What is a right-hand person?
A right-hand person is someone the owner relies on to think, decide and move important topics forward. They're not there to execute tasks, but to share the load of leadership: stepping back, structuring, arbitrating, holding the course.
The role goes by different names: deputy managing director, operating partner, chief of staff, or an outside professional who supports the owner at regular intervals. In small businesses, this last format, often called a fractional chief of staff or fractional right-hand, is increasingly common.
What a right-hand person actually does
- Steps back with the owner: takes stock of the business, its priorities, what's stuck.
- Helps decide: frames the topic, lays out the options and their consequences, pushes for a call.
- Structures: strategy, organisation, roles, processes. See how to structure your business.
- Moves the heavy topics that keep getting postponed: pricing, the key hire, the partner who's no longer aligned.
- Holds the thread between meetings: recalls what was decided, follows up, prepares what's next.
- Is a trusted sounding board for doubts the owner can't share with the team.
Right-hand, partner, deputy, consultant: the differences
| What they bring | What they're not | |
|---|---|---|
| Partner | Shares the equity, the risk and the decisions. | An outside view: they're as invested as you. |
| Deputy or COO | Takes on part of running the company, full time. | A light option: it's a senior hire. |
| Executive assistant | Manages the calendar, files and admin follow-up. | A thinking partner on strategy. |
| Consultant | A targeted engagement, expertise, a deliverable. | A presence over time once the engagement ends. |
| Outside right-hand | An outside view, over time, at your pace. | An employee present every day. |
More on these formats: right-hand, consultant, coach or fractional COO: which one?
When to bring in a right-hand person
The most common signs: everything comes back to you, important topics slip quarter after quarter, you have nobody to say "I don't know" to, the business grows faster than its organisation. The full list, with a self-check, is in 10 signs you need a right-hand.
The formats
- In-house: hire a deputy, COO or chief of staff. Solid, but expensive and risky if the hire doesn't work out.
- Fractional, at regular intervals: a right-hand who comes in half a day a week or a month. The most common format in small businesses. See fractional right-hand or chief of staff.
- On demand: a session on a specific topic, when it comes up.
To choose between hiring and going fractional: hire or outsource your right-hand?
How to choose your right-hand
- Trust first. You'll talk about things you share with nobody. The first conversation should make you want to continue.
- Experience with businesses like yours. Size, sector, stage of growth.
- A method. They should know where to start, and tell you.
- The courage to disagree. A right-hand who says yes to everything is useless.
- What remains between sessions. How is the thread held? Where are decisions written down?
Once you've chosen, working with a right-hand: the first 90 days helps you start well.