Self-Review Template
Chief of Staff Self-Review
A self-review for a Chief of Staff is calibration on the leverage you produced through your principal. The strategic projects are visible to anyone who reads the company plan; what your principal wants from you is the judgment about which projects you took on, which exec decisions you shaped, and where you built the operating cadence that gave the leadership team capacity. The template below structures that case.
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Chief of Staff Self-Review
What to include
Lead with the strategic projects and the operating rituals. The role is plural; the strongest reviews show ownership across all four halves (strategy, exec amplification, operating cadence, org design). Be specific about projects, memos, and exec decisions. Honesty about what you took on and dropped reads as senior.
Personalize
Optional · Appears in downloadThe template
Top Strategic Projects
The projects that defined the period.
- ·What 2-3 strategic projects had the most leverage this period?
- ·Which one would your principal pick if they could only mention one in your case?
- ·What project did you drop or de-prioritize and what was the return on saying no?
- (no entries)
Executive Amplification
How your principal operated better because of you.
- ·What memo or pre-read work did you produce that shaped a specific decision?
- ·What meeting or strategy session did you scope and run end-to-end?
- ·What did you take off your principal's plate that they cannot delegate to anyone else?
- (no entries)
Operating Discipline
Rituals you shipped that compounded.
- ·What operating ritual did you start, change, or kill this period?
- ·What dashboard or scorecard did you ship that the exec team uses weekly?
- ·What internal-communication change compounded across the org?
- (no entries)
Priorities for the Next Period
Strategic commitments at the company level.
- ·What is the next strategic project you want to own?
- ·What part of the role do you want to stretch into (line-management, business-unit ownership, function leadership)?
- ·What principal support do you need to do this well?
- (no entries)
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Generated via Bloomly, a career journal for iPhone. Bloomly writes this document for you from your daily entries; the template is the manual version. Bloomlyjournal.cc
Weak vs. Strong bullets
The format does the easy part. The bullets carry the weight. A few examples to set the bar.
Weak
Drove strategy.
Strong
Owned the H2 company-strategy doc end-to-end. Synthesized inputs from 11 directors and 4 board members; CEO presented to the board in October. The three big bets in the memo became the H2 plan of record and all shipped in-period. The slippage I am aware of is the M&A criteria refresh; I scoped it but did not finish it before the offsite. It is now in H1 2027 scope with a clearer mandate.
Weak
Improved operating cadence.
Strong
Replaced the weekly all-hands with a bi-weekly written exec memo + monthly company gather. Saved ~3200 hours/yr across 80 ICs while keeping decision visibility constant per pulse-survey delta. The change was politically the hardest call I made this period (all-hands had been a 5-year ritual) and the operating-cadence win I am most proud of.
Weak
Built exec capacity.
Strong
Took the board-prep work off my principal's plate from week 4 onwards. Built the standard board pre-read template (financials, strategic update, deep-dive on one big bet per quarter). CEO reported reclaiming roughly 6 hours of prep time per board meeting; she now uses that time for the customer calls she was previously skipping.
Manual template vs. Bloomly generated report
Manual self-review
- Works when you already remember the right examples.
- Requires manual sorting, rewriting, and evidence cleanup.
- Best for a one-time draft or printable structure.
Bloomly performance report
- Starts from the work you captured when it happened.
- Organizes entries by goals, skills, impact, and review period.
- Turns daily evidence into shareable summaries and PDF reports.
You don't write the self-review. Bloomly does.
Bloomly's Performance Report IS the self-review, generated. Thirty seconds when something good happens (speak it or type it) and at review season the full narrative is ready: accomplishments, growth, multiplier effect, next-period priorities. Your numbers, your names, your dates. Already calibrated.
Get Bloomly for iPhoneFree to start · iPhone · iOS 17+
Build the evidence before you need the template
Templates help with format. A career journal helps with memory. Use these pages together: learn the structure, generate a quick outline, then keep the source material current in Bloomly.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this as a Chief of Staff performance review tracker?▾
Yes. Use the template as the final review structure, then keep a running weekly career journal so the examples, metrics, and feedback are ready before review season.
Is Bloomly a performance review tracker?▾
Yes. Bloomly tracks work entries over time and turns them into performance reports, period recaps, and review-ready summaries.
How does a career journal app help with self-reviews?▾
A career journal app keeps dated wins, goals, skills, and examples close to the moment they happen. That makes the self-review less dependent on memory.