Chief of Staff in Sweden – a role that strengthens the management’s ability to implement decisions
The Chief of Staff, often abbreviated as CoS, works closely with the CEO or another senior executive to create focus, coordination, and progress. The role combines strategic support with practical coordination: preparing decisions, keeping priorities together, and following up on the organization’s implementation of what has been decided. In Sweden, the role is understood to be based on the organization’s management model, rather than as a direct copy of an international position.
What does the assignment entail?
A Chief of Staff can coordinate the management team’s agenda, develop decision-making materials, drive cross-functional projects, and identify dependencies between the various parts of the organization. The work involves both freeing up management time and improving the organization’s ability to translate strategy into action. The role can also serve as a qualified sounding board that tests assumptions and raises issues that otherwise risk falling between responsibilities. This distinguishes the role from primarily administrative management support. At the same time, the Chief of Staff is not necessarily an operational manager or deputy CEO. The mandate is often broad, but does not necessarily entail personnel responsibility or the right to make decisions on behalf of other managers. Therefore, the powers and boundaries need to be explicit.
The Swedish context
In Swedish organizations where leadership is characterized by participation, relatively flat hierarchies and delegated responsibility, the role takes on a particularly practical form. There, the ability to anchor priorities, build trust and create collaboration becomes more important than referring to the proximity to the CEO. The Chief of Staff needs to facilitate contact between management and operations, not become an additional approval step. The title can be compared to the title of a chief of staff, but the concepts are not always equivalent. A chief of staff can lead their own staff with formal leadership responsibilities, while a Chief of Staff can work without subordinates. Therefore, the crucial factor is the content of the assignment, not the English or Swedish title.
Differences from other countries
In American companies, there are examples where the Chief of Staff explicitly represents the CEO in meetings, manages the flow of information to the management, and drives prioritized initiatives with a clearly delegated mandate. Other international positions are closer to project management or management administration. McKinsey’s international mapping also shows that responsibilities, experience requirements, and career paths vary significantly. The difference between Sweden and other countries should therefore not be described as a fixed national model. The company’s size, ownership structure, development phase, and the CEO’s needs can influence the assignment more than geography. A Swedish growth company may have greater similarities with an American technology company than with a Swedish government agency.
Is the Chief of Staff a role or a function?
The answer is both, but at different levels. The role is the assignment a person has, with defined responsibilities, mandates, and reporting lines. The function is the organization’s collective ability to support management through prioritization, decision-making, coordination, and follow-up. In a smaller organization, one person can carry a large part of the function. In a larger organization, the work can be divided between the Chief of Staff, the CEO’s office, the strategy function, and the project office. The function can therefore exist without the title, while a title without a clear mandate does not ensure that the function works. For Swedish organizations, the central question is therefore not just who should become the Chief of Staff, but what leadership capabilities need to be strengthened.
