This weekend my wife and boys were out of town so I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted. So what did I do? I spent the entire weekend building resources for assistants. Well, not the entire weekend. I did go on a bike ride to the donut shop down the street. Anyway, I'm happy to announce my new [...]
When I was 17 years old, I worked in the Pet Department at a Walmart Supercenter in Kansas City, MO. I stocked cat-litter, dog-food, and sold goldfish in plastic bags to customers I knew I’d see the following week looking for a replacement “Goldie.” During one particularly hot and humid Missouri summer month, I was repeatedly asked to go outside in the heat to [...]
Each day we wake up to face tens, hundreds, or even thousands of them. No matter where we are, they find us and try to drain the life out of us. Some of us feel sick just thinking about them. No, I’m not talking about zombies. I’m talking about emails. Ah, your inbox… the never-ending stream of digital text, images, attachments, sales pitches, and [...]
In case you couldn't tell by the title, this is a story rant about why I hate paper and believe paper is a waste of space. Hate may be too strong of a word... nope. Hate is the perfect word to describe my feeling toward paper. In my opinion, paper is a waste of time. I can’t stand having paper on my desk, or [...]
A couple weeks ago, I heard a story about how an executive and his wife put on a party for their assistant and other assistants in their company. They did all the work themselves and would not let their assistant help with any of it. Seems simple, right? It is, but have you done something like this for your assistant? This got me thinking [...]
For years, I thought leaders were the ones in charge, or the ones with important titles. It turns out, everyone has influence and is a leader to those around them – even if they don't acknowledge it. Does your assistant see themselves as a leader? Today's post is an open letter directly to my fellow assistants, encouraging them to see themselves as leaders. [...]
I recently published an open letter to executives asking them to respect assistants. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response I’ve received. Hundreds of assistants have shared, liked, commented, and reached out to thank me for speaking out on their behalf. Unfortunately, many of them echoed my experiences with disrespect among leaders. I hope my letter encouraged many of those assistants to stand up for [...]
Many executives, business owners, pastors, and entrepreneurs struggle with the difficult decision of whether or not to hire an assistant. If that’s you, I get it. There are a lot of things to consider. As I talk to leaders working through this decision, I hear many excuses for why they don’t think they need an assistant. So, I thought I’d list out the most [...]
Have you ever thought about how you and your assistant set up meetings, or do you just wing it? I’ve talked to several executives, pastors, and business owners who don’t have a system. They just pick a random time that works and put it on the calendar – assuming they keep a calendar. Source: Gratisography Some of you may like that system [...]
As I prepared for my family vacation this summer, I thought about how Americans are terrible at taking vacations. If you didn't know, check this out. In fact, I recently heard someone say, "I get 4 weeks of paid time off each year, but I only use 3 or 4 days." Sound crazy? Well, I used to operate this way. Source: Over [...]