the finish line," often taking on projects that need completion.
- Strategic Planning: Rob maintains a "vision board" mapping current projects and charting the college's future direction through 2035. He meets with the President every Monday to review priorities, schedules, and strategic initiatives.
- Daily Communication: Beyond the formal Monday meetings, Rob checks in with the President multiple times daily and typically shares lunch with him. He works closely with the Executive Assistant to ensure the President has all necessary information too.
- Process Improvement: Rob is working to enhance project management capabilities across the college and implement formal change management processes using the ADKAR model from Jeff Hiatt’s book. He's also establishing a consolidated calendar system for better coordination.
Leadership Philosophy
Rob approaches his role with several core principles:
- Be patient: "When you get into this position, you gotta be patient... you're working all across all the divisions."
- Use "please" and "thank you": "The best advice I ever got was my boss pulled me in and said, 'You're doing a great job, but I just want you to use more please and thank yous.'"
- Listen before speaking: "Listen to everyone speak. Because you are listening to everyone, processing information. And then know when to say something at the right time and know what to say."
- Play devil's advocate: "Even if you are for the initiative, it's okay for you to come across as being the devil's advocate because it makes people think."
- Know your boss: "Know exactly what your boss wants and needs and don't be afraid to push back to your boss."
- Be a generalist: "Leverage your ability to do multiple things. People will come to you for advice."
- Find mentors and be a mentor: Rob emphasizes the importance of both receiving and giving guidance in the role.
Final Thoughts
Much like the utility player who might not start but always plays—and receives a championship ring when the team succeeds—Rob finds fulfillment in contributing to the college's success regardless of who gets the credit. "I don't care if I get the credit," he says. "That's not important. The college needs to be successful. And that's all I care about."
Thanks for doing this Rob! If you want to further connect with Rob, you can connect with Rob in our members-only Slack workspace.
