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Ian Herbst
Executive Operations Leader / Chief of Staff supporting federal, defense, and museum leadership
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About
Senior executive operations leader with experience supporting top leadership at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and the Defense Health Agency. Built executive-facing tracking systems (Excel/SharePoint), implemented meeting-time standards (25/50), and led large-scale initiatives including multi-million dollar exhibits and a 25,000-person keynote event, with deep discretion from long-term military security clearance.
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Key Strengths
- Managed multiple cross-functional initiatives including multi-million dollar museum exhibits
- Built and maintained a centralized executive-facing project tracking dashboard (initiatives, goals, owners, milestones) using Excel and SharePoint
- Improved executive productivity by implementing 25/50-minute meeting standards at the Defense Health Agency
- Led strategic planning and execution for a keynote event for ~25,000 attendees involving 50+ people and two companies
- Strong discretion and confidentiality backed by nearly two decades holding a military security clearance
Reference Highlights
- Supportive and resourceful
- Thorough and thoughtful
- Professional
- Confident and capable
- Calm and collected under pressure
- Friendly and competent leadership style
- Strong interpersonal relationships; well-liked across the institution
- Consistently respectful and kind to everyone
- Hard worker
- Effective
- focused and dedicated
- committed to professional development
- creates efficiencies
- collaborative communicator
- strategic operational partner
- one step ahead / proactive
- anticipates needs and addresses them directly
- produces high-quality work with minimal revisions
- process-oriented
- leverages technology to save time
- organized
- asks for clarity and avoids assumptions
- strong prioritization when given context/why
- handles pressure well
- manages expectations effectively
- proactive accountability
- direct communication that drives alignment
- effective at clarifying vague roles and expectations
- great with people, especially executives
- makes others feel important without being overly solicitous
- professional and efficient
- knows when to step back / get out of the way
- comfortable in high-visibility environments with senior/high-profile stakeholders
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