Lisa Sprinkles is a Senior Executive Assistant with over 17 years of experience, currently supporting the CEO of Work Dynamics Technology at a global Fortune 500 company.
In this episode, Lisa talks about working from home, connecting with assistant colleagues at a global company, and developing your personal and professional brand.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
– John C. Maxwell
CONNECT WITH LISA
ABOUT LISA
Lisa Sprinkles is a Senior Executive Assistant with over 17 years of experience, currently serving in a vital role reporting to the CEO of Work Dynamics Technology at a global Fortune 500 company. Her responsibilities include driving the rhythm of the business, thinking holistically and strategically about critical operational functions, business processes, and procedures, and enabling effective execution, in other words, connecting the dots within the organization.
Before her current role, Lisa was an integral part of the team at Oracle, involved in executive onboarding, training new hires, and project management across various departments like SaaS Customer Experience and Customer Success.
Known for her ability to connect different aspects of business operations, Lisa is adept at managing complex tasks and facilitating high-level communication.
Living in Cape Fair, Missouri, with her husband, Scott, Lisa cherishes her downtime. She is a proud owner of two dogs, Louie, a spirited Dalmatian, and Maggie, a loyal Mountain Cur. They often enjoy relaxing and exploring the serene surroundings of Table Rock Lake.
–––
THE LEADER ASSISTANT PODCAST IS PRESENTED BY NOVA CHIEF OF STAFF
Calling all Executive Assistants: Are you looking for a way to elevate your skills or earn that promotion you’ve been eyeing? Nova Chief of Staff’s online certification course provides you with the knowledge and confidence you need to stand out on the job. Whether you want to land your dream position or level up in your current role, Nova’s self-paced course gives you hands-on practice doing what Chiefs of Staff do every day.
Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more and secure your spot!
–––
THE LEADER ASSISTANT PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP
To learn more about how you can join growth-minded Leader Assistants, check out our Leader Assistant Premium Membership for ongoing training, coaching, and community.
THE LEADER ASSISTANT BOOK
Download the first 3 chapters of The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of Game-Changing Assistant for FREE here or buy it on Amazon and listen to the audiobook on Audible. Also, check out the companion study guide, The Leader Assistant Workbook, to dig deeper.
LEADER ASSISTANT LIVE EVENTS
Check out our constantly updated schedule of events for admins and assistants at LeaderAssistantLive.com.
JOIN THE FREE COMMUNITY
Join the Leader Assistant Global Community for bonus content, job opportunities, and to network with other assistants who are committed to becoming leaders!
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to The Leader Assistant Podcast so you don’t miss new episodes!
You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, and Stitcher.
Join my email list here if you want to get an email when a new episode goes live.
LEAVE A REVIEW
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take 2 minutes to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts here. Each review helps me stay motivated to keep the show going!
–––
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:04.920
LISA: Hi, my name is Lisa Sprinkles, and my favorite quote is from John C.
00:00:04.940 –> 00:00:09.620
LISA: Maxwell, Leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
00:00:15.889 –> 00:00:23.509
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:31.312 –> 00:00:41.452
JEREMY: Everyone is talking about NOVA Chief of Staff, and it’s no surprise when graduates walk away with huge benefits, like greater confidence and the validation that they can do the role.
00:00:42.032 –> 00:00:50.572
JEREMY: There are over 300 students in the NOVA Chief of Staff Certification course, many of which are growth-minded executive assistants like you.
00:00:51.092 –> 00:01:02.152
JEREMY: Many of the Leader Assistants taking the course aren’t necessarily looking for a promotion, they simply want to become more effective, strategic, and game-changing assistants.
00:01:02.792 –> 00:01:09.912
JEREMY: Over 18 countries around the globe are represented by students in NOVA’s course, so I highly recommend you join the club.
00:01:10.332 –> 00:01:17.232
JEREMY: Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more about this amazing professional development resource.
00:01:18.232 –> 00:01:20.712
JEREMY: Hey friends, welcome to the Leader Assistant Podcast.
00:01:20.732 –> 00:01:24.852
JEREMY: It’s your host Jeremy Burrows and welcome to episode 273.
00:01:25.252 –> 00:01:31.432
JEREMY: You can check out the show notes for this episode at leaderassistant.com/273.
00:01:31.932 –> 00:01:38.872
JEREMY: Today I am very excited and energized because I’m speaking with Lisa Sprinkles.
00:01:38.872 –> 00:01:50.912
JEREMY: Lisa is a senior executive assistant with over 17 years of experience and currently serves in a vital role supporting and reporting to the CEO of Work Dynamics Technology.
00:01:52.032 –> 00:01:54.352
JEREMY: It’s a Fortune 500 company, I believe.
00:01:54.372 –> 00:01:55.652
JEREMY: So Lisa, welcome to the show.
00:01:55.672 –> 00:01:56.992
<v SPEAKER_4>Thank you.
00:01:57.012 –> 00:01:57.792
LISA: Thank you for having me.
00:01:58.772 –> 00:02:00.672
JEREMY: And what part of the world are you in?
00:02:01.672 –> 00:02:04.392
LISA: I am in Missouri on Table Rock Lake.
00:02:05.352 –> 00:02:06.052
JEREMY: Oh, nice.
00:02:06.072 –> 00:02:06.992
JEREMY: Are you from Missouri?
00:02:07.692 –> 00:02:09.212
LISA: I am not from Missouri.
00:02:09.232 –> 00:02:21.312
LISA: I am originally from Indiana, but I’ve moved around a lot, but I’ve been in Missouri for almost eight years, which is the longest I’ve ever stayed in one location in my whole life.
00:02:21.372 –> 00:02:22.432
LISA: So I love it here.
00:02:23.932 –> 00:02:28.532
LISA: The goal is to create a life you do not need a vacation from, and I think I’ve almost nailed it.
00:02:29.372 –> 00:02:29.752
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:02:29.772 –> 00:02:32.292
JEREMY: Table Rock is beautiful.
00:02:32.312 –> 00:02:41.252
JEREMY: I haven’t really been able to go in a while, but we were talking about it the other day, maybe doing a quick couple day trip down there.
00:02:41.272 –> 00:02:46.672
JEREMY: But I’m in Kansas City, so not too crazy of a drive to make it down that way.
00:02:46.692 –> 00:02:50.892
JEREMY: But it’s always great to talk to a fellow Missouri assistant.
00:02:54.012 –> 00:03:03.252
JEREMY: And now what’s interesting, though, is you’ve been at your current role for, what, a few years now?
00:03:04.052 –> 00:03:05.272
LISA: Yeah, about two and a half years.
00:03:05.532 –> 00:03:16.172
LISA: I work for Jones Lang LaSalle Technologies, which is part of JLL, and the division I work in is the Work Dynamics Technology that I support the CEO of.
00:03:17.992 –> 00:03:20.172
JEREMY: And where are they headquartered?
00:03:21.492 –> 00:03:28.912
LISA: So the JLL headquarters is in Chicago, and the JLL technology is in San Francisco.
00:03:30.132 –> 00:03:30.372
JEREMY: Okay.
00:03:30.392 –> 00:03:31.392
LISA: With overall Chicago.
00:03:32.912 –> 00:03:37.272
JEREMY: Nice, and then so obviously, you’re in Tapir Rock Lake in Missouri.
00:03:39.932 –> 00:03:40.892
JEREMY: How did that work out?
00:03:41.652 –> 00:03:47.892
JEREMY: Did it start off as a remote role, or did it kind of convert to remote role during COVID and stay that way?
00:03:47.912 –> 00:03:49.412
JEREMY: Tell us about how that transition worked.
00:03:50.112 –> 00:03:50.892
LISA: Sure, absolutely.
00:03:51.512 –> 00:03:53.632
LISA: So I started here during COVID.
00:03:53.892 –> 00:04:24.832
LISA: I was working for Oracle at the time, and I had been at Oracle two stints over about 11, 12 years, and I had someone reached out for me on LinkedIn from Jones Lang LaSalle Technologies, and they were interested because I had a little bit of a background with facilities at the beginning of my stint at Oracle, but I think what they were interested in is I had been a remote assistant for that whole time that I was at Oracle and had experience.
00:04:24.932 –> 00:04:40.432
LISA: So even though many of us now have had experience working remote because we had to quickly, they were trying to ramp up quickly because it was right in the middle of COVID, and they were trying to get somebody in that had experience being a remote assistant.
00:04:40.452 –> 00:04:49.492
LISA: So when they reached out, I’ll be honest with you, I was not really interested in the role, but the more they talked about it, I was like, well, it doesn’t hurt to have a conversation.
00:04:49.512 –> 00:04:55.712
LISA: And as the conversation went, I was very excited about the role because it was in the China division.
00:04:55.912 –> 00:05:02.312
LISA: And so I was like going to be number two employee for heading up JLLT China.
00:05:02.352 –> 00:05:07.892
LISA: And then I was also going to support the corporate development and corporate strategy team at the time.
00:05:07.892 –> 00:05:11.192
LISA: So it was kind of something different than I’ve done before.
00:05:11.212 –> 00:05:13.912
LISA: So I decided to go ahead and go with the interview.
00:05:13.932 –> 00:05:16.232
JEREMY: Wow, that’s great.
00:05:16.992 –> 00:05:21.152
JEREMY: So it’s a Fortune 500 company.
00:05:22.412 –> 00:05:23.732
JEREMY: How many employees overall?
00:05:23.752 –> 00:05:28.312
LISA: I would say it’s about 87,000 employees globally.
00:05:28.472 –> 00:05:33.672
LISA: It’s a commercial real estate company and we work in the technology vision of it.
00:05:34.852 –> 00:05:38.472
JEREMY: How many assistants overall do you think the company has?
00:05:38.492 –> 00:05:39.912
LISA: That’s a good question.
00:05:39.932 –> 00:05:41.412
LISA: We’ve kind of tried to number that.
00:05:41.952 –> 00:05:45.612
LISA: I would say maybe 300 or more.
00:05:46.512 –> 00:05:54.792
LISA: There’s a lot and it varies because there’s so many different divisions within JLL.
00:05:55.512 –> 00:06:03.632
LISA: As we’ve got to know, I think I’m still learning of all the different pillars and kind of diving in and how to find out how many there are.
00:06:05.532 –> 00:06:06.152
JEREMY: That’s awesome.
00:06:06.492 –> 00:06:24.552
JEREMY: So 80,000-plus employees, so a small little company, what kind of resources or team connections do you have with the other assistants in your company?
00:06:24.652 –> 00:06:28.132
JEREMY: What’s it like working with a team?
00:06:28.952 –> 00:06:36.652
JEREMY: Even if it’s not directly day-to-day, do you check in once a month or once a quarter with the rest of the assistant community at the company?
00:06:37.752 –> 00:06:40.372
LISA: Yeah, so there’s a lot of resources.
00:06:40.692 –> 00:06:47.712
LISA: When I first started, I had set a goal because I’d been at a company, Oracle, for a long time, so I felt like I’d made a name for myself.
00:06:47.732 –> 00:06:49.312
LISA: So I knew a lot of assistants.
00:06:49.332 –> 00:06:50.312
LISA: I had the networking.
00:06:50.332 –> 00:06:52.932
LISA: And then when you start new, it’s like, oh, how do we start over?
00:06:53.612 –> 00:07:07.932
LISA: And the executive assistant that worked for, that was our head, I would call the lead assistant, she sets up direct monthly calls with our whole team in the Americas.
00:07:08.812 –> 00:07:11.792
LISA: And so we kind of, I got plugged in that way.
00:07:11.932 –> 00:07:19.192
LISA: And then there was also different regional areas that within the different silos that I talked about.
00:07:19.272 –> 00:07:26.372
LISA: And so I just honestly started plugging in, putting executive assistant, you know, and looking for the roles and then just started reaching out.
00:07:26.472 –> 00:07:31.172
LISA: When I started, my goal was to meet with 50 assistants in the first three months.
00:07:31.852 –> 00:07:33.692
LISA: And I did achieve that.
00:07:33.792 –> 00:07:36.532
LISA: And that helped out tremendously to start it.
00:07:36.732 –> 00:07:42.952
LISA: But I did have the fortunate of having, you know, that head assistant kind of plugged me in to people that have been there already.
00:07:43.932 –> 00:07:47.352
JEREMY: You said 50 assistants in a couple months, a few months?
00:07:48.272 –> 00:07:48.852
LISA: Three months.
00:07:50.132 –> 00:07:55.372
JEREMY: So just a bunch of calls, quick calls, like 15 minutes.
00:07:56.112 –> 00:07:57.972
LISA: Yep, 15, 20 minute calls.
00:07:58.112 –> 00:08:07.492
LISA: And I kind of looked at the different roles of, you know, as I learned, you know, working with my executive at the time and all the people he started to meet with.
00:08:07.512 –> 00:08:10.192
LISA: I looked at their assistants and then kind of went down the line.
00:08:10.212 –> 00:08:11.792
LISA: And then I started looking at the org chart.
00:08:12.352 –> 00:08:14.632
LISA: And I set goals in different areas.
00:08:14.812 –> 00:08:21.692
LISA: And being a global team, it was from all over, even though I was, you know, our team was in China, the one I reported to directly.
00:08:21.972 –> 00:08:28.972
LISA: So I started there, then met assistants in the UK, Singapore, and really all over the globe.
00:08:29.172 –> 00:08:32.792
LISA: And it was a really great way to get to know different roles.
00:08:33.212 –> 00:08:41.832
LISA: Just as everyone knows who’s been a seasoned or been an assistant for a while, whatever company you work at, we all do different things.
00:08:41.852 –> 00:08:42.152
JEREMY: Right.
00:08:42.292 –> 00:08:50.372
LISA: And so it was kind of really cool to meet each person, not only learn the culture and but also learn what they did.
00:08:50.372 –> 00:08:58.012
LISA: And that kind of helped me start learning about what do I want to do because my role, even though I had replaced somebody, it was changing.
00:08:58.412 –> 00:09:04.052
LISA: So I had a chance to kind of define my role and that kind of helped in meeting those other assistants.
00:09:05.332 –> 00:09:05.872
JEREMY: That’s great.
00:09:05.892 –> 00:09:16.152
JEREMY: What was the, you know, for assistants listening, they’re like, hey, you know, I’m starting to reach out or I want to start reaching out to assistants either in my city or in my company.
00:09:17.972 –> 00:09:28.432
JEREMY: What was maybe like a good icebreaker question or a good even just practical agenda to kick off those those touch points?
00:09:29.112 –> 00:09:30.132
LISA: Yeah, no, great question.
00:09:30.632 –> 00:09:32.432
LISA: So it kind of depended.
00:09:32.452 –> 00:09:40.552
LISA: I kind of started out with a little template of just introducing myself that I was new or you know, I wanted to learn about their roles specifically.
00:09:40.572 –> 00:09:41.792
LISA: So that was the first thing.
00:09:42.552 –> 00:09:45.832
LISA: But I started to ask them about themselves personally.
00:09:46.712 –> 00:09:51.452
LISA: So I so when I did send the note, it was I would like to get to know you a little bit better.
00:09:51.472 –> 00:09:59.152
LISA: How do you tackle your role day to day and then tell me a little bit about you and just kept it simple?
00:10:05.032 –> 00:10:07.430
<v SPEAKER_4>Are you ready to elevate your career in 2024?
00:10:08.370 –> 00:10:16.050
<v SPEAKER_4>I’m Maggie Olson, founder of Nova Chief of Staff Certification, the first of its kind online course for aspiring and existing Chiefs of Staff.
00:10:16.670 –> 00:10:28.170
<v SPEAKER_4>With curriculum taken directly from on-the-job responsibilities, Nova’s self-paced learning modules provides you with hands-on experience so you can feel competent and confident moving into a Chief of Staff style role.
00:10:28.870 –> 00:10:31.110
<v SPEAKER_4>It’s the perfect next step for executive assistants.
00:10:31.830 –> 00:10:36.870
<v SPEAKER_4>Head to leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more, grab the syllabus and enroll today.
00:10:42.650 –> 00:10:45.930
JEREMY: Keep it simple, especially when you’re trying to meet that many people in a short amount of time.
00:10:45.950 –> 00:10:48.150
JEREMY: Yeah, exactly.
00:10:49.310 –> 00:10:54.570
LISA: When you’re meeting them, take lots of notes of who they are and, you know, and remember their faces.
00:10:54.590 –> 00:10:56.770
LISA: Try to remember something about them as you learn.
00:10:58.210 –> 00:10:58.570
LISA: Nice.
00:10:59.150 –> 00:11:02.990
JEREMY: So tell us then a little bit more about working remotely.
00:11:03.010 –> 00:11:08.770
JEREMY: You’ve been a remote assistant for, I think you said, 14 years.
00:11:09.730 –> 00:11:18.030
JEREMY: And what has been maybe the best and worst parts of that remote work lifestyle?
00:11:20.250 –> 00:11:22.890
LISA: I would say the best part is the flexibility.
00:11:23.730 –> 00:11:26.170
LISA: Being able to be at home.
00:11:26.810 –> 00:11:28.750
LISA: Sometimes you can set your own hours.
00:11:29.350 –> 00:11:34.710
LISA: I mean, in the sense of I don’t have to get up and get in the car, right?
00:11:34.730 –> 00:11:39.090
LISA: So you have some flexibility there and doing that.
00:11:39.370 –> 00:11:44.510
LISA: And I also like having the ability to get more things done.
00:11:45.290 –> 00:11:58.610
LISA: I feel like working remote, you have an opportunity to plan your workout and focus on the work and the tasks that you want to complete or the goals that you want to achieve for the week.
00:11:59.230 –> 00:12:04.490
LISA: I know that the difference, but when you’re in an office, I remember there was a lot of distractions.
00:12:04.510 –> 00:12:06.570
LISA: People coming up, hey, how are you doing?
00:12:07.590 –> 00:12:11.850
LISA: And I guess that’s the good part of it and the bad part of it.
00:12:11.850 –> 00:12:18.210
LISA: Because I do miss the camaraderie of somebody coming in the water cooler chat.
00:12:18.250 –> 00:12:18.930
LISA: I miss that.
00:12:19.170 –> 00:12:24.630
LISA: But it sometimes, though, I think it has helped me to work more efficiently working from home.
00:12:25.230 –> 00:12:31.970
LISA: So I think from there, it’s how do you achieve the water cooler talk and still be remote?
00:12:31.990 –> 00:12:34.350
LISA: How do you build those relationships?
00:12:34.810 –> 00:12:38.030
LISA: And that was the first thing to try to tackle when you start working from home.
00:12:38.530 –> 00:12:38.890
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:12:39.970 –> 00:12:44.190
JEREMY: What’s your favorite routine thing to do?
00:12:44.210 –> 00:12:54.590
JEREMY: I know some people are like, well, I work from home and I want to make sure I go for a walk and take a shower and put some work clothes on and do this whole routine.
00:12:54.610 –> 00:13:03.370
JEREMY: Or I want to make sure I shut my laptop at the end of the day so that I don’t just mosey on over and keep working after dinner.
00:13:03.770 –> 00:13:07.350
JEREMY: So do you have any sort of work from home routines that you stick to?
00:13:07.370 –> 00:13:07.590
JEREMY: Sure.
00:13:08.850 –> 00:13:11.390
LISA: Well, that took a while to learn.
00:13:11.610 –> 00:13:22.490
LISA: When I first started working from home, you kind of get this concept of, oh, yeah, I can just roll out, get my pajamas on, I’m just sitting here, up top, look good and things like that.
00:13:22.510 –> 00:13:36.210
LISA: But then you found yourself kind of sitting here, not actually setting a schedule or routine and that after about three or four months and I thought, oh, this is great that I’m working from home, but I need to take it seriously and really plan my day out.
00:13:41.050 –> 00:13:51.690
LISA: So now what I do is I, as a routine, I usually wake up in the morning, I get up and take a shower or workout and take my shower, then start going through emails.
00:13:51.710 –> 00:13:56.930
LISA: I sat down and just have coffee and do the emails just on my phone.
00:13:57.130 –> 00:14:01.610
LISA: So I sat on the couch, go through everything that I can answer right away.
00:14:02.090 –> 00:14:10.050
LISA: And then once I do that, then I kind of take a little bit of break and grab something to eat if I haven’t grabbed anything to eat.
00:14:10.110 –> 00:14:13.910
LISA: And then I probably sat down at my desk, maybe like an hour later.
00:14:13.930 –> 00:14:28.690
LISA: But I think it’s important too that I always make sure that I open up the windows, have some sunshine, go and light some candles and kind of have your desk in order, everything in order to put yourself together as well to get started.
00:14:29.590 –> 00:14:30.450
JEREMY: Yeah, good tips.
00:14:31.370 –> 00:14:31.990
JEREMY: Good tips.
00:14:32.010 –> 00:14:37.890
JEREMY: Yeah, I kind of I go throughout different phases.
00:14:37.910 –> 00:14:46.370
JEREMY: I think there are seasons where I do certain routine and it’s like helps me and then I have to kind of change it because it gets too monotonous or whatever.
00:14:46.390 –> 00:14:51.270
JEREMY: And so yeah, it’s and it also depends on the weather too.
00:14:51.290 –> 00:14:58.750
JEREMY: Like if the weather is nice and I’m like, oh, I’m going to go outside and walk around for 20 minutes while I’m on a call or whatever.
00:14:58.770 –> 00:15:05.730
JEREMY: Whereas if it’s freezing cold, maybe I stand up on use my stand up desk more often.
00:15:06.490 –> 00:15:07.130
JEREMY: Stuff like that.
00:15:08.250 –> 00:15:08.970
LISA: No, that’s great.
00:15:09.030 –> 00:15:10.410
LISA: I do have a stand up desk.
00:15:10.430 –> 00:15:16.550
LISA: And it’s funny you mentioned that because I think it was about two years ago, I got the stand up desk and it’s on wheels.
00:15:16.730 –> 00:15:26.630
LISA: And so when it’s warmer outside, I do roll it outside and I put a little umbrella up and we have a lake front house or we have a view in the backyard.
00:15:26.650 –> 00:15:33.570
LISA: So I just go outside, pop it up, the umbrella up and just start working and enjoy the sunshine.
00:15:34.510 –> 00:15:34.970
JEREMY: Love it.
00:15:34.990 –> 00:15:35.430
JEREMY: Love it.
00:15:36.830 –> 00:15:46.230
JEREMY: So what’s maybe something that you want to chat about as far as the executive assistant role?
00:15:47.670 –> 00:15:49.150
JEREMY: You shared a couple of ideas.
00:15:49.930 –> 00:15:58.410
JEREMY: I’d love to just hear what topics you’re passionate about or what you wanted to share with the assistants of the world listening.
00:16:00.330 –> 00:16:02.070
LISA: Yeah, I have several things to talk about.
00:16:02.530 –> 00:16:13.470
LISA: One of the things I think is top of mind for me is brand, executive brand, your brand, personal brand, and how do you relate it to your role.
00:16:14.430 –> 00:16:18.750
LISA: And this is fairly new to me over the past maybe five, six years.
00:16:19.490 –> 00:16:24.090
LISA: I was at Oracle at the time and they were doing a reorganization.
00:16:24.170 –> 00:16:35.150
LISA: And there was a VP that came to me and said, they’re about to do a reorg, I always come to the employees that are do a good job and want to make sure that you have all your ducks in a row.
00:16:35.170 –> 00:16:36.870
LISA: And I was at first I was like, oh, nervous.
00:16:36.890 –> 00:16:38.030
LISA: Am I on the chopping block?
00:16:38.050 –> 00:16:38.650
LISA: What’s going on?
00:16:38.670 –> 00:16:39.830
LISA: And she said, no, not at all.
00:16:40.230 –> 00:16:46.770
LISA: But it’s just something that I wanted to teach you, if you don’t know, is talking about how do you promote yourself?
00:16:46.790 –> 00:16:53.310
LISA: How do you get ready for transitions, whether it’s life changing, work changing?
00:16:53.450 –> 00:16:57.150
LISA: And I kind of paused for a moment of not really understanding what she meant.
00:16:57.170 –> 00:17:01.390
LISA: And she said, your successes, how do you promote yourself?
00:17:01.410 –> 00:17:06.890
LISA: And I said, well, and I kind of started naming things off and she said, no, no, let’s stop.
00:17:07.230 –> 00:17:13.690
LISA: She said, I want you to stop, go get a PowerPoint and I want you to write out all the things that you do.
00:17:14.270 –> 00:17:16.610
LISA: Then you give that to me and we’ll look at it.
00:17:17.030 –> 00:17:19.630
LISA: And she didn’t give me any instructions.
00:17:19.650 –> 00:17:28.010
LISA: So I think it was kind of a stretch goal for me because it was a new concept of, I mean, we can talk about as assistants what we do all day, you know, oh, I do this and do this.
00:17:28.030 –> 00:17:35.970
LISA: But how do we promote ourselves in two minutes or how do we promote ourselves, especially if all of a sudden we’re like just in two minutes?
00:17:36.250 –> 00:17:40.770
LISA: So I stopped, I got this PowerPoint out and I started putting buckets together.
00:17:40.850 –> 00:17:48.790
LISA: I said, admin projects, employee success, compliances, you know, and I put all these random buckets.
00:17:48.810 –> 00:17:50.030
LISA: I wasn’t really even sure where to start.
00:17:50.270 –> 00:17:54.310
LISA: So then I started putting all the things that I did and then I took it back to her and she said, great.
00:17:54.630 –> 00:18:01.930
LISA: So how does what you stand for and who you are as a person, how does that equal your successes?
00:18:02.170 –> 00:18:04.550
LISA: And then I thought, oh, OK, I don’t know.
00:18:04.810 –> 00:18:06.690
LISA: And she said, your brand, what’s your brand?
00:18:06.710 –> 00:18:08.410
LISA: And I’ve heard of brands.
00:18:08.430 –> 00:18:12.210
LISA: OK, we know brands, craft brands, Mars brand, you know, that kind of thing.
00:18:12.230 –> 00:18:16.850
LISA: But I hadn’t really thought of it in terms of personal brand and relating it to my role.
00:18:16.870 –> 00:18:21.990
LISA: So as I started thinking about what brand means is, you know, it’s our reputation.
00:18:22.030 –> 00:18:24.170
LISA: It’s what we stand for, our values.
00:18:24.750 –> 00:18:30.230
LISA: And I started thinking about that and how our expertise, how do we want to portray ourselves?
00:18:30.630 –> 00:18:42.430
LISA: So as I kind of started going through what my brand is and what I want to stand for is as an assistant or as a person, I think about confidentiality, loyalty.
00:18:43.510 –> 00:18:45.710
LISA: I like follow ups as an assistant.
00:18:45.730 –> 00:18:48.090
LISA: I think follow ups is just really important.
00:18:48.150 –> 00:18:51.990
LISA: Growing yourself, which is one of JLL’s values.
00:18:52.550 –> 00:18:58.290
LISA: Something I earned early on in my career that I say this a lot is measure twice, cut once.
00:18:58.470 –> 00:19:06.310
LISA: An executive said that to me and every time I start to do something, I’m like, okay, wait, because I’m an A-type personality, I like to do fast, get it going, let’s go.
00:19:06.810 –> 00:19:09.230
LISA: So it’s like, take your time, slow down.
00:19:10.290 –> 00:19:11.450
LISA: I like to stay positive.
00:19:11.470 –> 00:19:19.510
LISA: So I kind of put Mary, the two together, and I came up with this PowerPoint that I in two minutes could talk through myself.
00:19:20.190 –> 00:19:24.870
LISA: As that resonated to me, it really hit home of supporting our executives.
00:19:25.190 –> 00:19:47.790
LISA: I think we, as when we start with a new executive or we get transferred or just any time that you come in contact with a new executive, it started thinking about what is their brand personally and how can I, as an executive assistant, help them take their values and marry those together, incorporate those into what their role is.
00:19:47.910 –> 00:19:57.530
LISA: And then that was a foundation for me to helping support them in looking at their priorities and how we want to go from there.
00:19:57.550 –> 00:20:02.990
LISA: And it was just a different way of supporting them and getting to know the executive from there.
00:20:03.010 –> 00:20:04.870
JEREMY: Interesting.
00:20:04.890 –> 00:20:14.950
JEREMY: So you, how did they, so you’re developing and cultivating your personal brand and professional brand.
00:20:15.990 –> 00:20:22.370
JEREMY: Did they also, did it translate back to like helping your executives do the same?
00:20:24.010 –> 00:20:39.410
LISA: It did because when I started talking about in that language, I would say many of them, when I said, what’s your brand, they paused, they said, I don’t know what that means, you know, I mean, I know just like what we talked about, right?
00:20:39.470 –> 00:20:44.750
LISA: And then I said, what I want to know is, you know, this, take your brand and think about it.
00:20:44.930 –> 00:20:46.430
LISA: And it was a good thought provoking.
00:20:46.470 –> 00:20:53.890
LISA: And each person that I have reported to or, you know, supported since then had taken the time to talk about their brand.
00:20:54.210 –> 00:20:55.690
LISA: And really, what does that mean?
00:20:55.710 –> 00:20:59.770
LISA: And how do we want them to show up?
00:21:00.250 –> 00:21:13.570
LISA: And that show up means how do I want to, when I’m supporting them and I’m talking to other people, what is the message that is important to them on how I respond to meeting requests?
00:21:13.830 –> 00:21:18.710
LISA: How do I respond to LinkedIn messages on their behalf?
00:21:18.730 –> 00:21:21.910
LISA: How do I help them on town halls?
00:21:21.930 –> 00:21:23.390
LISA: You know, how do they show up?
00:21:23.410 –> 00:21:24.510
LISA: What’s important to them?
00:21:25.590 –> 00:21:34.350
LISA: One of the things that I did early on in my career is I tried, I learned a lot of things and I tried to put the way I learned into the executive.
00:21:34.810 –> 00:21:39.630
LISA: And as I’ve learned, you know, with time, you can’t always do that.
00:21:39.670 –> 00:21:40.230
LISA: It’s good.
00:21:40.250 –> 00:21:41.190
LISA: We want to manage up.
00:21:41.210 –> 00:21:42.670
LISA: We want to help our executives.
00:21:42.690 –> 00:21:49.030
LISA: We want to point out when they’re not looking at the camera and they’re not smiling or, you know, giving tips and tricks to the executive.
00:21:49.050 –> 00:21:55.350
LISA: But we really want them to be themselves and we want to help them be successful the way they are.
00:21:55.810 –> 00:22:01.130
LISA: And then how to take the things that they’re not good at and how do we make good out of it?
00:22:01.150 –> 00:22:01.450
LISA: Right.
00:22:01.470 –> 00:22:04.690
LISA: And that’s part of this branding of learning that.
00:22:04.790 –> 00:22:11.930
LISA: And then portraying it to someone else, you know, within the company or within the, you know, however you represent your executive.
00:22:12.910 –> 00:22:13.090
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:22:13.110 –> 00:22:16.730
JEREMY: And I like how, you know, it’s like complimentary.
00:22:16.810 –> 00:22:21.050
JEREMY: So your brand is this, their brand is this.
00:22:21.270 –> 00:22:26.770
JEREMY: And there’s like hopefully a synergy and a complimentary nature to it.
00:22:27.770 –> 00:22:28.850
LISA: Yes, absolutely.
00:22:29.030 –> 00:22:41.710
LISA: And you do you tweak it to how can you, you know, like you said, the synergies to go together to create kind of a partnership, this, you know, partnership that you do with your executive.
00:22:44.590 –> 00:22:45.050
JEREMY: Cool.
00:22:45.070 –> 00:22:59.590
JEREMY: Well, what is maybe the most or one of the most challenging times or projects or executives you’ve had to you’ve had to work with?
00:22:59.690 –> 00:23:08.690
JEREMY: Let’s share a little bit about over your 17 years of experience, a challenge that you faced in your time as an assistant.
00:23:09.710 –> 00:23:10.110
JEREMY: Sure.
00:23:10.850 –> 00:23:15.850
LISA: So I’ve worked with so many different executives and different personalities.
00:23:15.850 –> 00:23:28.130
LISA: And one of the things that I’ve learned over the course of the 17 years is if you have an executive that is when you first start with them, they say, I don’t really know what to do with you.
00:23:28.810 –> 00:23:31.670
LISA: Or I don’t know how to work with an assistant at first.
00:23:31.690 –> 00:23:33.770
LISA: You’re like, oh, no, they don’t get me.
00:23:33.790 –> 00:23:35.450
LISA: They don’t know, you know, that kind of thing.
00:23:36.150 –> 00:23:38.390
LISA: So it’s a challenge of doing that.
00:23:38.410 –> 00:23:46.070
LISA: But I did have a situation where I worked with an executive, and he said, I think I’m good.
00:23:46.090 –> 00:23:47.350
LISA: I don’t really know.
00:23:47.370 –> 00:23:51.310
LISA: I don’t know, just figure it out, do that.
00:23:51.430 –> 00:23:55.690
LISA: And I was like, OK, yeah, I don’t know what to do with that.
00:23:55.690 –> 00:24:00.330
LISA: So I kind of thought about it, and I thought, OK, I got this, I can do this.
00:24:01.490 –> 00:24:06.350
LISA: So I decided, as I started working with him, that he was good.
00:24:06.570 –> 00:24:08.250
LISA: But how can I help his team?
00:24:08.530 –> 00:24:10.090
LISA: How can I show the value of that?
00:24:10.090 –> 00:24:13.590
LISA: So the first thing I did was I set up meetings with all of his team.
00:24:13.990 –> 00:24:16.670
LISA: And I asked, what is it that you’re working on?
00:24:16.730 –> 00:24:17.870
LISA: Tell me all your projects.
00:24:17.890 –> 00:24:21.350
LISA: So I started each day going through all their projects.
00:24:21.370 –> 00:24:27.250
LISA: And it took me about three or four weeks to go through all the team, all the projects, and I put together a spreadsheet.
00:24:27.650 –> 00:24:34.710
LISA: After I put together the spreadsheet, I thought, you have six directs and they’re working on 35 projects.
00:24:34.730 –> 00:24:36.390
LISA: That seems like a lot, right?
00:24:36.970 –> 00:24:45.610
LISA: And so I kind of went through this priorities and I looked at this and I sent the spreadsheet to him and he didn’t look at it right away.
00:24:46.110 –> 00:24:47.170
LISA: He didn’t even see it.
00:24:47.390 –> 00:24:49.190
LISA: But you know what, each week I went.
00:24:49.330 –> 00:24:52.950
LISA: For about three or four weeks, I still met with his team.
00:24:53.030 –> 00:24:55.810
LISA: I updated it, said, what are you doing now?
00:24:55.830 –> 00:24:56.730
LISA: How’s that working?
00:24:56.750 –> 00:24:57.630
LISA: What’s the updates?
00:24:57.650 –> 00:24:58.330
LISA: Updated it.
00:24:58.390 –> 00:25:02.990
LISA: And then one day he calls me and he said, Lisa, what is this that you just sent me?
00:25:03.030 –> 00:25:08.650
LISA: And I said, this is all your projects that you’ve been working on with your team for the last six months.
00:25:08.970 –> 00:25:10.110
LISA: Well, that’s a lot.
00:25:10.170 –> 00:25:12.670
LISA: And then he goes, I don’t know that we need to be working on those.
00:25:12.690 –> 00:25:13.490
LISA: I said, great.
00:25:13.770 –> 00:25:17.230
LISA: I said, he goes, let’s use this on our next team call.
00:25:17.610 –> 00:25:20.970
LISA: So we got through it and we ended up going through all of it.
00:25:21.010 –> 00:25:36.030
LISA: And it was great because as time went, I built the relationship and showed my value in a different way within the team, which opened the door for him to kind of have a trust and build that trust with him.
00:25:36.510 –> 00:25:40.730
LISA: To the point as I worked with him, he ended up being my biggest fan.
00:25:40.750 –> 00:25:44.930
LISA: He has told me many times, Lisa, you should be doing this.
00:25:44.950 –> 00:25:52.630
LISA: You should do that, you know, and just really encouraged me along the way to kind of keep following my passions and not give up.
00:25:52.690 –> 00:25:56.670
LISA: So, you know, you took a challenging situation and ended up being great.
00:25:56.710 –> 00:26:03.430
LISA: And I still talk to him to this day, gives me a lot of advice, just a great soul, you know, of a person.
00:26:03.450 –> 00:26:06.850
LISA: And really just I’ve learned a lot from him.
00:26:06.870 –> 00:26:30.130
JEREMY: And that’s one of the best parts, I think, is, you know, when you get into the real world, the quote unquote real world, and you have those challenges, you have those setbacks, you have those speed bumps, you start to realize at first it’s frustrating, and you’re like, okay, what’s the deal?
00:26:30.330 –> 00:26:32.130
JEREMY: Why does it have to be so hard?
00:26:32.150 –> 00:26:50.450
JEREMY: And then you realize, okay, this is actually a learning opportunity, and this is the chance to grow and learn about this executive, this organization, this situation, my skill set, and how I can bring value to this partnership.
00:26:51.930 –> 00:26:53.670
JEREMY: So yeah, that’s great.
00:26:53.690 –> 00:26:54.390
JEREMY: Thanks for sharing.
00:26:55.090 –> 00:26:55.890
LISA: Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:55.910 –> 00:26:56.750
LISA: I love those too.
00:26:56.770 –> 00:27:01.410
LISA: I feel like that as I, and now I get excited about those challenges.
00:27:01.430 –> 00:27:02.810
LISA: People are like, oh, that seems impossible.
00:27:02.830 –> 00:27:04.850
LISA: I’m like, yes, put me in, let’s go.
00:27:04.870 –> 00:27:15.310
LISA: You can do it, you know, and it gets you excited about it, because if you can, you know, if people say it can’t be achievable and you’re willing to jump right in and do it, then it does, it grows you, right?
00:27:15.330 –> 00:27:16.050
LISA: It stretches you.
00:27:17.190 –> 00:27:32.030
JEREMY: Yeah, and it’s like, you know, when you’ve done the role for so long, part of the reason I’ve been an assistant for over 17 years as well, part of the reason I still am an assistant is because it just, there’s never a dull moment.
00:27:32.050 –> 00:27:34.890
JEREMY: Like, it’s always something interesting happening.
00:27:35.650 –> 00:27:36.790
JEREMY: There’s always changes.
00:27:37.890 –> 00:27:40.990
JEREMY: And like you said, it’s like now you look forward to those challenges.
00:27:41.010 –> 00:27:44.470
JEREMY: You look forward to those projects where your executive’s like, hey, we want to try to do this.
00:27:44.490 –> 00:27:45.330
JEREMY: And you’re like, really?
00:27:45.350 –> 00:27:47.010
JEREMY: I don’t know if we can do that.
00:27:47.030 –> 00:27:55.710
JEREMY: But if you want to try this, have this audacious goal, and you know, want to see if we can make it happen, it keeps things interesting.
00:27:56.890 –> 00:27:57.430
LISA: For sure.
00:27:59.390 –> 00:28:00.110
JEREMY: Awesome, Lisa.
00:28:00.130 –> 00:28:02.270
JEREMY: Well, thank you so much for being on the show.
00:28:03.490 –> 00:28:32.010
JEREMY: Kind of to wrap things up, one thing that I like to ask lately to my guests is, you know, if you had a billboard, you put a big old billboard on the way to Table Rock Lake for all the assistance, vacationing, or you wanted to take, you had all the money in the world to spend $3 million on a Super Bowl ad, what would be the message or the, what would the content be?
00:28:32.030 –> 00:28:37.530
JEREMY: What would you want assistance to take away from your billboard and or Super Bowl ad?
00:28:39.190 –> 00:28:41.090
LISA: That is a very good question.
00:28:42.110 –> 00:28:43.770
LISA: Well, I would say two things.
00:28:43.910 –> 00:28:44.970
LISA: One is be bold.
00:28:45.810 –> 00:28:51.430
LISA: I wish I would have been bold early on, and I’ve been to a lot of trainings lately.
00:28:51.470 –> 00:28:53.450
LISA: You know, you can never stop learning.
00:28:54.490 –> 00:29:00.950
LISA: I’ve read, well, your book, and I read several other books that encouraged me on the trainings, and you keep learning.
00:29:00.970 –> 00:29:02.210
LISA: But just be bold.
00:29:02.230 –> 00:29:06.550
LISA: I think we get afraid to take those steps, and we get nervous.
00:29:06.650 –> 00:29:09.510
LISA: Oh, we overthink what it’s going to do, but just be bold.
00:29:09.590 –> 00:29:21.330
LISA: And my tagline that I always put in every email is keep dancing, not take it too serious, keep walking around and going back and forth and having fun, and not take it too serious.
00:29:21.390 –> 00:29:25.970
LISA: I think so many times we talk about work-life balance, and it’s just balance in general.
00:29:25.990 –> 00:29:26.870
LISA: It’s just life.
00:29:27.090 –> 00:29:36.750
LISA: And you’ve got to put your priorities where they are, even though we love our jobs and we do it, family and our faith and things are the most important things in our life.
00:29:37.150 –> 00:29:39.510
LISA: But how do we encompass in the two of them?
00:29:39.670 –> 00:29:42.070
LISA: And I think don’t lose yourself.
00:29:42.090 –> 00:29:43.290
LISA: Don’t change who you are.
00:29:43.310 –> 00:29:46.550
LISA: And that’s what I would probably say is don’t change who you are.
00:29:46.550 –> 00:29:51.110
LISA: Just learn how to be your best self when you show up.
00:29:53.430 –> 00:29:54.090
JEREMY: Well said.
00:29:54.110 –> 00:29:57.070
JEREMY: Now you just need the budget for the Super Bowl ad and you’ll be good, right?
00:29:57.090 –> 00:29:59.790
LISA: Yes, I love it.
00:29:59.790 –> 00:30:00.550
JEREMY: So, okay.
00:30:00.870 –> 00:30:05.630
JEREMY: So actually, there was one more thing I wanted to ask because we had talked about this right before we hit record.
00:30:06.530 –> 00:30:10.750
JEREMY: You said you read my book and there was a couple of things in the book that stood out to you.
00:30:10.750 –> 00:30:14.830
JEREMY: So would you mind kind of sharing what that was?
00:30:14.850 –> 00:30:16.950
LISA: Yeah, absolutely.
00:30:17.810 –> 00:30:26.210
LISA: One of the first things, and it was funny when I moved from Oracle to JLL, that’s when I reread your book.
00:30:26.570 –> 00:30:31.670
LISA: I read it a while back when it first came out, and then I reread it when I came here, but it’s to be humble.
00:30:32.450 –> 00:30:40.570
LISA: I think when you’re working as an assistant, sometimes you feel that you don’t get the pat on the back and you don’t, you know, some of those things.
00:30:40.650 –> 00:30:46.350
LISA: And my, you know, I don’t define myself by my role or who I work for or things like that.
00:30:46.430 –> 00:30:54.370
LISA: And I think that in the, in your book, you talk about Rick Warren of think, think, what was it?
00:30:54.770 –> 00:30:59.170
LISA: Do not think less of yourself, but think of yourself less.
00:30:59.370 –> 00:31:00.730
JEREMY: There you go.
00:31:00.750 –> 00:31:01.450
LISA: You got it.
00:31:01.750 –> 00:31:04.830
LISA: I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was something like that.
00:31:04.850 –> 00:31:13.290
LISA: But it really, it kind of, you know, hit home for me because I think sometimes we, we take things too personal and we get, you know, worried.
00:31:13.430 –> 00:31:18.810
LISA: And I think that the book reminded me of that, being staying humble, you know, in our roles.
00:31:19.250 –> 00:31:22.610
LISA: And the other one is professional development, which it kind of hit on a little bit.
00:31:22.630 –> 00:31:25.390
LISA: You talk about, don’t be afraid to ask for this training dollars.
00:31:25.390 –> 00:31:32.790
LISA: And, you know, at Oracle, they did do trainings, you know, but it was limited to so many assistants that could join a program.
00:31:32.850 –> 00:31:39.350
LISA: And when I moved over to this new role, that was something the executive, not that I’m supporting now, but at the beginning.
00:31:39.410 –> 00:31:47.830
LISA: And even, you know, at JLL, they’re very big on our value, is grow yourself on trainings.
00:31:47.850 –> 00:31:56.850
LISA: But in your book, you talk about asking for those dollars, even if you, hey, start big and you talk about going small and, you know, hey, start here, ask for the moon and go down, you know.
00:31:56.970 –> 00:32:03.210
LISA: And I love that because I think sometimes we people will say, oh, well, our budget’s tighter.
00:32:03.230 –> 00:32:04.210
LISA: It’s this or that.
00:32:04.270 –> 00:32:10.250
LISA: And I’ve learned, you know, and looking through that, what you said is, you know, the answer’s already no.
00:32:10.830 –> 00:32:13.450
LISA: Why not ask, you know, and give yourself a chance?
00:32:13.470 –> 00:32:14.710
LISA: So thank you for your book.
00:32:14.730 –> 00:32:15.950
LISA: I think it’s helped so many people.
00:32:15.970 –> 00:32:20.450
LISA: I’ve given it to several people, especially new assistants starting.
00:32:20.470 –> 00:32:21.950
LISA: It’s a fantastic book.
00:32:22.010 –> 00:32:28.250
LISA: So I do recommend it to everyone that is in the EA role, even seasoned and getting started.
00:32:28.270 –> 00:32:32.230
LISA: It’s a great, great place to start or even, you know, end.
00:32:32.510 –> 00:32:35.070
LISA: Because I still reread it and get new topics.
00:32:35.090 –> 00:32:37.070
LISA: What did he say about that?
00:32:37.090 –> 00:32:38.390
LISA: Meetings, getting organized.
00:32:38.410 –> 00:32:39.570
LISA: I need a refresher on that.
00:32:40.210 –> 00:32:40.630
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:32:40.650 –> 00:32:43.170
JEREMY: Well, thanks for the kind words, Lisa, and thanks for sharing.
00:32:43.190 –> 00:32:47.890
JEREMY: I always love to hear which portions stick out more than others.
00:32:47.910 –> 00:32:49.190
JEREMY: So I appreciate you sharing that.
00:32:49.910 –> 00:32:51.990
JEREMY: And yeah, thanks again for being on the podcast.
00:32:52.010 –> 00:32:54.950
JEREMY: It’s great to finally meet you and have you on the show.
00:32:54.970 –> 00:32:58.450
JEREMY: What’s the best place for people to reach out if they want to say hi and connect?
00:32:59.590 –> 00:33:01.050
LISA: You can reach out on LinkedIn.
00:33:02.150 –> 00:33:02.490
JEREMY: Perfect.
00:33:02.510 –> 00:33:04.590
LISA: Happy to connect with anybody who would like to connect.
00:33:05.610 –> 00:33:06.190
JEREMY: Awesome, Lisa.
00:33:06.210 –> 00:33:12.270
JEREMY: We’ll all put your LinkedIn URL in the show notes at leaderassistant.com/273.
00:33:12.850 –> 00:33:16.370
JEREMY: leaderassistant.com/273.
00:33:16.390 –> 00:33:17.650
JEREMY: Thank you, everyone, for listening.
00:33:17.690 –> 00:33:19.290
JEREMY: And thank you, Lisa, for being on the show.
00:33:19.970 –> 00:33:20.390
LISA: Thanks, Jeremy.
00:33:20.410 –> 00:33:21.030
LISA: We appreciate it.
00:33:31.430 –> 00:33:34.210
<v SPEAKER_3>Please review on Apple Podcasts.
