On this episode of the Tandem Talks Podcast, Carrie and Craig speak with Madeleine Niebauer, Founder & CEO of vChief. Chiefs of Staff are not just important in politics, they are central figures that drive company growth at the highest levels too. To service this demand, Madeleine created a business that would connect independent chiefs of staff with the companies that need them the most. She shares how she discovered this niche and the initial birthing pains she experienced in building up the business. Madeleine believes in prioritizing what's most important in life. She shares that a passion for travel and being a mother are the motivators behind her philosophy of working smarter, not harder. She also explains that, aside from executing company vision, chiefs of staff need to learn the skill of letting go to be their most effective selves.
HIGHLIGHTS
01:21 The serendipitous beginnings of vChief
04:51 vChief: Connecting independent chiefs of staff to your business
09:01 Starting out: Creating autonomy and overcoming obstacles
14:50 Finding trustworthy talent and learning to let go
18:11 Networking and coaching prepared Madeleine to scale up
24:19 Set boundaries and delegate to free up time to do the most important tasks
31:28 Common mistakes: Doing everything and not keeping the right people
38:06 Work shenanigans in Vietnam and future plans
QUOTES
04:15 "I think what I saw when I started that hustle and the networking, who can I work with? The demand was just so clearly bigger than what I could personally do. But that's when it sort of became, what could this business be?"
06:28 "They all work with the aim of helping a leader really prioritize the things where they can have the most impact, and be able to have someone who they can just say, okay you deal with this, you deal with this, you deal with this."
12:49 "You're the one doing the hustle, you're the one who has the relationships, and therefore people want to work with you. So how do you shift that client's mindset to, I have built this business full of equally amazing people and you would be great with them?"
26:12 "We're getting to the stage of organization that other people need to be making decisions and I can't be involved in every decision. How do I pull myself up and out of that and empower other people to drive those decisions?"
32:51 "Figuring out how to delegate and automate things is incredibly important to a leader and figuring out where they can have the biggest impact towards getting to that vision, whether that's a lot of growth or whatever they want."
Learn more and connect with Madeleine in the links below.
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