In episode 64 of The Leader Assistant Podcast, I share a sneak peek at my new book, The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant.
Today’s episode is a departure from interviews (don’t worry, plenty of those to come). Instead, I share a bit about my new book, and read the entire Prologue which is titled, Andrews Glacier.
I hope you enjoy it and thank you for all the support as I gear up for a worldwide launch on June 23, 2020! Oh, and you can download the first 3 chapters for FREE here or order on Amazon here.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Podcast Intro 0:00
Thank you for being a leader. The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident game changing leader assistants.
Speaker 1 0:13
Welcome to Episode 64. Check out my dad’s book at leaderAssistant book.com.
Jeremy Burrows 0:23
Hey friends, today I’m going to take a break from interview episodes. But don’t worry, I have about 35 more interviews in the hopper coming to you in the next several weeks, really a few months. So you can keep an eye out for that. Or I guess I should say keep an ear out for that. But today, I’m ramping up to my book launch on June 23. And so I wanted to share an excerpt from my book, this is going to be the prologue called Andrews glacier. And so as my son Weston said a second ago, leaderassistant book.com is where you can find out more info. Right now you can download the first few chapters for free, again, leaderassistant book.com. And it releases in a couple of weeks, June 23, to be exact, so keep an eye out for that. So I wrote the book, it’s four pillars of a confident game changing assistant. And the four pillars are pillar one is embody the characteristics. And I talked about the essential characteristics, the game changing characteristics. Just kind of outline all of those that I’ve seen in other EAS in just experienced myself, as executives and other team members look for these characteristics in Game Changing assistance. pillar to have a leader assistant is employ the tactics. So I talk about time management, calendar management, email meetings, tasks, travel, professional development, goals, negotiation, communication, and more. So I don’t focus a lot on specific tools, because I believe the tools don’t matter if the tactics you employ are flawed. So I really tried to focus on the time tested and timeless tactics of a leader assistant. And then pillar three is all about engaging in relationships. So I talked a little bit about the dehumanization of an assistant, some of my personal experience, where it just really, really weighs on you and really drives you down. Just the relationship aspect. So then I talked about networking. And then I talked about your relationship with your executive, and then your relationship with coworkers. And then in the networking chapter, I talk about your relationship with other assistants. And then pillar four is the one that’s really kind of personally important to me, because it’s exercise, self care. So I burned out in my last role. And I learned a lot in that experience. My former executive had burned out in that role, so and ended up getting fired. And so I ended up resigning, and it was just this whole craziness. So I’ll tell you a little bit about that in the prologue but pillar for being exercise, self care. And when I talked about burnout creep, and then I talked about burnout, stressors and signs, and then the antidotes to burnout. So those are the four pillars. But today I wanted to share the prologue, which is called Andrews glacier. And so I’m just going to read it to you give you a little sneak peek. And hopefully you can check it out. You can download it yourself, leader assistant book.com And I hope that it helps you be more confident. I hope it helps you become a leader in your role as an assistant and yeah helps a lot of assistants around the world. So check it out leader assistant book.com Alright, before I read the prologue, I wanted to share a quick note from my sponsor for this episode. My sponsor is life squire. They are passionate about the Assistant Executive relationship. They believe it’s rocket fuel for both the executive and assistant. When the match is made successfully. You can visit life squires website at life squire.com or call them at 405-889-4430 To talk more about their job placement for assistance and their assist To get training opportunities, again, that’s life squire.com. All right, this is the prologue called Andrews glacier location Andrews glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colorado, elevation 11,000 plus feet above sea level. My 16 year old self watched my 14 year old brother lose his grip slide down the Colorado mountain glacier kick his heels into the ice in a desperate attempt to stop, then vanish into CR vas. Our group had just hiked four hours up flat top mountain to hell at peak, and our return route included crossing Andrews glacier before beginning our descent. My dad brothers and I were with a couple we just met who offered to be our guides for the day. Now they weren’t professional mountain trail guides, but they were Colorado residents and they owned a Toyota four runner. My brothers and I were dressed for the late August weather shorts, T shirts, tread lists, tennis shoes, and light jackets. Hiking in the summer is great because you can pack light and it’s nice and warm until you get above the tree line. It’s windy and freezing at the top, but since we don’t typically stay up there for long we tough it out. In the dead of winter Andrews glaciers frozen solid and packed tight with snow. We’d seen dozens of pictures of people taking leisurely strolls across the snow covered glacier. However, we soon discovered that in the summer, Andrews glacier is an entirely different beast. During the day the sun melts the top layer. Overnight the bitter cold causes the top laser to the bitter cold causes the top layer to freeze again, instead of a hard pack trail that day, the surface was nothing more than a sheet of ice with streams of water trickling down. Ignoring the hidden or open crevices descend with extreme caution signs. We stepped onto Andrews glacier. At first, it wasn’t too steep. So we had good traction. Several minutes later, the incline sharpened in our tread list shoes could barely grip the ice. We considered turning back but realize we were already halfway across the glacier. To get more traction, we sat down and scooted on our rear ends. After a few long minutes, we stopped to reorient ourselves. We were cold, wet and scared. We were stuck in the middle of a giant glacier, no confidence in our ability to travel the next few feet, let alone making a cross. My dad did what many do when their life is in danger. He said a quick prayer asking God to guide and protect us the rest of the way. A few seconds after my dad said Amen. Jacob slipped in disappeared into the ice. Jacob we screamed, Jacob. There was no response for what seemed like hours. time froze and my heart sank. Would I ever see my brother again? Would I be able to stop my fall if I slipped. The silence broke with a faint but clear. Get me out of here. We could barely hear Jacob’s cries because he had slid so far from us. Our de facto guide slowly worked his way down to my brother then reached out his hand to help Jacob out of the gap and the ice. Jacob later told us that when he fell into the class, he landed on a ledge of snow. When he took a step to climb out the snow collapsed underneath his foot and all he could see was black. As Jacob emerged we were thankful and relieved he was alive. However, our relief quickly turned to doubt. As reality hit a square in our cold faces. We still had at least another hour of carefully inching our way across the ice, hoping our footing would hold. We are in the middle of a dangerous glacier with no proper equipment, no professional trail guide and no idea whether our next step would hold or be the end of us. We were colder in damper than before, and I was shaken to my core. I’ll never forget the fear and uncertainty I felt in that moment as I doubted my ability to survive. The confidence that got me up the mountain was gone. A career glacier location my home office in St. Louis, Missouri, elevation about 500 feet above sea level. Fast forward 16 years my executive is suddenly fired. I’d been his assistant for six years and worked at the organization that he founded for 12 I went from thinking I’d be there for two Have more years to suddenly wondering where I’d be in 12 days. Should I leave the organization to which I’d given everything? Or should I stay to see how the reorg shakes out. With my executive gone, I had time for some long overdue self reflection. And I realized that my work had been my life. I was burned out, I needed to reset.
After many sleepless nights, I decided it was time to move on. I knew leaving would not be easy, but I had a vision to guide me. I wanted to be healthy, and I wanted to help other assistants and executives do the same. So I resigned and set out to turn this newfound vision into a business. Several days later, while looking out my garage office window at my wife, Meg in our toddlers Weston and Silas playing in the yard. I felt panic rising in my chest. Most businesses fail. Even the ones that succeed generally take a few years or more to turn a profit. How would I support my family in the meantime, we decided to sell our house and downsize our life to lower our expenses. But I still needed a full time day job while I built my business on the side. I had no resume, no network and no alternative stream of income to buffer our finances. I lacked experience in the for profit world and had no community of assistants to lean on. I went from thinking I was ready for an adventure to lacking the confidence to take the next step. I was shaken to the core again. I thought I was prepared but when reality hit, I froze, just like I’d done on Andrews Glacier 16 years before. After regrouping I decided to put one calculated step in front of the other, I put together a resume. I started to network, I launched a blog. And as I did the missteps that led to my burnout and subsequent feeling of freefall became evident. I’d neglected relationships, thinking I didn’t need people. I’d thought taking care of my executive was more important than taking care of myself. I’d failed to learn more tactics to develop myself. And I had an incomplete understanding of what makes an assistant a game changing leader. I wrote this book to help you avoid making the same mistakes I did. You’ll face many glaciers of all shapes and sizes throughout your career. Some you’ll see a mile away, but others will surprise you. A glacier can be a job change like it was for me, or it can be a deadline that gets moved up a promotion and executive who micromanage is a toxic co worker, a high pressure project, a complicated calendar, a recession, or an intense negotiation with a vendor. Being a leader assistant is not for the faint of heart. If you’re looking for a cruise control option, look elsewhere. However, if you want the confidence and ability to conquer glaciers, while other assistance avoid them, you’re in the right place. So again, that was the prologue for my upcoming book the leader assistant four pillars of a confident game changing assistant. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope that you can download the first few chapters at leader assistant book.com And then purchase the book when it comes out. June 23. Thanks for listening and we’ll talk to you soon.
Unknown Speaker 13:48
Please love you on Apple podcast. Goburrows.com
