Every high-performing executive has a trusted advisor at their side, an executive assistant [EA] or chief of staff. Coordinating executive engagements and logistics are a significant part of the role, but also driving focus, enabling clarity and serving as the radar extender that picks up what others miss.
These administrative roles aren’t about being reactive or constantly pushed into a perpetual state of urgency due to unmanageable leadership planning. They are about building systems that empower and sharpen the strategic skills like visibility that are critical to architecting operations. Knowing what’s ahead, what’s slipping and what’s often missed is brought into focus through radar extender.
Operating as a radar extender elevates the conditions that let decision-makers move faster, think clearer and act with confidence. To do this well, the EA architects operations to surface what matters.
One of the simplest but most powerful tools is a visibility map. It’s a living document or dashboard that tracks operations to keep sight of the status in the midst of their busy days. Putting a lens on cross-functional projects, early risks, shifts in customer centricity, and strategic initiatives that are stuck in a bottleneck.
Simple visibility format:
| Area of focus | Signal | Owner | Date signaled | Status | Next update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Morale | Burnout risk | Eng Director | Jan 20 | Rising stress | Feb 3 |
| Pipeline | Weekly lead growth | Ops | Jan 24 | On track | March 24 |
| Product Roadmap | Feature freeze checkpoint | PM Lead | Jan 22 | Slipping | Feb 22 |
| Customer Health | Top accounts | CX Lead | Jan 18 | Positive | Feb 18 |
| Market Watch | ABC product launch | EA | Jan 25 | Monitored | Weekly |
This comes across as busy work, but it’s foundational leadership infrastructure that will always exist. When the executive asks what they don’t have visibility into, the system in place should give them the answer immediately. This does not require heavy lifting because technology allows for the data we work with everyday to be organized and available in usable forms like a visibility map. The goal isn’t to be perfect but to be future ready, then act on it.
Visibility maps can also be dashboards, or workflow trackers often used to flag decisions. These tools help keep leadership clear on what’s been decided, what’s still pending and what’s blocked.
Example dashboard:
| Item | Status | Owner | Due Date | Summary | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 Scope Approval | Pending | CTO | May 30 | Timeline at risk | Approve with guardrails |
| M&A Term Sheet Review | Needs Input | CEO | May 27 | Legal signed off | Approve with edits |
| Offsite Venue Choice | Complete | COO | May 20 | Budget approved | Decision logged |
These forms of data create a layer of operational awareness that allows executives to be informed leaders. Surface what matters, filter the noise and drive forward momentum naturally unfolds operational excellence. This is what it means to be built to empower.
Empowerment is a design choice. One that executives encourage to build systems around strategic efforts. Design simple dashboards that prompt them to think, that speak their language so they can connect the dots. Systems fail when operations are fragmented, lack consistency and remain scattered because no one can see how to bring the pieces together.
Gaps in operations can be solved by strategically positioning radar extenders into every element of the business. EAs often wear the cloak of optimism and can quickly step into the radar space, physical or digital, reading the room, sensing momentum and intuitively knowing when to push, when to pause and when to protect. Strategic intuition kicks in and the real power comes when we move with intention, see beyond the task to impact, turning presence into action that drives the moments that matter.
People are brought in to highlight the signals, turn insight into motion, protect time, reduce decision friction and the EA plays an integral role in empowering the workforce to stay on track. When EAs or chief of staff act like a radar extender, they go from being supportive to being strategic. And when EAs build to empower, they naturally make things better because being the architect of operations in parallel with the executive leadership team enhances their velocity. Systems truly work when everyone is treated with respect and as equals. That is when the quiet work empowers the entire organization to build together and speaks volumes in the visibility map, dashboard or workflow tracker, one that is shaped by the radar extenders who know how to be the ultimate architect of operations.
