Liz has developed a 5 step process to identifying the skills, values and behaviours that will make you an indispensable Assistant to your business leader.
Step 1 is to conduct a personal skills audit. In this episode, the first in a five part series to be released over coming weeks, Liz outlines two different approaches to conduct a personal skills audit. Liz also discusses how the results of this exercise will form the basis for Step 3 which is to identify what indispensable looks like to your business leader and how Adam Fidler’s Executive Assistant ‘manifesto’ which he formulated through his coaching and training work with EA’s may serve as a useful conversation starter.
Resources discussed in this episode
'5 Steps To Being Indispensable' Factsheet - download on the website www.beingindispensable.com
Adam Fidler Executive Assistant role description
Vickie Evan’s Tech Savvy Assistant diagrams
Tools like MBTI, Strengthfinder and the DISC profile are also valuable to helping you ‘flesh’ out the total picture of what you bring to your role. Learn more about these tools via the links:
A solo episode sharing an aha moment that Liz has experienced in the process of developing a new intro for the podcast. It’s a short 15 minute episode this week ruminating on the confidence that comes from realising that in order to be an advocate and influencer in the Executive Assistant space she doesn't need to have been the ‘best’ Executive Assistant that has ever done the role. That it's legitimate and perfectly okay to be passionate about giving a voice to those who are the ‘best’ and that by doing so her role as an influencer of the values and behaviours that make an EA indispensable is valid and useful.
Podcast mentioned (Glen Carlson interviewed on Business Addicts) can be found here
Sonia Petersen has over 15 year's experience as an Executive Assistant working with successful leaders within the construction industry. She is passionate about operations and driving efficiency and really enjoys the collaborative nature of the Executive Assistant role. Amongst her fellow EA’s she is known for her dedication to support and inspire others which she has done by informally mentoring and coaching other Executive Assistants. This is such a passion for her that she has recently began a side hustle business offering individual and group coaching around Wellbeing at Work. Sonia truly believes that if we focus on our wellbeing we will see improvements not just in our health but also in our ability to build relationships as well as increased productivity and even greater success.
For those of us that are working on being indispensable these outcomes are what we’re looking for. As I have shared with you, when your wellbeing and wellness is challenged everything else is affected and your ability to show up as indispensable is compromised...and we don’t want that!
As Sonia describes on her website
“My goal is to create a movement for Executive Assistants and Corporate Women to be respected and recognised, to be united and empowered in what we do as a profession”
Key Takeaways from our discussion:
Dowload a free copy of Sonia's eBook 'Unstick The Stuck' A Woman's Guide to Finding Career Clarity, Creating a Life You Love and Taking Care of Your Well-being' at soniapetersen.com.au
As Founder and Managing Director of leading boutique office support recruitment company EST10, Roxanne Calder brings a fresh approach to the table. Roxanne established EST10 in 2010 and from the launch of the company has sought to differentiate EST10 from other recruiters through the way they engage with employers and candidates with integrity and demonstrating through their actions passion and a commitment to finding the very best talent. In fact over 80% of EST10s business comes from referrals and repeat business.
I was keen to interview Roxanne because I admire the way EST10 puts their money where their mouth is in the way they support the EA profession through their marketing activities including an annual EA of the year award and their sponsorship of development opportunities for EAs such as the EA Leadership Forum. In addition, EST10 sponsors opportunities for EAs to network and share their experiences at round table events and other organised events.
The key takeaways from my discussion with Roxanne include:
I love the fact that Roxanne herself is a successful female entrepreneur and we need to hear more of these stories. EST10 is over six years old and Roxanne herself has had an amazing career, starting out with a Bachelor of Arts, honing her skills in the recruitment industry and creating value now not just through her companies recruitment activities but as a business owner, employing women and developing women in business. She is a very capable and talented businesswomen and I was delighted that she agreed to be interviewed.
https://www.facebook.com/EST10/?fref=ts
Task Management is a fundamental job role of Executive Assistants. Developing and maintaining a well managed 'to-do' list where it is easy to identify the priority of tasks and the stakeholders involved in their execution is something an indispensable assistant needs to resolve.
In this solo episode Liz discusses the importance of task management, how a notebook and pen will continue to remain an EA's go-to tools and how tools such as Trello (based on the Japanese Kanban board approach) can be a great way to automate your task management to drive accountability, communication and collaboration with stakeholders and team members.
The recent announcement that Atlassian is acquiring Trello is discussed as are a number of alternative tools such as Wunderlist, Asana and Todoist.