This CEO is on his 4th chief of staff in 5 years — by choice

Covista CEO Steve Beard recently hired his fourth chief of staff.

Eric Ogden Covista CEO Steve Beard treats the chief of staff role as a rotating post, not a permanent job.

He said the first one he hired told him he talked too much in meetings — feedback he welcomed.

The downside, Beard said, is having to replace someone performing at the peak of their abilities.

Most chiefs of staff don't stick around for very long.

Covista CEO Steve Beard sees that as a feature, not a bug.

Since taking the helm at the healthcare education giant five years ago, Beard has appointed four chiefs of staff, with a few months of overlap between hires to preserve continuity.

He treats the role as a leadership rotation rather than a permanent job, bringing in people with backgrounds that match his evolving needs.

His first chief of staff specialized in finance, the second in strategy, the third in technology, and the fourth, who started recently, in management consulting.

"Each of my chiefs of staff has looked different because I've been in a different place in my own journey at the time that they've come on board," Beard told Business Insider.

"It really is defined by the leader and the moment." The median tenure for chiefs of staff is 2.3 years, a length that reflects both the job's intensity and its potential as a springboard to more senior positions, according to a 2024 report from McKinsey.

That is also roughly the amount of time Beard said he considers appropriate for the job — and long enough for those in it to advance their careers afterward.

His first chief of staff moved into a CFO role at one of Covista's universities , and the second became a vice president overseeing the company's business-to-business operations and clinical partnerships.

The third is preparing to become a vice president of enterprise pricing.