Melba Duncan has trained assistants since before I was an EA, so I am very grateful for the opportunity to interview her on the podcast. One of the most life-changing articles I've ever read was Melba's piece in a 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review called, The Case for Executive Assistants – which is still shared far and wide by EAs all over the [...]
I had the honor of speaking with Monique Helstrom about what it means to lead as an assistant, what executives should look for in assistants, how the EA role provides so many unique opportunities to learn, and that time she got a voicemail from Will Smith. :-) Monique served as Executive Assistant to Simon Sinek – New York Times Best-Selling author and TED celebrity. [...]
In Episode 3 I share an excerpt from a webinar I taught for my friend Nicky Christmas' Virtual Summit on PracticallyPerfectPa.com in June of 2018. I talk about 3 tensions assistants must learn to manage well if they want to become Leader Assistants. For this episode, I have a transcript of that session I thought I'd share so check it out below. LEADERSHIP QUOTE [...]
I'm so excited to launch the Leader Assistant Podcast! To be honest, publishing episode one is very intimidating. It's one thing to write a blog post. It's another to record your voice and share it – and all of it's imperfections – with the world. I know I'll get better over time, but it's really hard to listen to your own voice. If you [...]
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 [...]
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 thank you letter directly to my fellow assistants, encouraging them to see themselves as [...]
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 [...]
To C-Suite Executives, VPs, Pastors, Managers, and Leadership Team Members: Many of you are very kind, professional, and understanding when relating to assistants. If that’s you, thank you for treating us as colleagues and partners. We love to serve, and leaders like you make it more enjoyable and fulfilling to do so. If not for you, many of us would have given up on [...]