# The Coul & Gold Group

> The Coul & Gold Group LLC builds the operating architecture behind exceptional leadership — advisory, assessment, and leadership development for executives, Chiefs of Staff, and the search firms that place them. Founded by Rachael Goldfarb and Suzi Coul. Based in Sheridan, Wyoming, serving clients in the US and UK.

Key facts: The firm offers executive leadership advisory, Chief of Staff advisory programs (first-time and experienced), the CoS Readiness Assessment (a situational judgment-based readiness verdict for Chief of Staff candidates), and pairing analysis for recruiters and search firms. It publishes The Briefing, a weekly newsletter on leadership structure, ranked among the top 5% on Beehiiv by open rate.

## Services

- [Executive Leadership](https://coulandgold.com/executive-leadership): Assessments, development, and experiences for executives and CEOs — making exceptional leadership deliberate.
- [Chiefs of Staff](https://coulandgold.com/chiefs-of-staff): Advisory for people pursuing, new to, or leading from the Chief of Staff role.
- [Recruiters & Search Firms](https://coulandgold.com/search-firms): Readiness verdicts, pairing analysis, and advisory that makes Chief of Staff placements stick.

## Free Tools

- [All Free Tools](https://coulandgold.com/free-tools): Free resources for Chiefs of Staff and the people who hire them.
- [CoS Readiness Quiz](https://coulandgold.com/cos-readiness-quiz/): Quick self-assessment of Chief of Staff readiness.
- [Chief of Staff JD Architect](https://coulandgold.com/cos-jd/): Builds a tailored Chief of Staff job description.
- [Meeting Prep Tool](https://coulandgold.com/cos-mtg-prep/): Structured meeting preparation for Chiefs of Staff.

## Company

- [About](https://coulandgold.com/about): The founders, the method, contact, and FAQ.
- [The Briefing](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/): Weekly newsletter on leadership structure by Rachael Goldfarb and Suzi Coul. Every issue is free to read; subscription is handled on beehiiv.

## The Briefing archive

Every issue below is free, published on coulandgold.com, and written by Rachael Goldfarb or Suzi Coul. Subscribe at https://briefing.coulandgold.com/subscribe.

- [It's Not the Right Person, It's the Right Fit](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/it-s-not-the-right-person-it-s-the-right-fit/) (2026-08-11): Two Capable People, One Unviable Pairing.
- [The 90-Day Fiction](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-90-day-fiction/) (2026-08-04): Evaluating a Chief of Staff at the 90-day mark is the organizational equivalent of judging a marriage by the rehearsal dinner. What actually happens between month six and month 18.
- [The $400,000 Body Double and Defining the Chief of Staff Role](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-400000-body-double-and-defining-the-chief-of-staff/) (2026-07-28): First Round in 2017, Bloomberg last week, Korn Ferry this month. Three takes on the Chief of Staff, and between them exactly one idea worth keeping. Let's sort the wreckage.
- [You Slapped a Sticker on It and Called It a Chief of Staff](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/you-slapped-a-sticker-on-it-and-called-it-a-chief-of-staff/) (2026-07-14): A fictional CEO, a real exemplar, and the tool that finds out which one you actually built.
- [The Chief of Staff, Defined](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-chief-of-staff-defined/) (2026-07-07): Buckle up. We’re about to expose a lot about the Chief of Staff business, and it’s not all nice.
- [The (CoS) Dentist Wants You to Practice Meeting Hygiene](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-cos-dentist-wants-you-to-practice-meeting-hygiene/) (2026-06-30): 90% of the meetings on your calendar are a waste of time. Your Chief of Staff knows exactly why. (And we have a tool to help ensure your meeting falls in the 10%.)
- [Killing the CoS Job Description, One Vague Word at a Time](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/killing-the-cos-job-description-one-vague-word-at-a-time/) (2026-06-23): We built a (pretty remarkable) tool that refuses to write a bad Chief of Staff job description. Also: Ask Us Anything, tonight.
- [The Shrinking, and What It Was Actually For](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-shrinking-and-what-it-was-actually-for/) (2026-06-17): The discomfort in the room and the truth of what you said are two different things. They always were.
- [The pilot is complete. Here is what we learned.](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-pilot-is-complete-here-is-what-we-learned/) (2026-06-09): What five data sources reveal that a single interview never can.
- [Your AI Strategy Has a Carmela Soprano Problem](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/your-ai-strategy-has-a-carmela-soprano-problem/) (2026-06-02): You hired the title. Nobody designed the role. Your Chief of Staff is quietly paying the bill.
- [The Leader Everyone Wants to Work For](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-leader-everyone-wants-to-work-for-517d/) (2026-05-27): Five operating habits that separate high-trust leaders from high-friction ones
- [Low-Friction Leadership](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/low-friction-leadership/) (2026-05-20): The hidden cost of leaders who don't know they're generating friction
- [Five Requirements in a CoS Job Description That Tell Me You Have No Idea What You're Doing](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/five-requirements-in-a-cos-job-description-that-tell-me-you-have-no-idea-what-you-re-doing/) (2026-05-12): A field guide to the dead giveaways.
- [Authority is not Borrowed](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/authority-is-not-borrowed/) (2026-05-05): Chiefs of Staff have more than just influence in their arsenal. It's time to distinguish the difference between authority, influence, and likeability.
- ["This is Not Your Typical Chief of Staff Job!"](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/this-is-not-your-typical-chief-of-staff-job/) (2026-04-28): Current chief of staff job descriptions are a wasteland of meaningless nouns and adjectives. If you can't describe it, you're not ready to hire for it.
- [Leadership Is a Pattern, Not a Personality](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/leadership-is-a-pattern-not-a-personality/) (2026-04-21): The most important criteria for hiring a senior executive is the one that is almost universally ignored.
- [The Chief of Staff Pipeline Is a Lie We All Agreed to Tell](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-chief-of-staff-pipeline-is-a-lie-we-all-agreed-to-tell/) (2026-04-14): Providing an honest assessment as to whether you are wired to be a Chief of Staff
- [The Ash That Remains After Burning Down a16z's "How to Hire a Chief of Staff" | Part 3 of 3](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/the-ash-that-remains-after-burning-down-a16z-s-how-to-hire-a-chief-of-staff-part-3-of-3/) (2026-04-03): Why incinerating a16z's guide is the only option.
- [Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff... in the Nicest Way Possible | Part 2 of 3 | Posts 6-8](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/burning-down-a16z-s-chief-of-staff-in-the-nicest-way-possible-part-2-of-3-posts-6-8/) (2026-04-02): Have a glass of milk on standby. This gets spicy — fast.
- [Burning Down a16z's Chief of Staff Guide... in the Nicest Way Possible](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/burning-down-a16z-s-chief-of-staff-guide-in-the-nicest-way-possible/) (2026-04-01): Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) initially wrote about the Chief of Staff role in January. I argued why their version was problematic. Their response? Making it worse.
- [You Just Hired a Chief of Staff.  Start the Countdown Clock. They're Leaving. Soon.](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/you-just-hired-a-chief-of-staff-start-the-countdown-clock-they-re-leaving-soon/) (2026-03-30): The average Chief of Staff hire costs $150K–$200K. Most are set up to fail before they send their first Slack message. This isn’t a people problem. It’s an architecture problem.
- [Five Pillars to Determine if a Chief of Staff Has the Architecture to Do Their Job](https://coulandgold.com/briefing/five-pillars-to-determine-if-a-chief-of-staff-has-the-architecture-to-do-their-job/) (2026-03-26): There are five pillars of trust in a Chief of Staff's job. This is a teaser of the kind of frameworks we're going to provide to paid subscribers.

## Policies

- [Terms of Service](https://coulandgold.com/terms/): Terms governing the website and services.
- [Privacy Policy](https://coulandgold.com/privacy/): Data practices for US and UK visitors and clients.
- [Refund Policy](https://coulandgold.com/refunds/): Refund and cancellation terms by program.

## Contact

- Email: info@coulandgold.com
- Address: 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States