10 Questions with Justine Jequinto

10 Questions with Justine Jequinto, Chief of Staff, Xbox Product Services

1. What company do you serve as Chief of Staff for?

Microsoft Gaming is a large business, and I am the Chief of Staff for the Xbox Product Services team.

2. How long have you served as Chief of Staff for Xbox Product Services?

I have been in this role for a little over 2 years – I joined just before the pandemic shut down hit.

3. How did you get into this role?

I worked on a couple of projects as a consultant for the CVP I support now. When I saw the Chief of Staff role was open, I expressed interest in the position with the outgoing COS, who took on a leadership role in the same organization. I was very persistent as I knew this was both the role and the leader that I wanted to work with. I had seen my now predecessor in action and knew there to be something special about the team and the organization as a whole; we have an inspiring mission and a fabulous team culture. I am still not sure who I want to be when I grow up, so the Chief of Staff role has felt like a great transition from consulting because you are focusing on so many different tasks and initiatives at once. Essentially, it allows me to continue being a generalist until I find my "major".

4. What is the title of the executive you report to and how are your teams set up?

I report to a CVP in Microsoft Gaming. The organization has an office for the Chief of Staff altogether, and each VP has a Chief of Staff for their team.? The team that I support is a horizontal team across gaming, but we prefer to think of the gaming team as the central nervous system because of all the different things that we support. We support technical infrastructure, Xbox live services, product led inclusion, our Gaming for Everyone effort, data science, user research, design, and safety and compliance (and more)!

5. How does your Chief of Staff role fit into the organization?

I have three business managers that report to me. Together, we focus on Business Operations, Strategy and Planning, and Ways of Working.?

The Business Operations portion involves finance, budget, business review, legal processes, and procurement. Our business managers act as the point of contact in our department for shared services throughout Microsoft, connecting people to their desired departments across the organization.?

Strategy and planning focuses on shaping overarching goals, annual planning rhythms and shaping our organization to meet those goals.

Ways of Working includes internal employee communication, listening systems, and culture council. We utilize our employee listening systems to determine what areas of our culture and environment require improvement based on what our employees have expressed. Essentially, our team asks, "How do the ways we work help us create an environment for success and happiness?" while using a data-driven approach.?

6. Please share 1-2 challenges you face while serving as Chief of Staff?

The hardest thing to overcome as a Chief of Staff is determining the signal through all the noise. It is integral for me to figure out what takes priority and what will be realistic to achieve. That priority changes all the time, and I’ve had to learn quickly how to “Kanban” a wide range of tasks, across several altitudes. What is important and critical today may not be tomorrow.?

7. What do you love about the role?

I’d caveat first that the role is highly dependent on the leader you are working with; it’s a partnership. I am grateful that the leader I work with views me as a strategic thought partner and not just as someone that supports operations. I find a lot of value in connecting people and seeing the bigger picture to figure out the last little piece of the puzzle. I love it when a plan comes together and that I get to be the person that does that. I get to draw the red thread between leadership team members. I am a member of the leadership team and valued for being the connector and facilitator. I like to say that I “grease the wheels of collaboration.”

As a Chief of Staff, you can be Switzerland or you can be the arbitrator in a situation. I choose to not be Switzerland. I choose to be objective, not neutral; there is a lot of value in being at the table, and sharing a different perspective helps us get to better outcomes. Oftentimes, it’s playing back with different words what someone else has said to me. I rarely start any work with a blank page, I take all the information I’ve gathered, package it up to the top 2-3 things that are important, and recommend the direction we go based on that. Consequently, I get to influence decisions because of the trust my leader and I have built with each other, which is very rewarding.

8. Did you feel like you had a clear job description and knew your responsibilities??

Beyond the basics of the Chief of Staff role, the leader I support was very open to giving space for me to personalize this role based on my skills. Of course, there are things that come standard with the job, but there is a lot of headroom to grow in unique ways! I really enjoy being a connector, and to use my talents to zoom way out to see the broad mosaic of the work we’re doing, snap up a couple of pieces, and configure the mosaic in new ways.

9. Anything else about the role that you would tell people who are interested in the Chief of Staff position?

Human connection and relationships are a big piece of the role, and using those connections to exchange learnings, best practices and help our business run more efficiently are a unique way for the COS role to contribute. I am also a voracious consumer of knowledge and context; I often find myself engaging with others in the business and helping them to shape the direction of their top priorities and responsibilities. We can achieve more when we have accountability and ownership, and bringing the COS visibility across the business is a great way to offer perspective.

10. Where do you see your career going after your time as Chief of Staff?

In our business, you can maintain a Chief of Staff role for your entire career, or if you decide to move on, there are two common pathways: leadership of a business domain or program management. Because the Chief of Staff role is a well-respected leadership position within our company, there is freedom to "write your own ticket" on where you choose to go next. It is really exciting that the COS role offers so much opportunity!

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