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ISSN 2046-3855 Creating an Assistant Forum
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Magazine is also available as a Look out particularly this month for Cathy Harris’s Cover Feature on setting up internal Assistant Forums.
corporate subscription in print It’s a great piece that every business should take on board as these networks have proven ROIs for the
or online. companies that adopt them.
Executive Secretary is published
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Articles published in Executive

Secretary are the opinion of the
authors. The views reflected do
not necessarily reflect the views
and opinions of the publishers. Bonnie Low Kramen Sue France Joan Burge Eth Lloyd, M.Ed Meenakshi Dhanda
© Marcham Publishing 2015 Instructor, Speaker & Award-winning PA Visionary & Training Director of AAPNZ Chairperson of IASAP,
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ISSN 2046-3855.
Vickie Sokol Evans Anna Hueto Claire Lister Mariachiara Novati Susie Barron-Stubley.
Technology Instructor & Secretary General, SEiEM MD, Pitman Training President, MACSE Italia International Executive
Best-selling Author Coach Trainer & Speaker
 JANUARY 2015 Volume 4 Issue 6

4 COVER STORY Creating an Assistant Forum Within Your Organisation

Cathy Harris’s comprehensive guide leads the way…

8 LEADERSHIP Three Locks That Hold You Back

“Life has no limitations except the ones you make.”

Page 8
9 COMMUNICATION Winning Beginnings – Opening Your Speech With Impact
It’s all about the first 90 seconds, says Lyn Roseaman

10 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Choosing Your Attitude

Choose your attitude, and you choose success!

11 CAREER DEVELOPMENT Why Your Job Description is Never Done!

Continued professional assessment is the key, says Julie Perrine
Page 12

12 BUSINESS STRATEGY Mission, Vision and Strategy

The importance of understanding your company’s goals

14 COMMUNICATION Tune In to Tone

Stuffy and conventional, or serious and objective? Choose your tone at your peril…

15 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Finding the Gray Area In 2015

Good goals are not necessarily a case of black and white Page 14

16 PROFILE: Heather Baker

International PA/administrative trainer, author & creator of the BakerWrite
speedwriting system

18 PRODUCTIVITY New Year, New Start? Not Necessarily…

Small is beautiful when it comes to Resolutions, says Susie Kay
Page 18
19 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT How to Make Your Own Luck
The nature-nurture debate tackles the topic of Lady Luck

20 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT A Must-have skill in 2015: Resilience

All change, says Joan Burge, for the skill that’ll get you far…

22 PRODUCTIVITY A New Way to Think About Your Inbox

Clever tricks to sort the digital deluge Page 22

two www.executivesecretary.com
 23 KEY SKILLS UPDATES The Art of Proof Reading
Editing secrets from those in the know

24 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Neuroscience – Part II – Sleep and Memory

Sue France’s indepth study of brain power

Page 24
27 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT The Case for Coaching… Your Questions Answered
Some common misconceptions about Coaching explained

28 PRODUCTIVITY Time Management or Behavioural Management – Part 3

Joanne Barnfather’s series on effective time-management continues…

31 LEADERSHIP Are You a Great Leader?

Are people born great, or is it something we learn?
Page 28

32 PROFILE Else-Britt Lundgren, Chairman of EUMA

34 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Resistance is Futile

It’s time to surrender, says Graham Price

36 PROFILE PA of the Year Tribe 2014

This year’s South African PA of the Year finalists tell their story
Page 34

39 CAREER DEVELOPMENT The Evolving Role of the Administrative Professional

Time stands still for no one, says Robert Hosking

40 LEADERSHIP Think Like a Leader and Become Your Own Boss

Free your inner entrepreneur

42 COMMUNICATION Creating Powerful Partnerships

Page 40 Peggy Vasquez explores the magic of the perfect work relationship

47 EVENTS MASTERCLASS Making Conferences Count

Measuring outcomes can make all the difference to your internal event

48 ASSOCIATIONS Association Details from the Four Corners of the World

Page 42 49 EVENTS A Useful List of Up and Coming Events

www.executivesecretary.com three
 COVER STORY

Creating an Assistant WRITER

Cathy

Forum Within Your Harris

Organisation

four www.executivesecretary.com

Introduction
As the Assistant profession moves in sync with
technological changes towards new initiatives
to improve communication, it has become
necessary for Assistants to embark on new and
exciting adventures that will take them to a
higher level of proficiency and management,
adding value to both the organization they
represent and their chosen profession.
The creation of Assistant Forums within
organizations is an innovative tool to improve
communication, create standards, provide
training and development initiatives, and
give the Assistant the opportunity to always
be ahead of the game. An in-house Assistant
Forum will also provide access to essential
resources required by the Assistant on
mandatory operational procedures, pertinent
to the role. Participating in the Forum and
the initiatives derived from is also a fair and
equitable opportunity to be accountable to our
profession.
This article will provide the Assistant
community with a resource that will sustain
their current Forum, should they already have
one, or to serve as a catalyst to set one up.
My story
I have been part of the Discovery Assistant
Forum since 2003, and was instrumental in
the initial stages of its creation, its growth and
continued success. I have served as Chairperson
on various occasions.
Being honored by being awarded the title of
SA National Secretary of the year 2006/2007,
it was my objective and ambition to prosper
and develop the secretarial profession to be
recognized as a strategic partnership with our
managers, and the organizations we represent.
I am currently the Executive Professional
Assistant to the Deputy CEO of Discovery
Life and Discovery Invest. I have been in the
secretarial profession for over 30 years and can
humbly admit that I have gained a wealth of
knowledge, wisdom and inspiration from you,
my fellow peers, who have inspired me to create
and sustain the Assistant Forum initiatives.
In the infant stages of our Forum we battled
to get both management and the Assistant
community to buy into the idea, but once we
got organized and we set objectives and goals
for ourselves, we were able to move forward
successfully. Success didn’t happen overnight
and it took a lot of hard work, dedication,
commitment and teamwork to bring us to
where we currently are. However in order for us
to continue our success, takes even more effort
and consistent commitment.
www.executivesecretary.com
COVER STORY
Within this document I would like to share
my experiences with you, as well as to give
you some tools to either create or improve
on your own Assistant Forum. The ideas and
suggestions within this workbook can be
adjusted to suit your own organization’s culture
and style – some ideas will work, some may not
– but all in all the basic foundation is provided
and it will be up to you and your team to make
it successful.
1 Getting Started: What is a Forum?
• place of, or meeting for public discussion; court,
tribunal. (Quoted from the Oxford Dictionary).
• Meeting, discussion, brainstorming, round-
table, debate.
Why would you want one for your
organization?
• To set standards and maintain them (this
can include the creation of a best practice
manual – dress code, templates, HR policies,
procurement policies, managing multiple
managers, telephone etiquette, how to order
stationery, place orders etc).
• Provide networking opportunities
amongst the Assistants (providing them with
an opportunity to learn more about the other
departments’ functions / operations). We
hold a forum meeting with all the Assistants
every second month and generally invite our
procurement department to give an overview
of a new process, or get our CSI department
to tell us about new charity initiatives they
are running, or we invite speakers like Stef du
Plessis to motivate and encourage us. (These
are just examples). We never use the Forum as
a complaints department, Tupperware party,
or any activity that will not add value to jobs
or to the company. It is all work-related and is
definitely not a tea party.
• An opportunity to customize training and
development according to the organizations
requirements and values. Often Assistants
are forgotten when it comes to training and
development, yet our roles are so integral and
important as we shadow the leaders of our
organizations.
• Arranging and coordinating of special
events (Secretaries day, spring day, boss’s
day, Christmas functions, your own forum
meetings, launches, etc). This allows for the
ideas of many, help of many, and will make the
event successful as everyone is involved in one
way or another.
• Creation of a Shopping List of vendors
that are part of the organization’s preferred
suppliers (stationers, florists, team-building
companies, corporate gifts, caterers, hotels,
venues etc).
• Creation of a folder on the company’s
intranet providing an Information folder with
all the Assistant Forum compiled information
(your standards, templates, shopping lists,
events calendar, committee members, minutes
of meetings, objectives etc).
• An opportunity for “get to know”
visits. Department visits, site visits, etc (IT
department, production, new product, new
business, etc).
• Roles and responsibilities of the
Forum. Each member should be allocated
a responsibility, preferably in line with the
department she currently works for, but not
necessarily. Basically if you need to draw up
a budget and have a treasurer to control the
Assistant Forum budget, it would be nice to
get either the financial manager’s Assistant
to be part of this role, or someone who enjoys
working with budgets.
In Conclusion: It goes without saying that a
Assistant Forum will add huge value in many
aspects of the Assistant’s role, the manager
she represents and her organization. It is also
important to realize that a Forum offers the
opportunity for the Assistant to better perform
in her job because she is informed, educated,
actively participates in its success and operates
in line with her company’s goals and objectives.
We are all team players in our organization and
for this reason we all need to know what the left
and right hands are doing in order to succeed
and be successful. We are only as strong as the
weakest links in our team. As Assistants we
need to create opportunities for ourselves to be
the best that we can be.
2 Forming a Committee
Questions to ask
• Who should be included in the Assistant
Forum?
• How will the committee be selected?
• Who should lead?
Corporate Governance within your
Assistant Forum committee
• Include ALL the Assistants in your
organization to participate in your forum. From
time to time you can also invite the managers to
attend some of your Assistant Forum meetings.
• There are two ways in which a committee
can be formed: 1) By votes made by the
Assistant community, or 2) Through voluntary
participation.
• The new committee should select, by vote,
who they would like to be represented as their
chairperson.
• It is essential that once your committee
is formed that there are rules set, and actions
which will be taken should the rules not be
adhered to. It is important to set boundaries
for your committee. We have all the committee
five

members sign a confidentiality agreement as
there are often times when managers approach
us to mentor or coach their Assistants, and
certain information shared may require
confidentiality.
3 Setting standards
What standards are we talking about here
and, what is the expectation of standards?
Although many organizations already have
set standards in place for certain operational
requirements, there are however gaps where
it is important for both the image and the
efficiency of the business to have set standards
pertaining to various functions required to be
carried out by the Assistant as part of her job
function.
Often what happens is that rules are set and
filed away or only certain departments or
people are aware of these standards which
are not effectively communicated to the
people at ground level – mainly the Assistant
Community. Here we need to look at what
standards we want to set. There are plenty of
them, but what I can suggest is that you select
those which are pertinent and important to
you for now and build on it as you go. You and
your committee can later create a manual of
the standards set. Remember though that you
would need to allocate these to your committee
to ensure that they are regularly updated and
maintained.
Standards would include the following
(examples):
• An introduction of the Assistant Forum and
its activities
• Company orientation guide
• House rules
• Health and Safety Policy
• Meeting room booking procedure
• Social excellence
• Telephone etiquette
• Multiple Managers
• Documentation guide
• Human resources policies
• Finance procedures
• Email etiquette
• Event management
• Dress guidelines
• Electronic diary management
• Relief Assistants
• Function bookings
• Procurement process
• Office moves
• Logging calls
4 Networking
One of the most important characteristics we
need as a Assistant or office professional is the
ability to be able to communicate. We cannot
six
COVER STORY
grow nor develop if we don’t communicate,
we cannot express opinions or give advice
if we are not informed and, above all, how
effective are we if we don’t know about our
own organization or how it operates? Therefore
networking within the Assistant Forum could
include the following activities:
• Arranging “get to know your department”
sessions.
• Get to know the Assistants within your own
organization (important)
• Hold monthly topical Forum meetings
(business related – no tea parties!).
• Attending seminars and conferences, and
meeting other Assistants
• Participating in events organized for the
Assistant community within your organization
• Participate in Assistant Summits and
round-table discussions where you can share
and exchange experiences.
• Getting connected with other professionals
in our profession on social networks like
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
• Join recognized office professionals
association.
5 Training and development
We often overlook our own development in the
quest to manage our positions and to carry out
our day-to-day functions within the time limits
we have, which for most of us can be quite
difficult sometimes. However the advantage
of having a Assistant Forum within your
organization is that it will help you manage
your day-to-day tasks collectively. The idea
is two-fold: firstly when you receive external
notification for relevant Assistant training,
this can be reviewed by the Assistant Forum
committee and then circulated to the rest of
the Assistants if appropriate. The Forum will
serve as the main point of communication on
training and development for the Assistant.
The other side of this is to consider (depending
on the size of your organization) the creation
of a Assistant Induction Program for
new Assistants who have recently joined, or
Assistants who have been with the organization
for some time, but need to brush up on their
general knowledge or new and updated
operational processes within the organization.
The Program can allow your company to:
• Circulate training information to the
Assistant Community
• Take advantage of in-house product
training and encourage Assistant Community
participation
• Take new Assistants through the various
tasks required in order for them to be better
equipped before they officially starts their new
role
• Schedule brief training sessions in the
Assistant Forum so that when new company
procedures come into play, everyone is in the
loop, is kept updated and forms part of the
process, and knows and understands what is
expected
6 Special events
Special events within your organizations
Examples:
• Secretaries Day
• Boss’s Day
• Spring Day
• Casual Day
• Year End functions
• Team-building events
• Valentine’s Day
• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Launches
• Vendor Expos
The Assistant forum is the best and most
effective way in which to launch and promote
these special events. However within the
context of your Forum you need to identify
which ones are important to your organization
and schedule these on an events calendar /
planner.
7 Shopping Lists
A shopping list can consist of the following:
• Maps
• Dietary preferences
• Contact lists of Assistants
• Birthday list
• Restaurant venues
• Templates
• Team-building vendors / ideas
• Event-planning schedule
• Florists
• Newspaper and magazine subscriptions
• Training vendors
• Policies and procedures
• Assistant Standards Manual
• Electronic letterheads
• Stationery
• Hotels and accommodation
8 Information folders
We have now established a huge hub of
information which we need to ensure is accessible
to every Assistant in your organization. These
can be placed on the company’s intranet or on
the public drive, or via a Sharefile application.
Remember that you would need to ensure
that this responsibility is allocated to a
Assistant Forum committee member to take
responsibility of the folders to ensure that they
remain updated and relevant.
www.executivesecretary.com
 COVER STORY

9 Marketing your Assistant Forum
We have now established a basic foundation
for the core purpose and reasons for having a
Assistant Forum within your organization, but
how do we sell this idea? How do we get buy-in
from our managers and how do we get the other
Assistants in our organization to participate?
… through marketing.
But where do we begin and how do we do
this?
1  Firstly you would need to send an email out
to the Assistant community advising them of
your intention to start a Forum and inviting
them to participate as members.
2  Once all the elements of your Forum have
been consolidated (roles and responsibilities,
budget, initiatives) arrange a meeting with the
management team, or your human resources
director and, as a committee, do a presentation
to them as to what your intentions are (it is
vital that you have the buy-in of the managers,
because without it, it will be extremely
difficult to manage). In this presentation you
would need to present your objectives (what
you would like to achieve and what value it
is going to add), as well as the initiatives you
would like to take on for now (don’t choose too
many at once and remember to put timelines to
these), as well as what budget may be required.
3  Once you have approached management
and they are happy with the concept, (which
if coordinated and well thought through will
definitely get their buy-in), set up time to do a
launch to the rest of the Assistant community
and provide them with an overview of your
strategy for the year ahead and the activities
you have planned. Remember to keep the
community informed and use any feedback
from them as constructive – it is after all their
Forum – you are merely the conductor, not the
dictator of the orchestra.
4  Create a brand for yourselves through
the use of a banner for emails, birthdays,
notifications, daily inspirations, tips and other
communications.
10 Working on a budget
It is important but not necessary to have
a budget from which to work from. Most
organizations do set aside a budget facility for • Financial Advisor
training purposes for their employees. It may • IT Co-ordinators
be a good idea to establish what this budget is • Public Relations Officers
and to use it to form your own Assistant Forum • Marketing
budget. Having a Assistant Forum budget
is also advantageous for the company as all 12 Putting it all together
Assistant-related expenses will sit in one place Now that we have the essential framework,
as opposed to the various costs centres, where we should be able to put together a Assistant
some Assistants have opportunities and others Forum.
not. In this way there is equality.
Way forward:
Steps to take will include the following ideas: 1  Plan a strategy day, out of the office, with
your new committee (get one of your frequent
1  Prepare a budget together with your team, venues to give you a “free” day and use it as a
outlining costs per head and annualized over 12 site visit of their facilities).
months. 2  Set out your objectives.
2  Budget for the following things, for example: 3  From your objectives choose a few realistic
• Training and development, seminars and things you would like to achieve within your
conferences Assistant Forum for the next year.
• Travel costs 4  Allocate responsibilities that are required to
• Gifts accomplish your objectives.
• Secretaries Day 5  Draw up a budget.
• Boss’s day 6  Draw up a calendar of events with timelines.
• Team-build events / strategy sessions 7  Present your proposal to management.
• Stationery and printing 8  And, most importantly, enjoy!
• Books
• Professional memberships
• Catering
• Rewards and recognition
3  Schedule your budget, first working on per
head (per Assistant), and then multiplying this
into real terms (number of Assistants).
4  Prepare a proposal of your budget in a
PowerPoint presentation.
5  Set up a meeting with your financial director
to present your proposal to him/her.
6  Good luck!!
11 Roles and responsibilities
We have now worked through most of the detail,
but in order to bring this all together we need
to ensure that the operational side of our new
Forum is taken care of and the administration
functions and the role of each of the committee
members are effectively managed
Roles:
• Chairperson
• Secretary
• Teams
• Events co-ordinator

about the author

Cathy Harris is an Executive Assistant at Discovery Life. Nominated SA National Office Professional of the Year in
2006, she drives various initiatives which include the Discovery Centre of Excellence, the OPSA Institute of Learning,
assessment of professional designation applications and heads up the OPSA National Award committee. Cathy was
instrumental in initiating the National Secretary of the Year Award for Mauritius and assisted in the formation of their
Professional Association. Other initiatives include Discovery Assistant workshops, external seminars and symposium
facilitations, Assistant Forum facilitation and also compiling secretarial workbooks aligned to workshops and mentoring
programs. Cathy travels internationally, inspiring excellence, sharing her passion for her profession of 34 years.
Tel +44 (845) 707626 or visit www.discovery.co.za.

www.executivesecretary.com seven

Three Locks That
Hold You Back
Life has no limitations except the ones you make.
– Les Brown
The story is told of master magician and
locksmith Harry Houdini on one of his European
tours and how he found himself locked in by
his own thinking. After he had been searched
and manacled in a Scottish town jail, the old
turnkey shut him in a cell and walked away.
Houdini quickly freed himself from his shackles
and then tackled the cell lock. But despite all
his efforts, the lock wouldn’t open.
Finally, ever more desperate but completely
exhausted, he leaned against the door –and it
swung open so unexpectedly that he nearly fell
headlong into the corridor. The turnkey had
not locked it.
One difficult lesson for leaders to learn is that
it’s not always the big stumbling blocks along
the way that will do you in. In fact, just the
opposite can be true if you are not careful. From
the story we learn that what Houdini thought
was locking him in the cell was the very thing
that would set him free. Here’s the lesson: at
times what you think is the problem is not the
problem and the small things you overlook are
the ones that give you the most grief.
So what are some of the locks in leadership
that will hold you back and keep you from
reaching your potential? There are many, but
I will highlight three. If you will pay attention
to these little things now it can save you a lot
of heartache later.
1 The lock of low expectations
You will only rise to the level of success that
you envision and strive for. Your expectations
are the measuring rod of your dreams. If you
about the author
Doug Dickerson is an internationally recognized leadership speaker and columnist. He is the author of the books
Leaders Without Borders, and Great Leaders Wanted. Visit www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com for more information.
eight
LEADERSHIP
are locked in by low expectations then high
expectations will never occur.
But who or what is the source of your low
expectations? You must identify and get to
the root of your low expectations if you want
to turn things around. Perhaps it’s a lack of
confidence in your abilities. It may have been
a bad break that you haven’t recovered from.
Maybe you bought-in to someone else’s low
expectation they placed on you.
Regardless of the source, you must disqualify
it of its place in your vocabulary, your mindset
and your vision going forward. You can unlock
your potential to growth and success when you
remove low expectations from your playbook.
2 The lock of improper comparisons
One potentially demoralizing habit a leader can
get caught up in is the comparison game. You
know the drill, “He has more clients”, “She has
DOUG
WRITER
DICKERSON
more contacts”, “He gets all the breaks”, “Her
family name got her where she is,” and on it goes.
It’s all too easy to make improper comparisons
and allow that to be a source of discouragement
and a setback. You are not called to run anyone
else’s race but your own. Improper comparisons
are a lock that will always hold you back so
long as you are consumed by the other person
and your perceptions of what is not fair.
As a leader you will ultimately have to look
inward and upward if you want to be at peace.
So long as you allow someone else to be your
measure of success then you will always doubt
and second guess yourself. Find peace at the
end of the day in knowing that you did your
best. Unlock the potential of everything that is
great about you – not others.
3 The lock of a bad attitude
Ultimately, your attitude is your deal-breaker.
With a good attitude you can unlock all the
potential that is uniquely yours to achieve. A bad
attitude will keep you locked up in a cell of your
own making that will always hold you back.
Do other people sometimes get the better
breaks? Do bad things happen to good and
honest people? Of course they do. Life is not
always fair. But life is made better or made
worse by the way you respond and the attitude
that you choose.
As a leader it’s time to pick some locks and
set yourself free. It’s time to raise expectations
equal to your talent – not equal to your fears.
It’s time to quit comparing yourself to others
and change your attitude.
It’s time to unlock your potential!
www.executivesecretary.com
 COMMUNICATION

Winning Beginnings WRITER

Lyn

– Opening Your Roseaman

Speech With Impact

Research has shown that the first 90 seconds
of any speech have the most impact and are
the most memorable. Thought, time and
effort spent on your opening is a worthwhile
investment.
You need to stand out from other speakers. This
starts before you’ve even uttered your first word.
Expectations shape reality. If your audience
expects you to be good, they’ll perceive you as
just that. So dress the part and never admit to
feeling anxious, unsure or unwell.
Here are some tips to help you have a winning
beginning and to open your speech with
impact:
1 The opening of your speech needs to provide
them with a compelling reason to park all
competing thoughts and give you their full
attention for the duration of your speech. Don’t
waste the opening seconds with platitudes, such
as thank you for inviting me, what an honour,
etc, etc. Friendly, but boring and predictable.
In the words of Darren LaCroix (World
Champion of Public Speaking, Toastmasters
International), “Beware death by sameness.”  Used well, your powerful opening will prevent
Make a direct, dramatic opening which
seizes your audience’s interest. It can be
compelling, humorous, shocking, challenging
or imaginative. Try using:
• A rhetorical or a survey question. Cue the
response you are looking for. Questions are even
more effective when they are “you” focused
• A statement in the form of a startling
statistic or a bold claim can set the scene
effectively for an informational or educational
talk. “Did you know that…”
• Paint a picture – this can start with
“Imagine...” or “It was 2.30pm on a rainy
Monday…”: the aim is to get your audience to
visualise a scene in their minds.  support the credibility of your message. Look
• Anecdote – a personal, amusing short story
that relates directly to your overall message –
one that the audience can relate to
• A recent quotation from a respected industry
expert – the expert gives added credibility and,
if it’s recent, you sound on the ball
Whichever approach you adopt, appeal to their
senses – what people see, hear, feel, smell,
taste. This will give your speech opening more
emotional resonance and invites the audience in.
2 Always speak in the active, not the passive,
voice. Don’t say “Our business needs to be
restructured for growth...” which leaves the
listener not sure who will be doing what by
when. Say “We need to restructure our business
for growth…” “These are the next steps…”
“Who will…?” “By when…?”
Sentences in the active voice are shorter, have
energy and directness. 
3 Top speakers use anchor phrases. A good
anchor phrase should encapsulate the feeling
and message of your speech. For Martin Luther
King it was “I have a dream”. It’s a few words
your audience will associate with you and
your message. When your phrase pops into
their mind, the rest of your speech will be
reactivated. 
4 Practise your opening until it flows naturally
and effortlessly. On the day, take centre stage
and ooze confidence with a solid posture and a
smile. The stability of your opening stance will
briefly around your audience. This gives you
time to calm your nerves and the audience time
to settle down, and focus on you. The pause
will pique their curiosity – they will be eager
to hear your opening words.
the audience thinking “so what?”, or “what’s in
it for me?” With a memorable opening, they
are with you, wanting to know more.

about the author

Lyn Roseaman is from Toastmasters International – a nonprofit educational organisation that teaches public speaking
and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita,
California, the organization’s membership exceeds 313,000 in more than 14,650 clubs in 126 countries. Since 1924,
Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. There
are nearly 300 clubs in the UK and Ireland with over 7000 members. To find your local club: www.toastmasters.org
Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.
For Toastmasters in the UK: www.toastmasters.org.uk
For Toastmasters in Ireland: www.toastmasters.ie

www.executivesecretary.com nine
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Choosing Your WRITER

JESSICA
MCGREGOR

Attitude JOHNSON

It can be a challenging time when our world as

we know it shifts beneath our feet. One of my
favourite quotes is:

Don’t worry about having the carpet pulled from

under your feet; learn to dance on a shifting carpet.

That’s the key right now, and it all depends

on where your focus is and what attitude you
choose to bring to this moment. At no point
in time has it been more important to manage
your mental state and choose where your mind
goes and what you are focusing on. The world
does seem to be spinning off in all directions.
If you are focused on the doom and gloom
then that is going to be all you will see. If you
shorten your focus and become present in the
moment, you will be able to see that you are,
in fact, okay. You will also be much more likely
to creatively deal with whatever comes towards
you personally and still create the life you want.

Whatever is happening in your world at this
moment right now you have one tool that is
very powerful – the free will to choose your
attitude to what is going on around you. In
my book Remembering Perfection in the chapter
“Reality and Attitude” I talk about how the
one thing we have absolute control over is the
attitude we choose to adopt when something
happens in our lives. Right now, when it can
feel like everything is outside of your control it
is quite useful to feel in control of one aspect.
So choose your attitude. If you are affected
negatively by something happening in the
world ask yourself what attitude can I adopt
that would put me in the most positive mindset
to handle this well? Instead of focusing on what
is causing you to feel fearful or worried shift
your focus to something better. Ask yourself
how else might I view this situation? That is a
powerful question to ask.
I am not saying don’t be informed about the
world – that would be irresponsible – but I am
saying don’t watch the repeats of the bad news
all day, every day. Don’t drip feed negativity into
your life and mind. Get the information that is
relevant to your life, deal with it in whatever way
you can, and then be vigilant as to where your
focus goes for the rest of the day. I have found
that by severely limiting my exposure to the
news and newspapers I still know what is going
on in the world, but I don’t choose to talk about
it all the time, churn it over with friends how
terrible things are and make it my main focus of
the day. If you cannot take positive action that
helps the situation you are worried about do not
add to it with your fear and worried thoughts.
Often our fears are mental constructs that we get
caught up in, and then it can be very difficult
to talk ourselves back into calmness and clarity.
Once we start to focus on the fear factor the
filters in our unconscious mind start to look for
evidence of what we are focusing on. That’s just
how the mind works. With this in mind start
to become aware of what you are filtering for
and consciously give yourself a new focus. Our
attitude to what is happening is a filter too so
start to become very aware of the attitude you
are approaching your own life with.
These are turbulent times, and to flow with it as
smoothly as possible and deal with all that comes,
a positive attitude will serve us the best. The
present moment holds that calm space, so I invite
you to spend some time each day getting in touch
with that space within you that is always present.
The space where you feel strong and competent
and not only ready and able to deal with whatever
may come, but also able to go out and create the
life you want. In that present moment everything
is fine, and only in that present moment are you
able to make choices. Choose wisely.

about the author

Jessica is an international Coach, Author and Speaker. She works with people who are at a crossroads in their life
and helps them discover their true passions and live them, whether it be in their work or personal life. As well as
coaching people individually and running workshops and retreats in the UK and Spain she offers The Passion Test
for Business employee engagement program. For more information go to www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com. You can also
read the first two chapters of her book The Right T-Shirt, Write Your Own Rules and Live the Life You Want by visiting
www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com/signup.html.

ten www.executivesecretary.com
 CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Why Your Job Description WRITER

is Never Done!
JULIE
PERRINE

We’ve spent 2014, the International Year of
the Secretary and Admin Assistant, discussing
ways you can advance your career and the
administrative profession. We’ve focused on
everything from mentorship to generational
differences, but one of our primary focuses has
been on creating your new and improved job
description.
A detailed description of your job is essential to
your admin career – not only if you are looking
for a new job, but also if you want to move
up within your current company, keep your
executive and colleagues up to date on your
responsibilities, and track your professional
progress and performance. Every admin who
wants to be successful in his or her career needs
one.
But what do you do once you have your updated
job description in place?
You keep working on it.
Updating your job description is an important
exercise not just this year, but every year. It’s not
a one-and-done task – it’s an ongoing exercise
that you need to make time for regularly.
So why is it important to regularly revisit your
job description?
Now is the time of year when many companies
hold their annual reviews, so hopefully a lot
of you have been able to share your updated
description with your executive. However, even
once you’ve shown your executive and possibly
even submitted it to your HR department,
your work isn’t done. Your job description
shouldn’t be a static document – it’s something
that should be regularly reviewed and revised.
Updating your job description is a great way
to prepare for your review, and it can help you
state your case if you’re looking for a promotion,
raise or new title, especially when paired with
a professional portfolio. If you’re learning and
growing in your position, your job description
is going to constantly evolve. And you need
to keep your executive and HR department
apprised of these changes. Regularly revisiting
your description is a great way to do this.
But what do you do if your executive, manager
or HR department won’t get on board with
your new job description?
If you encounter some static when it comes to
your new description, the most important thing
is to not get discouraged. This is a frequent
occurrence at a lot of companies, and while it’s
unfortunate, a “no” doesn’t always mean what
you think it does.
If you run into a roadblock in getting someone
to accept your new job description, here are
some things you can do to address the situation:
• Ask the person why he or she is refusing to
accept the description, and respectfully listen
to the answer.
• Ask again in a different way or at a different
time.
• Ask what you can do to get the new
description acknowledged.
• If revising your job description isn’t
acceptable, ask how you can keep the person up
to date on your job responsibilities and changes.
• Ask what you can do to improve the way
you’re asking.
When it comes to your updated job description,
it’s important to understand that a “no” now
doesn’t necessarily mean “no, never”. Keep
revising and sharing it, regardless of the
feedback you receive. Even if it’s never accepted,
regularly updating your description will
provide you and your executive with valuable
information on your professional progress.
If you haven’t already completed your new
job description, it’s definitely something you
should put on your 2015 to-do list! The process
isn’t difficult, especially if you break it down
into small steps.
Whether you’ve completed your new job
description already or you plan to tackle it in
2015, make updating yours a regular habit.
Keeping your job description current may feel
like a neverending task, but it’s a best practice
for having a successful career. And it will
help you, as well as your executive and HR
department, track your professional progress and
contributions to the company for years to come.

about the author

Julie Perrine is an administrative expert, trainer and all-round procedures pro. She is the founder and CEO of All
Things Admin, a company dedicated to developing innovative products, training and resources for administrative
professionals worldwide. Learn more about Julie’s book, The Innovative Admin: Unleash the Power of Innovation in Your
Administrative Career, and download free templates at www.AllThingsAdmin.com. Follow Julie on Twitter: @julieperrine.
“Like” All Things Admin on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AllThingsAdmin. If you need a little motivation, All Things
Admin’s free self-guided, five-day challenge can give you the boost and information you need to create your description.
The program includes informative videos and plans of action that will help you create your description in a week or
less! (You can find all of the details at www.allthingsadmin.com/iyotsa).

www.executivesecretary.com eleven

Mission, Vision and
Strategy – and the
Importance for the
Executive Assistant
Can an Executive Personal Assistant be effective
if they do not understand the Mission, Vision
and Strategy of the organization that they are
supporting? Before we explore this question in
more detail we should however firstly look at
what the terms Mission, Vision and Strategy
mean as they do tend to get confused.
Mission
The Mission of any organization should be
about “Who they are” and “What they value”.
It is a short statement that answers the question
“What do we do?” It is primarily about the
present time (although leading to the future).
A good Mission Statement clearly articulates
the raison d’etre of the organization. Its prime
function is to define measures of success (ie are
we achieving what we intended to be?)
The Mission Statement can change over
time but should always relate back to the
organisation’s core values and vision.
An excellent example of a clear Mission
Statement would be: “Our vision is to be the
Mission Statement Vision Statement
Who We Are What we Want to
What We Value Become
Communication to
All Stakeholders
twelve
BUSINESS STRATEGY
WRITER
RICHARD
ARNOTT
Vision
The Vision of any organization should be about
“What they want to become”. Again a relatively
short statement that answers the question
“What do we want to be?” It is primarily about
the future.
A good Vision Statement clearly articulates
where the organisation sees itself some years
from now. It should be inspirational and
motivational. Its prime function is to give
people an understanding of what they are
trying to achieve within the organisation.
The Vision Statement should not change, even
in difficult market conditions, because it’s
about what the organisation wants to be, not
what it is currently doing.
Both the Mission and the Vision are about
world’s best quick service restaurant experience. Being
communication to key stakeholders both
the best means providing outstanding quality, service,
internal and external which is why they are
cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer
predominantly found on the organisation’s web
in every restaurant smile.”
pages (or should be).
Can you guess who this is? Yep, it’s McDonald’s.
Strategy
Having established “What they want to be”
the organisation’s strategy is more internally
focussed and is about “How the Vision is going
to be achieved”.
A good Strategy is closely aligned to the
Mission and particularly the Vision of an
organisation. It ensures that the Key Objectives
are articulated and understood and that specific
Strategy Goals and Objectives “Strategies/Activities to deliver the change” are
How we will How we will agreed and communicated
Achieve our Vision Measure Success
Objectives
Objectives are what need to be achieved and
must always have tangible targets set and need
to be measurable.
www.executivesecretary.com
 BUSINESS STRATEGY

Objectives can be articulated in many ways.

This could be anything from “Growing sales
by 20% pa” to “Reducing acquisition costs per
customer by 10%” and are normally cascaded
down through the organization.

Critical Success Factors

Many organizations specifically articulate what
the Critical Success Factors will be. These can
be both tangible and intangible such as “All
new business processed on single application”.

Key Performance Indicators

Without targets the organization doesn’t
know where it needs to get to, and without
measurements it wouldn’t know where it was
at any given time. Key Performance Indicators
are the important measurements that will
determine whether success has been achieved.

Key Tactics
The Key Tactics are the actual tasks that will
happen to drive the change. These can be
a combination of large, medium and small
projects or simply enhanced business as usual
activity in perhaps a more efficient way.

The Executive PA’s role

In our Advanced Certificate for the Executive
Personal Assistant one of the key characteristics
of an Effective Personal Assistant is discussed.
This characteristic is the “Ability to understand
the Business Strategy”.

So why is this so important?

The general consensus from delegates is that this

is the key characteristic because without this
knowledge the Executive Personal Assistant is
working in the dark. Without knowing what
is important and what is not important how
can the Executive Personal Assistant prioritise?
How do they know what the Boss wants done
first or who should take priorities for meetings
etc?

about the author

Richard Arnott is a Director of Business Management Training Group, www.bmtg.org and lead author of the UK
Accredited Advanced Certificate for the Executive Personal Assistant (ACEPAtm) delivered in the UAE, Middle East,
UK & USA. Richard will be running his ACEPA course in the UK in March and a two day Project Management
course in the USA (San Francisco & Seattle) in April. Email crussell@executivesecretary.com for more information. Richard
is also running a half day workshop on Project Management Governance at Executive Secretary LIVE in March. See
www.ExecutiveSecretaryLIVE.com for full details.

www.executivesecretary.com thirteen

Tune In to Tone
In most business communication you need to pay
attention to tone
I recently watched the sad news of another
high school shooting in the US. The news
reporter was emitting a tone of horror, sadness
and sympathy when she interviewed a student
witness. However, the student answered in a
very objective, flat, almost disinterested, tone.
The difference in the tone the student used and
the tone the reporter expected were so different
that the reporter actually mentioned it on air.
Tone can play such an important part in how
our audience processes our message, but we
often don’t pay attention to it when we write.
In our speech, we use tone quite easily, but it’s
harder to see or read tone in our writing.
What is tone?
“Tone” is basically your attitude. It involves
your attitude toward the subject, the message,
and even your audience. Your tone could be
anything from humorous to angry to adoring.
What do you think is the tone of the following
two sentences?
• The software version we most recently released has
a minor anomaly that can be easily addressed with a
quick and simple patch.
• As with all versions of this software, our latest
version also has a problem that’s going to require
a rewrite of a particular section of code in order to
correct it.
Consider the word “anomaly” versus “problem”,
and consider the idea of a “quick and simple
about the author
Shirley Taylor is international bestselling author of Model Business Letters, Emails and Other Business Documents 7th edition.
Shirley’s wonderfully interactive virtual training program “Business Writing that Works” will be launched very soon.
Find out more about this state-of-the-art program and be the first to hear when we launch at www.shirleytaylorvt.com.
fourteen
COMMUNICATION
patch” versus “a rewrite... of code”. Are there
any other differences you can see? Which
sentence do you think your customers want to
hear? Which one do you think will calm your
customers’ fears and which will make them
worry that maybe they should change to a
different software company?
Why care about tone?
As with the example I just shared, tone often
conveys an image. Perhaps it’s an image of
you, your department, or even your entire
organisation. Before you write, you need to
think about what kind of tone you want to
convey.
What kind of tone would you normally think
natural for a business letter? Perhaps formal,
WRITER
SHIRLEY
TAYLOR
serious, objective? How much of that can your
reader take, though, before they start to think
you are stuffy and conventional?
Is tone the same as style?
Tone and style are not the same. In fact,
sometimes your intended tone can go head-to-
head with your natural style. For example, a
friend of mine has a natural style that is semi-
formal and somewhat personal. That style can
come across as less than serious. When she is
writing a more formal, objective message, her
style can make it seem that she has a humorous
or relaxed attitude toward the subject. In truth,
she’s quite serious about the subject, but her
natural style might suggest she isn’t.
The bottom line is that in most business
communication you do need to pay attention
to tone, but don’t worry overly much about
it either. When you write a letter, a report, or
even an email, always, yes always, read it over
at least once out loud. Keep your ears partially
tuned toward tone, so if you do happen to find
a word or phrase that rings false, you can easily
change it to portray the message or the image
you really intend.
www.executivesecretary.com

Finding the Gray Area
in 2015 – Realistic Goal Setting
When I’m talking about “finding the gray
area” for realistic goal setting, I’m not referring
to hair — although I have to admit, I’m due
for a colour. But honestly, when we set goals,
we tend to think in terms of black and white.
We want to be thin, we want to look better,
we want to have more money. So in response to
these perfectionist targets, we set goals to help us
become the complete opposite of who we are now.
Achieving anything less than these unrealistic
milestones means we’re a complete failure.
New Year’s resolutions have always been
something I’ve found humour in, rather than
taken seriously. Now 2015 is underway and I
know that many people have already abandoned
their goals. According to a study by the
University of Scranton, US, only 8% of people
actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions.
After the month of January, already 36% of
people have given up on theirs. Lets stop this
trend. Let’s start over and put our goal-setting
on the right track!
At this point in the year, the gyms are already
seeing fewer of those New Year’s resolution
exercisers, and the vegetable aisle isn’t as busy
at the grocery store, either.
Some of us have already fallen flat, right out
of the gate, thinking that we have a good 11
months before we have to worry about goal
setting again.
Others may have fought the good fight, but are
mentally drained from trying to achieve those
difficult goals they set for themselves. Though
this cycle of setting goals and failing at them
may seem amusing when viewed in a comical
light, the truth is that some of these areas of
our lives actually do need improvement, for our
physical, mental or financial health.
So let’s write some realistic goals for 2015.
about the author
Rhonda Scharf, CSP, is a Certified Speaking Professional, trainer and author based in Ottawa. She helps organizations
feel motivated and educated through her interactive, realistic and fun training programs and keynote speeches. If
your team needs a boost by increasing their effectiveness and efficiency, then Rhonda will get you ON THE RIGHT
TRACK. www.on-the-right-track.com or call +1 (1877) 213 8608.
www.executivesecretary.com
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Before you even begin thinking about changing
any area of your life, take that pen and paper and
make three columns labeled black, white and gray.
Now you’re ready to get started. Let’s take a
popular one, “losing weight”. In the black column
you are going to put “overweight”. In the white
column you are going to put “healthy weight”.
Now we’re going to set goals that are actually
based in reality, smack dab in the gray column.
Maybe your first goal will be to walk during
each break at work. When that step is achieved,
your next one might be to stop eating after
8pm. Next in line, packing healthy foods for
lunch... and so on.
Or, let’s say you want to find a new job in
2015. The realistic goals in the gray area might
begin with updating your resume. Creating
a professional profile on LinkedIn could be
another.
If your goal is to deal more effectively with
a difficult work colleague, you might want
to “Like” my Facebook page, Dealing With
Difficult People.
It is easy to identify what we want to change,
and how we want it to look. The hard part is
giving yourself options in the gray column.
WRITER
RHONDA
SCHARF
Saving money seems like a clear enough goal,
but you won’t be successful with just that as you
haven’t identified how you are going to do it.
Tell yourself you are going to limit your visits to
Starbucks to no more than twice per week. You
are going to pack a lunch twice per week. Keep
all your change in a jar, and not in your wallet.
Easy action steps make achieving the goal
much easier, which will increase your chances
of success.The top 5 New Year’s resolutions are:
• Lose Weight
• Get Organized
• Spend Less, Save More
• Enjoy Life to the Fullest
• Stay Fit and Healthy
If you’ve gone as far as listing your goals like
the list above, you are in trouble. You need
to know what is required to do each of those
steps – otherwise you are destined to failure.
Logically you “know” what to do, but by
writing it down and then committing to the
action piece of the goal, you will be successful.
It isn’t so much the goal that is important – it
is the action piece of the goal.
No matter what you want to change, you can
see that taking small, manageable steps rather
than huge, unrealistic ones, is more likely to
end in success.
It’s too overwhelming to pressure ourselves into
going from fat to thin, poor to rich, unsatisfied
to satisfied. All of that important gray matter
in the middle is what is lacking, and why so
many of us fail to meet our goals.
So, set realistic goals for 2015 and make your
first goal a promise to work on that gray area.
In my case, I do mean my hair!
Fifteen
 HEATHER BAKER
International PA/administrative trainer, author & creator of the
BakerWrite speedwriting system
Can we start with a little background information? Where are you
from?
I was born in Yorkshire, in the north of England, but my parents moved
to South Manchester when I was three years old. With the exception of
five years in France in the 1980s, I have always lived here and consider
myself a true and proud Mancunian!
What is your background?
I am the only child of two only children. From the age of three until
I married, I was brought up living in the school where my father was
headteacher and my mother matron. It was a residential school for
disabled children and so I lived with about 70 other boys and girls – who
all went home in the holidays.
My parents wanted to escape work during the holidays and so we three
would set off in a caravan to Europe for six weeks in the summer. I made
the most international and amazing friends (some of whom I’m
now connected with on Facebook). It also started my love
for languages and travel.
Our house was always full of people – children,
teachers, childcarers, medical staff – and there
would often be crises due to illnesses or some just
very funny things. Never a dull moment.
I went to local primary and grammar schools and, as
soon as I was old enough, started getting part-time
jobs. As a teenager, many of my friends would come
and meet up with the children at the school. The boys
would play football together; it was a very inclusive time.
One New Year when I was 15, when all the children had gone
home, we cleared all the beds out of one of the dormitories, put in chairs
and tables and had the best party ever!
In 1976 I started working as a barmaid in a local pub; I met my
future husband there and we were married in 1979. We continue to
be very happy together (despite a few difficult times – which actually
strengthened our relationship) and have two beautiful daughters now in
their 20s – Ailsa, a dance teacher and choreographer, and Erin, an admin
assistant (who also dances for fun).
How and why did you become an administrative professional?
I was far too interested in boys! At 14 I wasn’t doing too well at
school (boys and the strict discipline of a girls’ grammar school which
automatically made me want to rebel); I was put in the lower set. The
top sets did Latin and the lower sets did shorthand and typing (this was
the 1960s!).
During Easter or Christmas breaks I would then work as a “temp” in
offices, whilst my Latin friends were stacking shelves at supermarkets. I
really enjoyed the office life and got some great gigs.
sixteen
However, I made it to the sixth form and, as my dad (whom I adored)
suggested, I went to teacher training college to major in French. After
six months I realised I had made a huge mistake – and I couldn’t stand
children! Without telling my dad I applied to do a bilingual secretarial
course and got a place. Of course, I had to tell him at some point. His
comment, being a true Yorkshireman, was, “What do you want to be a
b****y typist for?”. That was the first time I became aware of the stigma
attached to administrative roles.
I loved the course and very soon my father realised what a great choice of
career I had made. Even more so when he saw the types of roles I could
do.
As a student I did a lot of temping at ICI Pharmaceuticals (now Astra
Zeneca) and, on leaving college, was delighted to be offered a full-time,
bilingual role there. I started in the Middle East & North African sales
group and then moved to the European sales department.
That was a great job and involved travel to Germany
and Switzerland to organise Marketing Managers’
Conferences. We also, twice a year, administered
medical symposia for European doctors at the colleges
of Cambridge University.
In 1984 Ian and I decided to have an adventure and
moved to France. I got a job as PA to the Directeur
Commercial of Cognac Hine in Jarnac and Ian played
rugby. One evening I had too many oysters and nine
months later Ailsa was born, followed three years later
by Erin.
For various family reasons we moved back to the UK after Erin was
born and I worked briefly for Hewlett Packard. In 1990 I was delighted
to get the job of PA to the Head of Entertainment of Granada Television.
Later I worked for the Director of Business Affairs who eventually
became the Managing Director of the Granada Media Group.
This was an exhilarating and very stressful 10 years for many reasons. So
much of what we talk about on my courses is based on my experiences,
good and bad, during this time. My MD, Jules Burns, was also a terrific
mentor – and still is.
You are currently one of the most successful trainers of
administrative professionals in the world. How did this come
about?
Thank you. Whilst I worked for Jules his role changed dramatically and
consequently so did mine. He wanted me to have some training but
there was nothing appropriate.
I attended a couple of PA courses but these were usually presented by
some guy from HR who’d never actually done the job. I remember
www.executivesecretary.com
 Profile - HEATHER BAKER
leaving one course and thinking, “I could do better myself”. That’s when
the idea started.
The last few years with Jules were spent half in Manchester and half
in London. He decided to move to London but I wanted to stay in
Manchester. I was offered production roles but I knew my life was in
the PA world. A colleague, and now top business consultant herself,
Fliss Bridgewater, said to me one day, “Heather, what would you really
like to do?” “Someone,” I replied, “who has actually been a PA should be
training PAs”… and the rest is history.
Part of my redundancy package was to train as a trainer and I established
Baker Thompson Associates in January 2000. I started doing some IT
training and working in local colleges and eventually began getting
work with other training companies and then eventually my own clients.
In 2006, I was invited to facilitate some courses in Dubai and that led
on to doing courses in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar & Saudi Arabia. In the
meantime, I had been invited to Kuala Lumpur and later Singapore and
Shanghai. This year I went to Australia for the first time.
I am the creator of the BakerWrite speedwriting system and wrote the
book on this. I was very excited when Pitman Training bought a licence
for BakerWrite and now offer it in all their UK training franchises. There
are other licensed trainers too around the world.
www.executivesecretary.com
My next book Successful Minute Taking; Meeting the Challenge is also used
by the Pitman Group as the basis for their self-study book. My third
book is Successful Business Writing. All three books are regularly in the
Amazon top tens.
In 2008 I qualified as an NLP Practitioner (neurolinguistic programming)
and I recently became a Prince’s Trust Business Mentor. My training is
very much discussion based so that people can talk about their specific
issues. Every PA is different and every manager is different; there can be
no common solution for everyone.
I aim to give everyone a chance to share good practice and find potential-
viable ways to continually improve. And, of course, we have good fun
too.
You seem to be in a different country every week at the moment.
What are the highs and lows of travelling like this?
Three lows: miss my man, queuing for security and waiting for baggage;
everything else is brilliant – particularly the Emirates airbus.
What inspires and motivates you?
So many things and people – great speakers, super entrepreneurs,
committed and tenacious workers, talented people, creative minds,
generosity, tolerance, kindness – and happy delegates. Oh, and paying
the bills!
What has been the highlight of your career so far and why?
OK, this is like “Desert Island Discs” where they make you pick one
of your 10 choices. This is it: sitting on the Emirates flight back to
Manchester from Dubai after my first ever course there, having received
amazing feedback and being asked back again. It was a real high –
38,000 feet high, I guess!
What are the main challenges facing the profession at the moment?
We are really making some headway with the perceptions of administrators
of all levels, but there is still some way to go.
There are some fantastic initiatives around the world to raise the profile
of PAs and administrators. It is a career choice, a valuable role, performed
by true professionals with exceptional skills. Administration is the
backbone of any organisation; they are the shop window, often the first
people clients have contact with. They should be valued and developed
for them and for their companies.
Technology, of course, is a real challenge too. We are at the birth of these
new tools and still need to find ways to work with them whilst protecting
everyone’s mental and physical well-being.
What advice would you give someone just starting in the role?
Go for it. Take and make opportunities whenever possible. Never stop
learning. Network, keep an open mind, stay focussed and take up yoga.
So what’s next for Heather Baker? Where do you want to be in 5
years’ time?
If I am still doing what I do now I will be very happy. I want to continue
to develop myself so I can continually improve what I offer. I’d like to
write more books, travel more widely, see my Prince’s Trust mentee
succeed and take on more mentees.
I want my family to be happy and successful (and world peace).
seventeen

New Year, New Start?
Not Necessarily…
This year I have made a New Year’s resolution
not to make any New Year’s resolutions. I am
so relieved!
It is going to mean that I can just concentrate
on planning what I need to achieve this
year in order to enhance my ability to reach
more people with my message and grow my
business. It means I won’t have to start the
year with unrealistic, self-inflicted pressure
and expectations followed by a slide down the
slippery slope of disappointment. It means I
won’t have to start beating myself up from the
word go.
Just so that there is no misunderstanding here,
I am not advocating simply repeating last year
without making any improvements or changes.
That would not be an acceptable way forward as
we must all continue to evolve as professionals.
As always, I will decide on any required changes
after careful analysis of the results of what I did
and how I worked last year. We all know that it
would be preferable to be treated by a surgeon
who has the latest techniques at his command
rather than one who qualified 20 years ago
and hadn’t read any journals or attended any
refresher courses since then. Being stale is, in
every sense, as bad as being uninformed.
Sensible and realistic business and personal
achievement planning is a significantly
important activity for all of us to put in our
annual calendars and highly recommended
for all who value their contribution to
their workplaces and, of course, their own
achievements. However, I also know through
bitter experience that making arbitrary
decisions at a time of the year when our brains
and our bodies are crying out for a fair amount
of TLC is a recipe for failure. I would much,
about the author
Susie Kay is Founder of The Professionalism Group, an advice and consultancy organisation working with individuals,
students, businesses and professional institutes, focusing on the benefits of professionalism and personal productivity
(www.theprofessionalismgroup.co.uk). She is a speaker, mentor and writer, and her new book How to Spot a Dinosaur – or
How to Survive and Thrive in the Workplace is currently attracting great reviews.
eighteen
PRODUCTIVITY
much rather build my year as it reveals itself,
making informed decisions as I go. The only
exceptions would, of course, be the need to
make those changes which could have major
health benefits and require some dedication of
purpose to make improvements – amending
dietary intake, enhancing exercise, limiting
stress factors, are ones which come immediately
to mind.
Most of us will have been able to find a few
hours over the holiday break to consider and
ask ourselves the question: “What’s next?”
and an honest audit of our current skills and
competences is probably our top response. You
may find, however, that there is no current need
for radical change. Some small, incremental
improvements may be all that is needed to
move forward. In my case it is undoubtedly
going to be a year during which I have to beef
up my understanding and use of social media
for different projects and products. I know it
won’t be easy to make sense of it in anything
other than small bites. So I am happy to say
that I will be taking on new skills for specific
reasons, not just because a new piece of software
WRITER
SUSIE KAY
has become fashionable or is flavour of the
minute.
I have discovered over a period of years that
when I attempt things that don’t come easily –
and social media certainly fits that category – it
is far better to take it slowly. I will probably
make small mistakes but I have learned that in
my particular case that is preferable to trying
to conquer both my fear of the new as well
as something technically alien in one large
bite. The result in the past has often been a
feeling that I have created an overload and that
becomes a burden which, in turn, hampers me
to the point of inaction. Not a good place to be.
So I am happy to continue to excel at what
I am good at and take my time in acquiring
new skills and conquering the alien mountain,
slowly adding them to my repertoire until it
feels comfortable. Continuing professional
development (CPD) is a lifelong activity and
should be a comfortable fellow traveller on your
journey rather than another one of those alien
mountains to be overcome.
The New Year always brings with it enormous
expectations and possibilities but it can be very
fruitful if you allow yourself to take it slowly.
With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes
a silk gown.
– Chinese Proverb
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to
death.
– Unknown
If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really
trying.
– Coleman Hawking
www.executivesecretary.com

How to Make Your
Own Luck!
At a dinner party the other evening, we were
debating whether we were born lucky or was
it that we make our own luck. My own sense
is that we can create our own good fortune
by taking control of our own life and being
aware and receptive to opportunities that
come our way, at various times. It is also about
recognising that there is far more going “for” us
than “against” us. By recognising chances that
are “for” you and acting upon the options that
are presented, you’ll be able to achieve many of
your aspirations.
Even those individuals who are sceptical, have
every opportunity to create their own luck. Being
ready to seize opportunities when they present
themselves is up to every one of us. Whatever
our age or situation in life, it is never too late to
exercise control by identifying choices and then
choosing those that will benefit us. Of course,
sometimes we may make the wrong choice but
we can rectify that by then making another!
However, I do agree that some people have
greater challenges in their personal lives to
overcome than others. Nevertheless, it is possible
to make your own luck when you learn to look
at adversity as a source of opportunity. That may
sound like an oxymoron but, in fact, is true.
Entrepreneurs, for instance, are those who see
possibilities that others miss. But they also
recognise that their life script is not carved in
stone and that one failure doesn’t necessarily
preclude future success. As a result of this,
they are much more likely to achieve their
life’s goals. Successful entrepreneurs rarely
talk about their previous failures, only their
successes. Think about it!
Luck and personality
Are you an “open” or “closed” personality?
Will you go into a coffee shop and start a
about the author
Stress Guru Carole Spiers has spent 20 years as CEO of a UK Stress Management Consultancy, working with
equal success both in the UK and the Gulf. She is an acknowledged authority on corporate stress and a BBC guest
broadcaster. She is an international Motivational Speaker and is regularly called by the press for comment. She is a
past President of the London Chapter of the Professional Speaking Association and a former chair of the International
Stress Management Association. Carole is Author of a new book Show Stress Who’s Boss! Book Carole for a motivational
presentation at your next conference or in-house event. www.showstresswhosboss.co.uk.
www.executivesecretary.com
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
conversation with someone in order to exchange
news, ideas and thoughts or are you a “closed”
personality who invariably sits alone? When a
meeting or conversation leads to a new business
opportunity, or a new friend, was it just a lucky
encounter or was it the desire to inquire? Could
it just be the law of attraction where energy
attracts energy?
So do you attract opportunities or discourage
them? Do you sit and smile or do you sit and
frown? Would you want to be with you? Are
you friendly and outgoing so that others want
to talk to you or do you have a red light above
your head that says “keep away!”? It is all about
making things happen; using intuition, being
receptive, seeking opportunities, attracting
luck and keeping your eyes and mind open.
Being open to enjoying the experience of
learning something new and drawing in
enrichment.
There is a world of new possibilities that we
come across each day but you have to keep
your mind positive in order to catch them, or
they will just fly above you like an Emirates
A380. It is also a fact that you will absorb
WRITER
CAROLE
SPIERS
more visual and verbal information when you
are in a good mood than when your disposition
is bad. Anxiety and stress restricts your vision
and impairs your mental acuity and you can,
thereby, miss opportunities that surround you.
There are many factors that determine
our success in life but one of the primary
ones is the ability to communicate well,
preferably in writing as well as verbally. Good
communication opens doors and presents
opportunities. Poor communication skills
mean you never get to open the door to even
see the opportunity on the other side! Which
way you go will determine whether your life
is full of regrets and sadness about paths not
taken or alternatively whether you could be one
of those people whose life seems to others to be
full of fortuitous circumstances – or as others
say, “luck”.
The debate continues but my money goes on
carpe diem (seize the day) and if things don’t
work out, then take on board the learning that
comes with it and move on! Remember that
when life delivers a negative moment there is
usually a positive lesson hidden inside.
So, are you just lucky or do you make your own
luck? What do you think?
Key points
• There is no such thing as luck, only
opportunity.
• Do you have a red or green light above your
head?
• If there is one ability you need, it’s
communication.
nineTEEN
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

A Must-have Skill WRITER

Joan

In 2015: Resiliency Burge

Joan Burge looks at what it means to be a

resilient Assistant.
Why you should care
As you start a new year, there is one must-
have skill you should add to your professional
development plan to thrive in today’s
workplace. Administrative professionals of all
walks of life, levels of experience and titles need
this valuable asset every day – the ability to be
resilient. While this may sound simple and you
feel you have done a good job of being resilient,
it actually is quite complex. And the higher
up the career ladder you go, the deeper levels
of resiliency are needed because the game gets
tougher for the executives you support.

If you can develop being resilient you will be

able to:

• Bounce back faster after a setback

• Take daily workplace changes in your stride
• Use resources effectively especially when
faced with a problem
• Move in tandem with your executive
• Learn the lessons you need to learn
• Exhibit nimbleness as you adapt to change
• Generate innovative solutions to problems
• Find ways to effectively share your ideas
with others
What does resilience mean?
The word resilience or resiliency has many
meanings and applications. Here are a few from
www.PsychologyFoundation.org.
• When we fail, we have the strength to learn
the lessons we need to learn, and we can move
on to bigger and better things.
• Having a good attitude about growth
following failure.
• To bounce back from adversity, disappoint-
ment, failure and learn from them.
• To operate on all cylinders (as much as
possible, not just in a crisis.)
• Willingness and ability to change.
I’d like you to stop for a few moments and
think about your typical work day. Now think
about a typical week. Probably your “typical”
day or week is filled with change – change of
priorities; change of schedules; changing of
goals and objectives; changing meetings and
travel plans. Being resilient is more than just
making necessary changes – it’s harnessing the
power of change.
Why do people resist change?
Speaking on change is one of my most requested
topics. I love to talk about change, even though
I have been dealt many changes I have not
liked. In my presentation, I talk about the
kinds of changes, sizes of change, why people
resist change, and provide more than 10 tips
for thriving on change. For the purposes of this
article, I want to share some information that
relates to change and being resilient.
Did you ever think about why you resist
change – or maybe you just resist certain
changes? If you are going to be more resilient
in the workplace, you need to do a deep dive
and figure out why you are more resistant to
certain changes than others so you can work on
developing that particular area.
• Some people are just not “change skilled”
In general, people who have experienced much
change growing up adapt more easily to change
as adults. Coping with change is a skill you can
develop, just as you learn other skills.
• Loss of control
When going through a change that was created
by outside forces, you may feel a loss of control
which hinders your ability to adapt or accept
the change.
• Dislike for unforeseeable events
Some people don’t like surprises! They don’t
like dealing with events or situations that
aren’t mapped out, predictable or included in
their plan.
Three related aspects of change
Three things affect our reaction to change:
our fears, our comfort zones and our belief
system. When you are going through a change
determine which of these aspects is affecting
your ability to make a change or accept a

twenty www.executivesecretary.com
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

change. Sometimes it will be all three. Once
you determine what aspect or aspects are
hindering your ability to be resilient or move
forward, you can work on a plan for success.
1 Fear Resilient Assistant. I was excited and surprised
The Unknown
Where am I going?
• What will the outcome be?
• I won’t know anyone.
• Many people fear change because they are
not guaranteed an outcome.
Failing
What will I do if I fail?
• My idea may not work, then what?
• Some people consider failure an
embarrassment or a bad thing, but if you
don’t experience the hurt or disappointment of
failure, you don’t get to experience the great joy
of success! Be willing to fail and new doors will
open for you.
Succeeding
What if I am successful?
• I may lose certain friends or co-workers.
• My family may view me differently.
• I may be given more challenges.
• Yes, you can even fear success. When we are
successful at something new, sometimes our
relationships change.
Losing
What will I lose?
• You may not want to lose what you already
have in order to gain something else.
• Can you afford not to lose once in a while?
You have to be willing to lose… friendships,
situations, ideas, material possessions, in order
to win greater friendships, better ideas, and
more meaningful possessions.
It is extremely important to recognize your
fear and face it. Fear can prevent you from
progressing in your career and from growing
as an individual. It can become a monster that
grows. When dealing with fear, think “what is
the worst possible outcome?” Then decide how Elements of resiliency
you will handle that, should it happen. Haven’t I have been focusing on the topic of resiliency
you ever been afraid to try something but you for several months as the theme of our Office
did it anyway? Afterward, you realized it wasn’t Dynamics 22nd Annual Conference for
as bad as you thought it would be. Administrative Excellence is entitled The
2 Comfort zones to see all the good information provided on the
We all have comfort zones – certain places, topic of resiliency. You may want to explore
things and people that make us feel safe and this further yourself.
warm. Change puts you in situations or mental
places that aren’t necessarily comfortable. There are more than 15 elements or skill sets
It forces you to stretch. Depending on the that fall under being resilient and each one is
type and degree of change, you may feel very multi-dimensional. Here is a recap from a piece
uncomfortable and really stretched! Eventually, I read by Casey Mulqueen, PhD. explaining
that new, uncomfortable place becomes your the elements of resiliency. As you read this list,
new comfort zone. As you go through change, evaluate your ability in each one. Where do you
if you can tell yourself that you are just need to improve? What are you already good
stretching, you will be more optimistic about at? Which ones do you need to embrace?
the change.
Element Description
Personal responsibility The belief that successes or failures are determined by our own
talents and motivations as opposed to external forces.
Realistic optimism Tendency to see the world in a positive way but remain grounded
in reality.
Personal beliefs The sense that life has deep meaning and purpose.
Self-assurance Confidence in oneself to successfully perform at work; confidence
in ones skills.
Problem solving The ability to plan and resolve problems.
Courageous communication The tendency to communicate with others in a candid and
courageous way in the face of difficulty.
Social support The perception that you are part of a supportive social network.
Emotional intelligence Your ability to identify, assess and control emotions of yourself, of
others and of groups.
Agility Your willingness and ability to change
Resourceful Ability to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult
situations.
3 Belief systems Honing resiliency will also help you in your
How you cope with change will depend on personal life. In working with thousands
your belief system. If you believe the change is of people for 25 years in my training and
for the worse, that you won’t make it through consulting business, I have learned that no one
the change, that nothing good will come of is immune to challenges and setbacks. I wish
it, then you will be right. But if you look for you much success and happiness in 2015.
the opportunity in change, believing you can
successfully get through it, you will!

about the author

Joan Burge is the founder and CEO of Office Dynamics International, a global leader offering a broad range of training
and professional development solutions for all levels of executive and administrative professionals for 25 years. Joan is
an accomplished author, professional speaker, consultant and corporate trainer. Her administrative books include the
Amazon Best Seller, Who Took My Pen…Again? ; Become An Inner Circle Assistant and Underneath It All. She is
the creator of the Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence now in its 22nd year. For more information, visit
www.OfficeDynamics.com and www.OfficeDynamicsConference.com.

Joan will be running a webinar on 17th February with Peggy Vasquez entitled ‘You’re Not Just An Admin! And other
inspiring thoughts ...’. For full details see http://webinarjam.net/webinar/go/14099/4ee4044c16

www.executivesecretary.com twenty one

 PRODUCTIVITY

A New Way to Think WRITER

MARSHA

About Your Inbox EGAN

International Clean Out Your Inbox Week is

January 26-30. Are you ready to start cleansing?

Email isn’t going anywhere. And the number of
email messages we receive will only grow. It is a
real challenge to avoid being distracted by the
urge to view or work on new emails, rather than
working on truly important matters. Further,
leaving messages in your inbox to remind you to
complete tasks is akin to having that many items
strewn over your desk in no organized fashion
— no wonder people stress out when they open
their inboxes first thing in the morning!
The international Clean Out Your Inbox Week
is the last week in January, and what better time
to shift the way you think about your inbox.
Despite all of the inbox management tools on
the market today, many people still have the
propensity to leave items in their inboxes as a
way to remind them of upcoming tasks or just
to keep them handy. This can be self-defeating
behavior.
Maintaining a cluttered inbox is a
productivity killer
Why? First, that cluttered inbox is a source
of stress the minute you open your inbox.
It essentially shows you everything you are
not going to get done that day. Second, it is
a source of distraction, because when people
scroll up and down seeking tasks to select, they
inevitably open the short easy ones, instead
of being focused on working on the priority
items. Third, scrolling takes time, and that
alone saps productivity. And forth, people have
a tendency to open, read and close messages,
trying to remember the task or importance of
it – again a productivity drain.
Shift the way you view and use your inbox
My favorite visual analogy in helping people
take control of their inboxes and their lives is
to liken their email inboxes to a postal service
mailbox. Yes, the one that delivers paper. The
postal service delivers our mail to that mailbox,
we go to the mailbox, we pull the mail out of
the mailbox, sort through it, throw half of it
away, and put the rest in piles most of which
will be dealt with later. What we don’t do is put
it back into the mailbox, to be sorted through
again tomorrow. Why not think of our email
inboxes the same way? By shifting our view of
our inboxes from that of a (disorganized) to-do
list to being a delivery tool, we free ourselves up
to sort messages into folders for handling later.
And we empty that inbox every time we view it.
The difference between working and
sorting email
When people groan upon the suggestion of
cleaning out their inboxes, my guess is that
they are thinking they must work or handle
every item in it. When you go into your inbox
with the mindset of sorting the messages – not
working them -- the task becomes much more
tolerable and doable! It becomes a matter of
dragging and dropping messages into folders to
be handled later just as you do with your postal
mail. In Outlook, create two folders, Action
A and Action B. In Gmail, you can create
two labels: Action A, and Action B. A is for
the important items, B for the less important.
Simple.
Setting reminders – the key
Every time you drag and drop a message into
an action folder, decide at that moment when
you will again view the item to work it. These
reminders become a critical part of each day’s
daily planning, and relieve you from having
to scroll up and down either your inbox or
your action folder to decide what to work on
next. This is easy. Create a corresponding Task
for each item you label or drag and drop, and
assign it the date you plan to work it.
So, why should you want a clean inbox?
Simple. An empty inbox is the result of
managing email well. It doesn’t mean that
you’ve worked every message, but it does mean
that you have sorted every message into a folder
or given it a label that allows you to retrieve
it when the time comes. By sorting email to
Action A or B and setting a task reminder for
when you plan to return to it, you will go a
long way towards managing your inbox, rather
than having it manage you.

about the author

Marsha Egan is CEO of the Inbox Detox and an internationally recognized workplace productivity expert and speaker.
Named one of Pennsylvania’s Top 50 Women in Business, her acclaimed “12 Step Program for E-Mail E-ddiction”
received international attention, being featured on ABC Nightly News, Fox News, and newspapers across the globe.
In early 2009, the Program was adapted into a book, Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-mail Excellence (Acanthus 2009).
Marsha works with forward-thinking organizations that want to create a profit-rich email culture. Her free email
practices assessment is located at www.InboxDetox.com. Note: The tips in this article and more are included among the
12 Steps to Curing Your E-mail E-ddiction contained in Marsha’s book, Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-mail Excellence,
and are further explained on her blog at www.InboxDetox.com/blog.

TWENTY TWO www.executivesecretary.com


The Art of
Proofreading
As Assistants, we are often asked to proofread or
edit our Executives’ emails, letters and reports
before they are sent out, but did you know that
these functions are considered so important in
the UK, that there is a Society dedicated to just
that? I recently attended the Society for Editors
and Proofreaders (www.SfEP.org.uk) course
“Proofreading 1: An Introduction”. Whilst the
majority of the course focussed on the technical
aspects of proofreading, the professional
proofreaders gave me some great tips on how to
make this part of our role easier:
1 Be clear on what is required
In professional circles, this is known as “the
brief” and is where you find out exactly what
you need to do. For example, are you the last in
a long line of writers/editors where your job is to
check for spelling and grammar, or are you at the
beginning of the process where editing the text
is encouraged or expected? The timeframe for
the final document will also dictate how much
time you can spend on amendments or additions.
If it is urgent, then a thorough proofread of the
existing text is much better than a quick or
sloppy edit. Remember – the more changes you
make, the more errors you could introduce! If
you are unsure about anything, then query it.
2 Don’t impose your personal style on a
document
It is important to preserve the author’s voice.
If you have worked with your Executive for a
while, you will be aware of their favourite words
and phrases. If not, look at previous documents
to get a sense of their style. If your company has
a “house style” with regards to formatting or
grammar, then stick to that – even if your own
internal grammar rules are different!
In short:
• If it’s wrong, change it.
• If it’s “good enough”, leave it alone.
• If you don’t like it, but it’s not wrong, leave
it alone.
about the author
Kathleen Drum is based in London and currently works as the Assistant to the Chief of Staff at Crossrail. Originally
from New Zealand, she loves being a tourist in her adopted country. Kathleen is passionate about the PA profession
and is always challenging herself to learn more and do more. www.linkedin.com/in/kathleendrum
www.executivesecretary.com
KEY SKILLS UPDATE
3 Separate your proofreading into different
“passes” of the document
If this is a new document that you haven’t seen,
two (or more) passes can help you familiarise
yourself with the content, and means that you
are less likely to miss any obvious errors.
For example, on a long letter or report, the
first pass could be for layout – check that the
page numbers are sequential, the justification
is the same on all pages, the headings relate to
the text and the heading styles are the same.
The second pass could then be for content –
spelling, grammar and punctuation.
4 Tips for spotting all the errors in a
document
• Read slowly.
• Watch out for incorrect use of apostrophes.
• Be smarter than the Spellchecker: look for
transposed letters (form/from or sued/used) or one
wrong letter in a short word (or/of, now/not, if/it).
• Don’t be caught out by frequently misused
words – discreet/discrete or principal/principle.
• Check for missing or extra words – especially
short ones such as is, in or it.
• Know your audience – will you be
using American or English spelling in your
document? Be consistent.
WRITER
Kathleen
Drum
• Finally, remember to take regular breaks
and think about your posture!
5 Further information and resources
In the UK, the Society for Editors and Proofreaders
(SfEP) (www.sfep.org.uk) has a number of low-cost
PDFs and hard-copy books created by members.
The Society also runs courses for proofreading,
copy-editing and brushing up your grammar. For
reference books they recommend the New Oxford
Style Manual which includes two updated reference
works – New Hart’s Rules (style information) and
New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors. The
New Oxford Spelling Dictionary or the Oxford English
Dictionary are also recommended reference books.
The Oxford English Dictionary is available online by
paid subscription (www.oed.com).
In the US, the Editorial Freelancers Association
(www.the-efa.org) performs a similar function to
the SfEP and also provides booklets and other
information on proofreading.
The SfEP website has a “links” page which provides
a list of proofreading and editorial associations in
countries other than the UK and US.
Finally, if you wish to practice proofreading,
there is a (UK) book available called
Proofreading Practice: a book of exercises with model
answers and commentary written by Margaret
Aherne (www.meaherne.webeden.co.uk), which is
also recommended by the Society.
Being proficient at proofreading and editing are
skills that will be useful in whatever Assistant role
you do. You could also bring these skills to bear
on brochures, leaflets and other literature that
your company produces, as well as your company
website. In the ever-changing world of work,
writing (and therefore editing and proofreading)
is one thing that hasn’t changed – and with the
increase in the number of blogs, website, mobile
apps and e-books the amount of information
we consume via the printed or digital word has
increased.
twenty three

Neuroscience –
Maximizing the Power
of Your Brain for
Excellence – Part II –
Sleep and Memory
The human brain is the most complex living
structure in the universe, so aren’t we lucky that
each and every one of us owns one! What we
need to be able to do is understand how our
brains work in order to make the most of what
we have got.
Neuroscientists recently discovered that our
brains have neuroplasticity which means our
brains can change and keep on changing. So it
is up to us to make our brain change for the
better and to keep it as healthy as possible to
help us in pursuit of excellence.
A concept that science no longer supports is
that we are either right or left-brain thinkers
as neuroscientists have discovered that we have
integrated brains ie both sides of our brains are
used most of the time on a variety of tasks. The
only instances where there are unused regions
of the brain are those in which brain damage
or disease has destroyed certain regions. Science
writer Carl Zimmer explained in an article for
Discover magazine: “The pop psychology notion
of a left brain and a right brain doesn’t capture
their intimate working relationship. The left
hemisphere specializes in picking out the
sounds that form words and working out the
syntax of the words, for example, but it does
not have a monopoly on language processing.
The right hemisphere is actually more sensitive
to the emotional features of language, tuning
in to the slow rhythms of speech that carry
intonation and stress.”
In one study by researchers at the University
of Utah, 1,000 participants had their brains
analyzed in order to determine if they preferred
using one side over the other. The study
revealed that while activity was sometimes
higher in certain regions, both sides of the
twenty four
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
brain were essentially equal in their activity on
average.
It is interesting to note that over a 24-hour
period, 100% of our brains have been put to
work to a varying amount of degrees. If the
myth that we only use 10 percent of our brains
were true, people who suffer brain damage
as the result of an accident or stroke would
probably not notice any real effect. In reality,
there isn’t a single area of the brain that can
be damaged without resulting in some sort of
consequence. Also our brains use 20% of the
body’s energy, which is a huge proportion of
our energy intake.
Another little known fact that I find fascinating
is that our brains work 20% more during sleep
than when we are awake. A lot of the brain’s
WRITER
SUE FRANCE
activity takes place in the subconscious mind
and also during sleep. So what do our brains
work on whilst we are asleep?
The importance of sleep
Most importantly during sleep our brains get
rid of the toxic poisons that we create when we
are awake and active such as cortisol, which
is known as our stress hormone. Cortisol can
be quite debilitating if we have too much of
it over long periods. In work there are many
occasions when our cortisol levels may increase
such as being asked to justify our actions or
working with difficult colleagues or simply
being left out of a meeting or not been asked
to lunch with the rest of the team and we start
wondering why.
It is extremely important to get between 6 and
8 hours sleep so your brain can keep itself clean
and healthy. Therefore if you decide to stay
up late cramming for those tests and exams
or watching a late night film and therefore
being deprived of enough sleep it means that
your brain is operating with toxins floating
around which are poisons that prevent you
from thinking clearly. Similarly you may have
an important meeting to take minutes at in
the morning and unless you get enough sleep
you will not be able to operate at your full
intellectual capacity, which is often needed
whilst taking minutes or organising complex
meetings and events etc.
Too little sleep over too long a time can be
associated with headaches, depression, diabetes
and even to the extent of dying earlier! Sleep
does more than allow your brain to wash away
toxins as it is also an important part of the
memory and learning process.
www.executivesecretary.com

During sleep your brain tidies up ideas and
concepts that you are thinking about or have
been learning. It erases the less important parts
of memories and simultaneously strengthens
areas that you need or want to remember.
During sleep your brain rehearses some of the
information you are trying to learn, going over
and over neural pathways to strengthen and
deepen them. Sleep also makes a difference in
your ability to figure out difficult problems and
understand what you are trying to learn so your
brain is working for you even during sleep.
If you go over what you are learning just before
you sleep and set your mind to dream about it,
you have an increased chance of dreaming about
it and learning whilst asleep. Dreaming about
what you are studying can substantially enhance
your ability to understand and it consolidates
your memory into easier-to-grasp chunks.
Babies need around 16 hours sleep a day and
adults need 6-8 hours for brain optimisation.
Due to the way we work today and due to
everything getting more complicated and
faster, sleep deprivation is quite common. Every
day there seems to be twice as much work and
half as much time to complete it in and people
are depriving themselves of sleep in order to
get everything done either by working late or
going in early, or both. This is detrimental to
your health and brain maximisation as is not
taking breaks during working hours as your
brain needs to rest.
One great way to rest your brain during the
day is to develop a 10-minute mindfulness
meditation habit. The best way I found to get
started with meditation is to use an app called
Headspace – which is free for 10 days – for
10 minutes a day and you are guided through
every step.
Sometimes it can appear that a sleep-deprived
person can in fact deliver the exact same results
as someone who isn’t sleep deprived but the
difference is, the person who is sleep deprived
can lose focus at any time. If we are not sleep
deprived and we start to lose focus our brain can
compensate for that and increase attention and
shift your focus back. If we are sleep deprived,
our brain cannot refocus.
Sleep-deprived workers may not know they
are impaired or notice the decrease in their
performance. The periods of apparently
normal functioning could give a false sense
of competency when, in fact, the brain’s
inconsistency could be responsible for them
making critical mistakes.
Sleep is needed for the regeneration of neurons
and for forming new memories and generating
www.executivesecretary.com
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
new synaptic connections. After periods of
extended reduced sleep neurons may begin
to malfunction, visibly affecting a person’s
behaviour.
The temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex is
associated with the processing of language.
During verbal learning tests on people who
are fully rested, fMRI scans show that the
temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex is very
active. However, when people are sleep
deprived there is no activity in the temporal
lobe resulting in the inability to speak properly
eg a monotone voice, speaking slowly, slurred
speech, stuttering and not being able to find
the right words. However, even severely sleep
deprived people are still able to perform to
some degree on a verbal learning test because
the parietal lobe that is not active in well-
rested people during verbal learning tests,
compensates slightly for the absence of the
temporal lobe and starts to work instead of it.
However, it doesn’t do as good a job because it
is not as adept at this role but it is amazing how
our brain will try and compensate for us.
The 5 stages of our sleep cycle
Stage 1 – is the lightest stage of sleep, the
transition phase, where you feel yourself
drifting off. If you were to forget about the
alarm clock and allow yourself to wake up
naturally, Stage 1 sleep would be the last stage
before you fully wake up. You don’t spend too
much time in Stage 1 sleep, typically five to
10 minutes, just enough to allow your body
to slow down and your muscles to relax. If you
have to be woken up by an alarm clock then
really you haven’t had all the sleep you need
and should endeavour to go to bed earlier.
Stage 2 – is the second stage of sleep and is
still considered light sleep. Your brain activity
starts to slow down, as well as your heart rate
and breathing. Your body temperature falls a
little and you’re beginning to reach a state of
total relaxation in preparation for the deeper
sleep to come.
Stage 3 – is the start of deep sleep. During
stage 3, your brain waves are slow, although
there may still be short bursts of faster brain
activity. If you were to get awakened suddenly
during this stage, you would be groggy and
confused, and find it difficult to focus at first.
This stage can last from 5-15 minutes.
Stage 4 – This is the stage when you experience
your deepest sleep of the night. Your brain only
shows slow wave activity, and it’s difficult to
wake someone up when they’re in Stage 4 sleep.
The first stage 4 sleep in the 90-minute cycle
is usually about an hour and lasts around 5-15
minutes in the rest of the night cycles. This is
the time when the body does most of its repair
work and regeneration.
Stage 5 – This is the stage of sleep when you
dream. It is also referred to as REM (Rapid
Eye Movement or “active sleep”. During REM
sleep, your blood flow, breathing and brain
activity increase. Your brain is about as active
as it is when you’re awake. Also it is useful
to know that during stage 5 the muscles in
your arms and legs will go through periods of
paralysis. Scientists speculate that this may be
nature’s way of protecting us from acting out
our dreams. Sometimes people have woken up
in this state for whatever reason and found that
they can’t move and feel like they are still asleep
but awake at the same time, they sometimes
feel like someone is sitting on their legs. If this
ever happens to you all you need to do is wiggle
your toes and you will come out of it.
The first period of REM sleep of the night usually
begins about 90 minutes after you start drifting
off, and lasts for about 10 minutes. As the night
passes, the periods of REM sleep become longer,
with the final episode lasting an hour or so.
Babies may spend as much as half of the time
they’re asleep in the REM phase. For a healthy
adult, Stage 5 occurs for about 20 to 25% of the
time you are sleeping, and decreases with age.
REM sleep stimulates areas of the brain used for
learning and memory. When a person is taught
a new skill their performance does not improve
until they receive a good night’s sleep, 6-8
hours. One thing we should remember is that
without enough sleep our brains deteriorate.
The constant changing of synapse connections
in your brain proves that you are not the same
person after a night’s sleep or even after a nap.
It’s as if you went to sleep with one brain and
woke up with a new one!
Naps improve your brain’s day-to-day
performance
The prefrontal cortex regenerates during the
first stage of sleep, giving a person the ability
to feel somewhat refreshed even if it’s only a
short 10-minute nap but a nap should be no
longer than 30 mins maximum.
Studies also show that 10 minute power naps
improve memory. In one study there were two
groups – all participants memorized illustrated
cards and then had a 40-minute break. One
group napped and the other stayed awake.
After the break both groups were tested on
their memory and the group who had napped
performed better retaining on average 85% of
the cards, compared to 60% for those who had
remained awake.
twenty five
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Neuroscientists have found that the hippocampus
in our limbic system is responsible for the first
recording we make of our short-term or working
memory, which can easily be forgotten especially
if the brain is asked to memorize more things.
Sleeping and even taking a nap pushes memories
into the neo-cortex where the brain stores
more permanent memories preventing them
from being overwritten and forgotten in the
hippocampus.
Sleep more and be less sensitive to negative
emotions
Sleep helps our bodies to recover from the day
and repair themselves, and helps our brains
to focus and be more productive – it’s also
important for our happiness.
Sleep affects our positivity because negative
stimuli are processed by the amygdala (which
needs to stay more alert for our survival as it
is our threat response mechanism); positive
or neutral memories are processed by the
hippocampus and sleep deprivation hits the
hippocampus harder than the amygdala. So
lack of sleep results in people being able to
recall negative emotions but failing to recall
pleasant memories.
Of course, how well and how long you sleep
will affect how you feel when you wake up,
which can make a difference to your whole day.
How sleep affects moods
With insufficient sleep during the night, many
people become agitated or moody the following
day. Yet, when limited sleep becomes a chronic
issue, studies have shown it can lead to long-term
mood disorders such as depression or anxiety.
The benefits of sleep are extensive and can
make a difference to your quality of life and
of those around you whether at home or work.
Therefore, it is vital to place a priority on
getting plenty of consistent sleep so you wake
up in a good mood with boosted optimism and
positivity, and ready to make a difference – and,
ultimately, live a longer life.
Remember you need to manage your energy
as well as your time. For a good nights sleep
you could develop a ritual before bed and you
should completely disengage the last activity
of the day from the rest of your day by for
example reading a fictional novel and enter a
different world and mind set and then be ready
for a great night’s rejuvenating sleep. Also
making yourself tired through a hard day’s
work mentally and physically will help make
you sleep well.
It is not good for you to keep using a snooze
button in the morning – a much better idea
is to set your alarm a little later than you
normally would, (as your time must allow it
if you consistently hit the snooze button every
morning). In this way you will be able to make
sure your sleep cycle is not interrupted and you
will get a better sleep.
Working/short-term and long-term memory
When I look back at my childhood and night
school and think of learning French and
Spanish I am drawing on portions of my brain
involved in long-term memory but when I am
trying to hold a few ideas in mind to connect
them together so I can understand a concept
or solve a problem I am using my working
or short-term memory. Sometimes I need to
bring things from my long-term memory into
working memory so I can think about it.
We need to keep repeating information so
that it stays in our short-term memory like
for example, a phone number until we have a
chance to write it down or input it into our
long-term memory. Repetition is needed so
that your natural dissipating processes do
not take your memories away. You may find
yourself shutting your eyes to keep anything
else intruding into the limited slots of your
working memory while you concentrate.
When you are working on something new you
are using your working memory to handle it. If
you want to move the information to long-term
memory it often takes time and practice. Long-
term memory is like a warehouse: different
kinds of long-term memories are stored in
different areas of the brain. For example if you
went for a walk in the countryside, you might
remember the weather, the people you were
walking with and possibly what you talked
about. You may have had a delicious ice cream
and can remember the taste as it was so good
after your long, hot walk. The information
making up this memory would be stored in
many parts of your brain – in the areas dealing
with sensations of temperature, taste, face
recognition and language.
The long-term memory storage has room for
billions of items and there can be so many items
that they bury each other so it can be difficult
for you to find the information.
Spaced repetition
To help with the process of learning and to
move short-term memories into long-term
memory, you can use a technique called “spaced
repetition”. This technique involves repeating
what you are trying to retain over a number of
days rather than repeating 20 times in one day.
When you first put information into long-term
memory, you need to revisit it, practice and
repeat it at least a few times to be able to find
it later and it has been proven that spacing this
out over a number of days will help you retain
the information.
When you take tests or are working on a project
and want to remember things don’t get frazzled
if you can’t remember – go on to the next part
and leave your subconscious brain looking for
the answer and it will pop into your mind later
and you can go back to deal with it.
What you need to do to maximize your brain for
excellence is to use self-directed neuroplasticity
by building self-awareness, which is the
foundation for success in every area of life.
You need to make sure you constantly and
rigorously observe yourself so that you notice
(as a detached observer of yourself) what you
are thinking and feeling and what that means
to you in any given moment. This is crucial
because you can only make new and more
constructive choices when you are conscious of
the ones you are making now.
Just as putting short-term memory into long-
term memory requires repetition, rewiring the
way you think and act also requires repetition to
create better ways of working, living and sleeping.

about the author

Sue France FCIPD INLPTA, Trainer, coach and conference Chairman, is available for workshops, bespoke in-house
training, conferences, one-to-one coaching and is happy to travel anywhere in the world. Sue offers 20% discount
off both of her books to Executive Secretary readers for The Definitive Personal Assistant & Secretarial Handbook and The
Definitive Executive Assistant & Managerial Handbook – simply put “FAVOUR” in the code box at www.suefrance.com.
You can contact Sue at sue@suefrance.com. Sue is a renowned international motivational speaker and author, a Qualified
FCIPD Learning & Development Practitioner and coach; Certified Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner and
a Certified TetraMap® behavioural profiling practitioner and is an award-winning PA – The UK Times Crème/DHL
PA of the Year 2006.

twenty six www.executivesecretary.com


The Case for Coaching…
Your Questions Answered
What is Coaching?
Coaching is a term used for a Programme of
one-to-one sessions that enable you to gain
greater awareness and an understanding of how
to accelerate and achieve your full potential.
According to the CIPD (Chartered Institute of
Personnel & Development), Coaching is a “skilled
activity which should be delivered by people who
are trained to do so”. With no regulatory body here
in the UK, there are many individuals claiming
to be “Coaches” with little or no specialised
training or qualifications. Only yesterday I read
an article written by a “Coach” who transposed
the terms “coaching” and “mentoring” as one and
the same thing – this is concerning to me and I’d
like to explain the difference.
Whilst Mentoring is an incredibly useful
development tool – whereby a more experienced,
knowledgeable and skilled colleague supports
the development of a more inexperienced
colleague or member of staff – it is not Coaching.
Mentoring is generally a longer-term relationship
with an emphasis on a directive approach,
whereas Coaching is a shorter-term Programme
with more emphasis on a non-directive approach.
What do you mean by non-directive?
Whereas a directive approach provides advice
and solutions, a non-directive approach is based
on the Coach asking open, thought-provoking
questions of you, the Coachee (the person being
coached). This allows space and time for you to
express yourself in your own way – and come
up with your own solutions. When you come
up with your own solutions you have a sense of
empowerment and confidence in putting into
action those ideas and solutions.
A good Coach has been trained in listening and
communicating effectively. As an experienced
about the author
Lindsay Taylor is the Director of Your Excellency Limited, an executive training and coaching organisation in the UK.
Lindsay specialises in delivering training and coaching to PAs, EAs, Secretaries and Administrators across the world
and believes that fun, experiential training delivered in a jargon-free, down-to-earth manner will ensure a memorable
experience and optimise learning. Lindsay is a member of the Association for Coaching and supports continuing
professional development.
www.executivesecretary.com
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Coach myself, I believe it’s as much about
what the Coachee does not say as what they do
say – or how they say something or react to a
thought-provoking question.
So what else makes a good Coach?
Good Coaches work with you to ascertain
your goals and outcomes, and develop a truly
personalised and bespoke Programme. They
will help you identify the tools, strategies and
thinking you need to be successful in your role.
They will ensure you have the motivation and
confidence to move forward.
I personally believe a good Coach is one who holds a
coaching qualification and is preferably a member
of a professional body of Coaches – demonstrating
their commitment to the profession.
So, what does a “typical” Coaching Programme
look like?
Programmes do vary, but our most popular
one is made up of 5 x 90-minute sessions. Each
session is about a month apart in order for the
client to explore and practice the skills learned
during that session.
A good Coach will have your ultimate success
and development as their goal – so ideally will
WRITER
LINDSAY
TAYLOR
be available between sessions (via telephone or
email) so that you have the instant support,
feedback and opportunity to discuss learning
experiences. As to the content of the Coaching
sessions, there is no “one size fits all” Programme.
Your Coaching Programme is just that – yours.
What will I get out of a Coaching
Programme?
As I’ve emphasised earlier, because each Coaching
Programme is bespoke and personalised to the
individual, what you will specifically get out of
a Coaching Programme will be very different
to your colleague. In essence, once you’ve
identified what skills and learning you need
or want to develop yourself, a Coach will work
with you to ensure you achieve these.
Whilst new skills and learning will be shared
with you, the non-directive emphasis of
coaching means that very often you will come
up with your own ideas and solutions to put
into practice – this is a great motivator and
confidence-booster. In a way, the Coach acts as
a catalyst, helping you unlock your thinking.
Very often you have all the answers already – it
just takes an impactful and thought-provoking
question to bring the answer to the surface!
According to a Survey conducted by the
International Coach Federation (Client Survey
Copyright 1997-2000 – International Coach
Federation) the outcomes most clients attribute
to coaching are:
• A higher level of self awareness: 67.6%
• Smarter goal setting: 62.4%
• A more balanced life: 60.5%
• Lower stress levels: 57.1%
twenty Seven
 PRODUCTIVITY

Time Management JOANNE

WRITER

or Behaviour BARNFATHER

Management – Part 3
We have been exploring our behaviours in relationship to how we manage
our time. The question that we still need to explore further is “What
other skills could I use that would help me manage the behaviours I have
when dealing with time?

Meetings and time

What is the real value of a meeting?

Use this form to calculate the probable actual cost of your meeting:

Salaries
A B C D E
Who What Divide their How long Multiply
normally do you salary by do they column C
attends estimate 40 to get spend and column
your their salary a typical in the D to work
meeting? to be? hourly rate: meeting or out the
travelling salary costs
Make a to/from the per person:
note of meeting?
their names
below:

Total salary Overall costs:

costs: Add to your salary costs any additional costs that have been incurred by
the business as a result of this meeting, using the following as a guide:

TWENTY eight www.executivesecretary.com


Item Cost
Salary costs (brought forward from
pervious sheet):
Travel/accommodation costs: do
attendees have to travel? How do
they travel?
Are refreshments/lunch provided to
attendees? Calculate the cost:
Is any equipment hired for the
meeting – for example, overhead
projector?
Is there a cost for hiring the room/
venue?
What about the jobs left vacant by
those attending the meeting? Do
they have to be covered by others?
For how long? Calculate the cost
of paying others to cover these jobs
during the attendees absence:
Other costs (specify any other costs
you can think of below):
Total cost of meeting:
www.glasstap.com
Meetings are expensive. The exercise above
shows you that. Meetings are also unavoidable.
You really need to question the value you
would be adding to a meeting as opposed to
just accepting every meeting invite.
Many articles have been written on how to
make meetings more effective. I would like
to share a technique with you that will create
more engagement and buy-in during the
meeting. This will help avoid the “meeting
to discuss the previous meeting”, “meetings
becoming side tracked”, and “meetings where
only a few people participate” and rather create
a productive approach to the meeting so that
individuals’ time, at meetings, can be better
spent.
Six Thinking Hats
This is a systematic method of thinking that
separates thinking into six distinct categories.
The categories are characterized by the image
of a hat and each Hat/thinking category has
a distinct colour. By mentally wearing and
switching “hats” you can easily focus or redirect
thoughts, the conversation or the meeting.
(www.debonothinkingsystems.com/tools/6hats.htm)
A fun way is to create actual hats painted in the
six colours. That way everyone wears the same
hat at some point.
People in a group or meeting sometimes
feel that they “can’t” contribute due to their
perception of how they will be seen in the
www.executivesecretary.com
PRODUCTIVITY
group/meeting. With the Six Thinker Hats
there is not one perspective in the meeting but
several ways in which people can contribute.
The hats are categories of thinking behaviour
and not of people themselves. The purpose of
the hats is to direct thinking, not classify either
the thinking or the thinker.
By wearing a hat that is different from the one
that one you usually wear, you may be able to
contribute a variety of new ideas. Wearing a
hat means deliberately adopting a perspective
that is not necessarily your own. It is important
that all group members are aware of this
fact. The group can wear the same hat at the
same time to ensure that focus is maintained
or a group member must clearly identify the
colour of the hat he is wearing while making
a statement. Wearing a clearly identified hat
separates ego from performance. The Six Hat
Method is useful even for individuals thinking
by themselves.
Below is an example of how the hats would be
used in a meeting:
Another area we need to consider with
meetings and our tasks in general, is to ask if
you really need to be at the meeting or need to
be doing that task? If not, who could you send
to represent you or who could you engage to do
Hats may be used in some structured
sequence depending on the nature of the
issue. Here is an example:
Step 1: Present facts of the case (White
Hat)
Step 2: Generate ideas on how the case
could be handled (Green Hat)
Step 3: Evaluate the merits of the ideas
– list the benefits (Yellow Hat)
Step 4: List the drawbacks (Black Hat)
Step 5: Get everybody’s gut feelings
about the alternatives (Red Hat)
Step 6: Summarise and adjourn the
meeting (Blue Hat)
the task? This leads us to another very useful
technique in managing our behaviour and that
is the ability to delegate.
Delegation does not just happen. It is a well
thought out process that we do “with” someone
not “to” someone. As the tasks are still part
of our performance areas, it does not remove
accountability from ourselves. In order for it to
be successful we need to take the time to ensure
that it is successful. Below are some points
that need to be taken into consideration when
delegating:
1  Spot the opportunity – Analyse the
meeting/task and decide exactly what it is you
need and who you believe would be the person
for the job.
2  Discuss the opportunity with them – Just
because you believe they are the right person
for the job does not mean they believe they are
the right person for the job. Get their ideas,
establish how they feel about the request. We
need to get the individual’s buy-in otherwise
they feel they did not have a say and that affects
the outcome.
3  Coaching – You will need to spend time
giving a detailed brief of what they will be
required to do. You may even have to take them
through previous minutes, reports or documents
so that they have a good understanding of the
meeting or task.
4  Ensure that the responsibility they require
to be at the meeting or to perform the task is
handed to them. Ensure that the other members
of the meeting are aware who will be attending
in your place or who will be performing a task
in your place.
5  Discuss how they would like you to support
them during this time.
6  Review the outcome and give them feedback.
twenty nine
 PRODUCTIVITY

7  Acknowledge their contribution and
decide on the way forward. Was this a one-off
meeting or task or is this something that can
be continued?
Benefits of delegation for people
• Development
• It feels good
• Jobs are enriched
• They use their initiative
Benefits for the company
• Cost efficient – Organisations are efficient
when all the important tasks not only get done,
and done on time, but also are done at the least
cost.
• Teams become more flexible – Use
delegation to move tasks around a team, so
widening the skill base and increasing flexibility.
• Teamwork developed – As tasks are
delegated people come into contact with
whom they have not worked closely with
before. This helps foster teamwork.
• Workloads are balanced – Effective
delegation can ensure an equitable balance of
work and that all tasks get done.
• Keep good staff, develop poorer staff –
Recruiting staff, especially professional staff, is
a very expensive and time-consuming process.
When high-quality people are bored they look
for new pastures.
• A more powerful workforce – The
workforce can be developed as a whole
through an organisation-wide policy of
coaching and delegation
• Aids communication – An essential
step in the delegation process is to ensure
that members of staff understand why they are
being asked to do new tasks.
• Geographical dispersal – As an
organisation expands and opens branches in
new towns, and counties, responsibility and
authority have to be delegated from the centre.
Combining all of this we also need to be able to
communicate assertively. How do you currently
communicate? Do you:
1  Communicate more passively in that you
do not express how you feel or your ideas
but rather go with the group, even if it is an
inconvenience to you? This type of style leads
us to take on more than we should. We are strive to get your behaviour consistent with
unable to say “No”. your objectives, you are managing your time
2  Are you only concerned with yourself and effectively. In today’s workplace it is not often
getting your views across regardless of others, that we will be able to complete our to-do list.
their thoughts or feelings. You listen to what Many items on your list may need to be carried
others say but you don’t really hear, as you over for a few days. This does not make you
have already made up your mind? This is an ineffective. There is more to time than simply
aggressive form of communication. This type of doing the job correctly. It is about doing the
style does not create teamwork. You may find correct jobs with the time you have.
yourself having to do all the work, as others
will avoid you.
3  In this type of communication the focus is
on the negative and getting others to see the
negative as well. It reduces productivity.
4  Assertive: Confident and direct in dealing
with others (Collins Concise Dictionary).
Upholding one’s own integrity and dignity
whilst at the same time encouraging this
behaviour in others.
ASSERTIVENESS
Enjoying your rights
Expressing your feelings and views
Asking for what you want
WITH
Respect (self & others)
Honesty (self & others)
Graceful directness
Steps in assertion:
1  Listen to what is being said.
2  Show that you hear and understand.
3  Say what you think and feel.
4  Indicate what action or outcome you want.
5  Negotiate a win-win solution.
As with all skills, time management is a
journey. The journey will be different for each
of us based on what our current behaviours are.
Keep in mind that time is the most flexible
thing you can be given. As long as you are
working on the basis of priority, and you

about the author

Joanne Barnfather is the Managing Member of MindLeap, a training company in South Africa. She works
in the private and public sector, focusing on skills that inspire people and organisations to want to be better.
Visit www.mindleapsa.co.za.

thirty www.executivesecretary.com

Are You a
Great Leader?
Are leaders born or created?
Some leaders are born great but many of us need
to have experienced great business leadership to
become one.
Historically, leaders were associated with men
who were tall, strong, well-educated and power
oriented. Derived from the 19th century, the
“Great Man” Theory was a term that was given
to describe the men and heroes of the day –
figures of authority who utilised their power
born from their personal traits of wisdom,
intelligence and confidence. Whilst naturally
this theory is somewhat out of date, are great
leaders born skilled or can great leadership be
learned?
According to Albert Bandura’s observational
learning theory (aka social learning theory),
learning occurs through observing the
behaviour of others. This particularly rings true
of those who value and look up to respected
leaders as they have the tendency to replicate
their behaviour and use them as their model.
Social Contagion founded by Gustave Le Bon,
a French social psychologist and founder of
crowd psychology, looks at how our behaviour
can help shape the outlook, values, emotions
and behaviours of others. This type of theory
applied by leaders would work wonders to
enable key qualities in their co-workers –
such as hard work, having a positive attitude
and approach to business matters, to think
creatively and intuitively, and to motivate
the team in believing that they are capable of
reaching great heights.
about the author
Dr Lynda Shaw is a registered chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Medicine as well as an entrepreneur and author. Lynda has lectured in Psychology and Neuroscience at
Brunel University and conducted research on brain function and impairment, specialising in consciousness, emotion
and the effects of ageing. A hugely popular speaker with an innovative, practical and immediately applicable approach,
Lynda offers insights into a variety of relevant and often controversial issues. www.drlyndashaw.com.
www.executivesecretary.com
LEADERSHIP
Ideas such as these are in keeping with John
Adair’s theory of action-centred leadership. A
simple, effective model that encompasses three
elements that a successful leader can juggle at
the same time: clear focus on achieving goals
with a team working together but with each
individual proactive and involved. Again these
are learnable skills.
Natural born leaders exude that “extra
something” that instantly sets them apart from
the crowd and enables them to shine. Whether
it’s their natural warmth, confidence or
possessing a strong self-belief, their social skills
and likeability factor similarly plays a key role
in attracting the attention of colleagues and
clients alike.
To have this kind of powerful charm is certainly
a gift, but there is great value to a business in
WRITER
DR LYNDA
SHAW
having a solid leader who possesses detailed
knowledge, experience and commitment. It
would therefore be unjust to presume that good
leaders cannot be made through teaching and
guidance.
Good leaders are able to cope with challenges,
can self reflect, are people-orientated, are able
to make decisions and can accept constructive
criticism to enable personal growth. Good
leaders give each team member a voice to share
ideas and play a part in the decision-making
process so employees are made to feel invested
and valued.
Leaders who deprive the involvement of their
colleagues are often left feeling unwanted,
detached and worthless. As a result, the cortisol
stress levels and adrenaline gradually intensifies
leading to physical and mental illness, which in
turn can be very damaging to the individual as
well as the business.
Whether leaders are born or created is
debatable but the answer is probably both.
Ultimately great leadership comes with many
years of learning and experience whereby new
opportunities are discovered, adversities are
surmounted and successful teams are built. A
touch of wow factor also helps.
thirty one
 Else-Britt Lundgren
The new Chairman of EUMA Europe
Can we start with a little background information? Where are you
from? What is your background?
I was born in Stockholm the capital of Sweden. I am the oldest of three
siblings. For 25 years I have lived in Solna which is a town close to
Stockholm. I am married and have two grown-up children.
How and why did you become an administrative professional?
In high school I was going to be a decorator but I started out as a
medical secretary in the beginning of the 80s and took a one-year
course in medical secretary school as I found the administration area
very interesting. In 1986 I entered the pharmaceutical business as a
department secretary in Research and Development and today I am the
Executive Assistant Northern Europe and Office Manager Sweden at Eli
Lilly & Company and have been with the company for 14 years now. I
like the unpredictable work days – if you don’t like ad hoc duties you
should choose another profession.
You are currently Chairman of EUMA, the Association for Assistants
from 25 countries across Europe. Tell us a bit about EUMA?
EUMA is a unique international network for management support
professionals which focuses on their personal development and on the
future for the profession. EUMA is represented in 25 countries and has 19
country groups which gives you an international as well as a national
network. In today’s international business environment
EUMA give you a fantastic flavor of different business
cultures across countries.
EUMA has just celebrated its 40th Anniversary
in Paris. Give us a taste of how you celebrated
and marked the occasion?
It was a great celebration with around 300
participants – those who have been EUMA members
for many years and members who joined for the first
EUMA international event.
We started out with dinner in two boats on the river Seine.
To see Paris from this angle was lovely. We were happy to have
our founder Sonia Vanular and three former EUMA European Chairmen
Helen Monument, Heli Puputti and Maria Lazarou together with us.
After dinner our founder Sonia blew out the birthday cake’s candles and
cut the first piece of the cake. The evening ended up with a full dance
floor!
We understand that Sonia Vanular, the 93-year-old founder of
EUMA, attended the event. Tell us a bit about her and how she
came to set up EUMA?
Sonia Vanular is a real role model and she is still very engaged in EUMA
and the development of the profession.
“In 1970 Management Centre Europe, a subsidiary of the American
Management Association asked Sonia Vanular to co-chair with Zoe Ouwehand,
their personnel officer, the first Executive Secretary seminar they were running in
Europe, a seminar they had run for several years in the United States. She chaired
this seminar alone for several years after this. It was during this period she came
into contact with secretaries from all over Europe who suffered from the bad press
thirty two
image of the secretary. At this time the image of the secretary was not the symbol of
pride it is nowadays. In the public mind, “secretary” simply meant “woman” with
few intellectual capacities but able to make coffee for her manager and be the maid
of all work for everyone in the office. We are talking about the seventies when the
existing technologies were not sufficient to help most secretaries develop themselves
and to hone their skills further.” The EUMA History book 2014, page 13
“Sonia’s aspiration came into fruition when EAPS (European Association for
Professional Secretaries) was created in 1974, a professional network where
joint learning, sharing and empowerment were the key words. She wanted this
association to be a self-development association. She always felt that secretaries
have to create their own job and speak up for themselves.” The EUMA History
book 2014, page 14
In 1998, EAPS was transformed in to EUMA (European Management
Assistants) as a result of new business requirements of technical
competencies.
What is your vision as Chairman of EUMA?
First is to encourage our members to be proud of their profession. If you
want to be respected you have to first respect yourself. My vision is to make
EUMA and our profession visible – if we are not visible we don’t exist. This is
very crucial today when companies have to have control of their costs and it
is important that every employee is contributing to the business.
Networking – in our profession we are often the only one in the
company, so who do you have as a reference? Our business
environment is changing fast and with new technical
tools – it is impossible to have full control over what
is happening around you. To meet generation Y/Z –
means that we have to be online but, with this said,
EUMA will still be a unique network to provide face-
to-face meetings, international as well as national.
Monitor trends – this is why I became a member in 1995
of EUMA to keep up with the changes and what new
competencies are required for the profession.
What inspires and motivates you?
Other colleagues who have the courage to find new ways to solve
problems and are open to new ideas. Also other leaders in my workplace
from external top management, for example Cheryl Sandberg from
Facebook. I read a lot of articles on leadership, communication and IT to
keep me up to date as much as possible.
What has been the highlight of your career so far and why?
In work life it has been my time at Eli Lilly & Company who support
me in my development, and my role today is very broad. One of my
development areas is leadership and this is in line with my assignments
within EUMA – first as the National Chairman 2008-2012 and now as
the European Chairman 2013.
What are the main challenges facing the profession at the moment?
Visibility – to show off what competence you have and how you add
value to the business – which means to be clear with your goals and
make them measurable. This shows why we are needed as management
support professionals.
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 Profile - Else-Britt Lundgren
Also to keep up with new technology tools so you are the one who adapts
new ways of doing administrative tasks.
What advice would you give someone just starting in the role?
Get a mentor – this is an underestimated way to learn and develop. I
was mentee in my early stages of being Executive Assistant to the
managing director in early 2000 which helped me a lot. Then I was
mentor twice and that also helps to share your experience but also to gain
new knowledge from the mentee. Join a network – you find colleagues
in an informal world of like-minded experiences, thoughts and feelings
www.executivesecretary.com
So what’s next for Else-Britt Lundgren? Where do you want to be
in five years’ time?
I have a great task to take EUMA forward into 2020 and to work out
what it means for us to be management support professionals in 2020. A
profile to define the role is my top priority right now.
In five years’ time I want to focus on coaching colleagues to develop and
to be confident in their profession.
thirty three
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Resistance Is WRITER

Graham
W Price

Futile
If we want a happy and productive life, it might be
a good idea to practice letting go of thoughts that
involve “resisting what is”

We’ve all heard the adage about accepting

things we cannot change and changing things
we can change. Yet few realise the extent
to which we resist what we cannot change.
I’m using the word “resist” to mean “having
negative thoughts about…”

If we’re regretting something, we’re resisting

the past. If we’re dissatisfied about something,
we’re probably resisting the present. Neither
the past nor the present can be changed. Only
the next moment or the future can be changed.
So regret and dissatisfaction are both wishing
for the impossible.

The same is true of self-blame or being

unhappy about something others have done.
In fact almost every negative thought we ever
have involves wanting either something that’s
happened not to have happened or a situation
that exists right now not to exist right now.
Both are wanting something to be already
different. Nothing can ever be already different.
So these are all wishing for the impossible.

We call all this “resisting what is”. (We use this

term to include “resisting what was”).

If we want a happy and productive life, it

might be a good idea to practice letting go
of thoughts that involve “resisting what is”
on the basis that they’re all wishing for the
impossible. That leads to a way of thinking
called “accepting what is”, which simply means
accepting the past and the present, or stopping
wishing things were already different.
It might also be a good idea to combine
“accepting what is” with refocusing on
improving the future, wherever we can. We’ve
called this combination “Positive Acceptance”.
Practicing Positive Acceptance involves
noticing when we’re “resisting what is”,
acknowledging that’s wishing for the
impossible, letting go of that thought and
refocusing on improving the future.
Most of the time, “refocusing on improving
the future” may not be needed. There may be
nothing we can do, or it may be too minor to
warrant taking action to improve the future. In
those cases Positive Acceptance is just about
“accepting what is”.
Questions initially raised by some of those we’ve
trained in the skills of Positive Acceptance:
• Isn’t it challenging to notice when we’re
resisting what is? Not at all. Our studies tell
us 97% of all negative thoughts are “resisting

thirty four www.executivesecretary.com

 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

what is”. So we only need to notice when we’re
dissatisfied or unhappy about anything.
• Isn’t it hard to drop a negative thought?
It’s remarkably easy once we’ve acknowledged
we’re wishing for the impossible.
• What if the thought comes back after
we’ve let it go? That’s just a great opportunity
to practice the technique again.
• What if I’m feeling emotional? It’s really
hard to engage in any kind of “rational” thinking
when we have emotions running through us. So
we need to deal with any emotions before we can
reasonably apply Positive Acceptance. Come to
one of our free webinars to find out how to deal
with feelings or emotions, eliminate stress and
unwind limiting patterns such as anxiety, low
feelings, procrastination or weight issues (see
box below). In the meantime you’ll just have
to wait for emotions to subside before using
Positive Acceptance.
The other 3% of negative thoughts are about
worry. (Yes, we too were surprised to find this
percentage is so low). If we’re worrying, we’re
resisting aspects of the future that we believe,
rightly or wrongly, we cannot control. We only
worry about things to the extent we believe we
cannot control them.
If we’re right that we cannot control whatever
we’re worrying about, we need to “accept what
will be”. We can replace our worrying thought
with a more accepting thought… “whatever
will be, will be”.
If we’re wrong in our assumption that we
cannot control whatever we’re worrying about,
we can take action to gain more control.
In fact whether or not we can control whatever
we’re worrying about, the expression “whatever
will be, will be” is still true (once we’ve done
what we can do to control what we can control).
So we can use it all the time to eliminate worry.
I totally eliminated worry from my life in a
few months by repeatedly replacing worrying
thoughts with this statement. If you’re familiar
with Doris Day’s song, you might prefer the
French version: Que sera sera.
It also helps to know that whenever we’re
worrying we’re nearly always exaggerating
one or both of two things: a) the probability
of something bad happening, or b) the
consequences even if it did happen. In my
younger days, I used to get anxious speaking
to groups. So I’d worry about any upcoming
presentation. I now know that I was hugely
exaggerating both the probability of something
going wrong (I’d already presented often
enough without any disaster occurring) and the
consequences of something going wrong (I was
probably imagining it would be the end of life
as I knew it).
So we can now include “accepting what will be”
in our practice of “Positive Acceptance”.
All unhappiness entails resisting what was,
what is, or what will be. Resistance is at the
core of all dissatisfaction. Resistance is the basis
of all unhappiness. Without resistance there’s
only a willingness to resolve problems and
explore the opportunities that life brings.
Resistance is a peculiarly human trait. Apart
from us humans, nature is free of resistant
thinking. We were born without it, until our
elders unwittingly taught us to think this way.
“Resistant” thinking has been handed down
from generation to generation. So today we live
in a crazy world where this is seen as a normal
way of thinking.
Our studies tell us the average person has 20
to 50 resistant thoughts per day. I prefer to call
them “crazy thoughts”. That heightened my
motivation to eliminate them.
In a random 10 minutes of a well-known
English TV soap opera, we counted 87 resistant
thoughts. That’s one every seven seconds. For
any single character, that works out at an
average of 4,000 crazy thoughts per day.
The first time I counted my resistant thoughts,
it came to 24 in a day. I probably missed a few,
so I imagine it was over 30. Over a few months
of practicing Positive Acceptance, I reduced
that to close to zero. Anyone can achieve this
with practice.
The more we practice, the better we get. After a
while we’ve found it becomes more automatic.
The mind becomes trained to think that way.
Eventually resistant thoughts just stop arising.
We’ve abbreviated the term “Positive
Acceptance” to “Pacceptance”. One of our
trainees said she loved the concept and was
using it all the time, but wasn’t entirely happy
about the new word we’d created. I suggested
she paccept it. I added an apology that it’s just
too late to change it. Thousands of people we’ve
trained are using it regularly in their lives.
In our culture, the word “acceptance” is often
seen as a weak concept, unless we’re just
accepting things we cannot change. That’s
because we tend to view the word as meaning
“letting things be”. If you had a hole in your
roof and the rain was pouring in and damaging
your house, and I suggested you just “accept
it” you might think that to be rather strange
advice.
But if you’re unhappy about the hole in your
roof, irritated with the builders who laid the
tiles, and upset about the damage that’s been
done by the rain, I might suggest you “paccept
it”. I hope that makes a little more sense and
helps to explain why we felt the need to create
the word.
We’ve taken on a monumental task of trying to
change the way the world thinks. You might
like to join us and contribute to our goal by
practicing Pacceptance in your life.

about the author

Graham W Price is a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and an accredited member of
the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). He is the developer of Acceptance-
Action Therapy and its personal development equivalent, Acceptance-Action Training. He offers free webinars called
“Pacceptance Training” teaching the skills of Positive Acceptance and more. His company Abicord has recently
teamed up with a well-known wealthy philanthropist who is sponsoring a goal to train one billion people in the next
five years. See www.abicord.com.

www.executivesecretary.com thirty five

 PA of the Year Tribe 2014:
The Amazing Journey We
Walked Together
The International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Assistant
2014, initiated by South Africa’s Professional Association for Secretaries
and Administrative Assistants (PAFSA), was launched to commemorate
and mark the 30th anniversary since the first year of the secretary which
was celebrated in 1984 in the United States.
The year 2014 also marked the 9th year of the prestigious annual
South African Personal Assistant of the Year Award (PAOTY), hosted
and organized by PAFSA in association with Dictum Publishers PTY
Ltd. This award was established a decade ago created to recognise the
achievements of PAs across South Africa, and to enhance the stature of
the Personal Assistant.
The title this year went to Lizzie Mudzingwa of Telkom
SA SoC and the five finalists were Sharin Duncan, Susan
Engelbrecht, Tracy Dardis, Wilna Joubert and Zorro
Nyathi. Below all share their experience of taking
part in this auspicious event.
Lizzie Mudzingwa (Telkom SA SoC)
With PAFSA having celebrated Secretaries Day on
3 September 2014 and hosting the official IYOTSA
banquet, it made it all extra special for us six finalists
of the PAOTY Award being presented and becoming
known as the “Tribe 2014”.
Tribe 2014 is now embarking on an incredible journey to reach out to
fellow professionals and infuse a robust, career-enhancing mindset. Part
of our mandate is to rekindle the passion for pride in the profession. It’s
high time that we stand up to enhance the status of our profession in the
eyes of all.
Tribe 2014 certainly wants to continue the history-making path of
IYOTSA and leave a rich legacy to our young PAs – nurturing them as
they are the core of our survival and success of our profession, just as we
today are what we are because of those who walked the journey before us.
Tribe 2014 together with PAFSA will bravely take on the challenge of
making our profession one to be reckoned with!
Sharin Duncan (Sanlam Investments)
The process of going from nomination through to selection was such an
incredible personal growth journey for me. I wish that this growth was
somehow measureable because in my world it was enormously valuable.
thirty six
I felt proud to represent Sanlam throughout the competition. Attending
the Annual PA Summit and Secretaries Day Gala Lunch as a Finalist was
a very special experience. I may not have walked away as the winner, but
I met many wonderful people, all of whom are exceptionally talented
PAs and I am very much looking forward to engaging with the 2014
Tribe over the next year and beyond.
The manner in which PAFSA delivered the Summit and structured the
PA of the Year Award selection process was in itself a great learning
curve. I hope to use the experience gained to encourage a few exciting
internal initiatives to motivate Sanlam PAs to operate at an even higher
level going forward.
I will be forever grateful for the wonderful support and
encouragement shown to me by Sanlam. I could not
have wished for a more challenging and memorable
experience – many thanks to PAFSA and everyone
involved in the event. This experience will remain a
highlight in my career.
Susan Engelbrecht (Discovery Health)
What makes the PA of the Year Award unique for
the secretarial profession is that the judges are peers.
The Summit also provided an opportunity for high
level PAs to form part of the thought leadership. It was
an opportunity to network, and to engage in conversation with
others in their field.
The summit and the award process itself was an experience that I will
never forget and that I most certainly will recommend to all professional
assistants out there. I feel honoured to be one of the six finalists of our
chosen profession and look forward to the challenges that this holds for
me.
As Debbie de Jager, PA of the Year 2010, stated: “Being a PA is one of
the roles I play in life. It’s part of who I am. As a PA, I always represent
my company and my manager. Being a PA is so much more than just
assisting with the typing of communication and arranging meetings.
Becoming someone that your boss and office truly depend and rely on is
someone every PA should strive to become. My main focus as a personal
assistant is in the title: assisting. I am, in essence, a helper to someone
who will not be able to play his game to the best of his ability without
my assistance or help. To be the best assistant my manager could ever
wish for, I have to assist him firstly according to his requirements and
www.executivesecretary.com
 Profile
Tribe 2014 From left to right - Lizzie Mudzingwa (Winner -South African Personal Assistant of the Year 2014), Sharin Duncan, Susan Engelbrecht,
Tracy Dardis, Wilna Joubert and Zorro Nyathi.
secondly I have to be innovative enough to assist him in ways in which
he didn’t even realize he needed assistance. To achieve this, I will have
to go beyond what my role requires and do it to the best of my ability.”
It is important that today’s PAs acquaint themselves with their company’s
strategic goals and objectives, and drive the brand, products and services
to ensure that the targets and goals are achieved. We have learned to
work smarter in order to be more effective and provide a professional
service to our manager/s and the company that we work for. It is very
important that you and your manager are comfortable with each other
and communication plays an important role in this relationship.
The PA has the dual role today of part-manager, part-PA. She needs the
skills of an executive PA and the attributes of a manager. Meeting the
expectations of everyone around her is par for the course. Staying cool,
calm and collected is the alpha and omega of everyday coping skills.
Tracy Dardis (Telkom SA SoC)
I have said it before and I will say it again: Wow, what a ride! My PA
of the Year journey was one filled with jubilation, apprehension, awe,
laughter and pride. I was so honoured that a fellow Telkom colleague
nominated me for this award. For the first couple of weeks I soared on a
cloud in anticipation of what was to come.
Then the rollercoaster of apprehension, awe, laughter and honour began.
The questionnaires and interviews were gruelling and really pushed me
to my limit and beyond. The wait in between each submission to find out
if I had made it to the next round had me on a knife’s edge – I was often
referred to being like a cat on a hot tin roof.
When I received the notification that I was a finalist, I was filled with
satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment which however was quickly
overshadowed by apprehension as I read the second line of the email that
www.executivesecretary.com
notified all finalists that we were expected to present at the finals in front
of an audience of 220+ fellow colleagues and peers. Cue the nerves!
3 September 2014, the day had finally arrived and after many pep talks
and numerous updated versions of my presentation, I was ready. Upon
my arrival I was seated alongside my fellow finalists. To this day I am
still in awe at what a dynamic, innovative and daunting set of industry
leaders I am sharing this experience with. The cream of the crop was
seated in this auditorium and immediately I knew that we as the PAOTY
Tribe of 2014 were going to rock this event.
Four months later, after the award was handed out and the title holder
was announced, I sit back and thank my lucky stars that I was able to be
a part of the experience. Often I am asked by fellow colleagues “Should
I enter in 2015?” to this I answer, most definitely do! We as Personal
Assistants, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants are a force to be
reckoned with and we often overlook our own accomplishments and do
not take the time to celebrate our achievements. Be the shining stars you
all know you are and reap the rewards.
Another question I am often asked is “would you ever do it again?” Yes
I would do it in a heartbeat because the other five finalists and I have
become a family: we are the Tribe of 2014 and, watch out world, greats
things are coming. I as a person have grown from this process, I have
been pushed beyond my boundaries and out of my comfort zone, but you
know what? The grass is definitely greener on this side!
Wilna Joubert (Novartis SA (Pty) Ltd)
It is now four months ago that we had our amazing day as the six
finalists of PAOTY 2014 – and I am still in awe of it all. Not being a
PAFSA member before, this was all very new to me – a whole new world
opened for me – a world with wonderful people, websites, magazines,
thirty seven
 Profile

information, Facebook, Twitter – a world of information and people, all Lizzie Mudzingwa walked away with the title – a worthy winner. And
about my chosen profession. I was now part of an amazing group of women – PAOTY 2014 Tribe.

Initially, just after I got the message that I was nominated, my first
reaction was one of mixed emotions: I felt so honoured and humbled to
have been nominated by my peers – at this stage I did not even know
who nominated me – and at the same time I thought: “No, I’m not one
for the limelight and I certainly do not have the time to fit this into
my life!” A bit embarrassing to admit this but, nonetheless, the honest
truth!
I was asked in the email to either accept or decline the nomination and I
decided to “sleep” on it. And then, a little spark got ignited within me.
My two wonderful daughters cheered me on: “You must do this Mom,
you can do this Mom!” I started to think about all the advice I give
others: “Embrace new experiences… Stretch yourself a bit so as not to get stuck
in your comfort zone… The fact that you tried, already makes you a winner… If
you do not try, you’ll never know what you are capable of.” It was now time to
follow my own good advice!
This was an amazing experience which I will cherish for a long time to
come. I am so glad to have had the privilege (and may I add courage)
to go through this experience and I am looking forward to doing great
things on the journey ahead, together with my fellow Tribe members, to
raise awareness and passion for our profession.
Zorro Nyathi (Exxaro Resources Limited)
I must confess that the process undergone was a true test of self-leadership
and the understanding of the profession we are in.
It gave us all an opportunity to prove how the role of an Office Professional
has actually evolved over the years, from traditional coffee making and
receiving visitors, to something more strategically oriented. Throughout
this process, we still had our daily office duties to accomplish, proving
the importance of time management in the life of an Office Professional.
Tribe 2014 pulled through.

Then came the questionnaires to be completed as part of the judging
process, telephone calls from journalists – also part of the judging
process – and all of this in the midst of probably the busiest time at the
company where I work. Questionnaires were completed pretty much on
the deadline date – there was no time to “overthink” any of my answers
– it just came straight from the heart and experience! Of course it came
back to haunt me later on as some of these responses were quoted in
newspapers, on the website etc. I cringed and thought I could have put
it so much better… but then again, I had to remind myself that it is not
about perfection, but about excellence, and the mere fact that I made it
to the final six candidates must be proof of some excellence!
It was absolutely fantastic to receive all the good wishes from my work
colleagues and peers who all said that my nomination was well deserved
and no surprise to them. My husband, daughters, friends and family all
cheered me on – I was basking in all the good wishes and goodwill!
When the email informing us about the session with the judges arrived it
was horror of horrors – a speech in front of 220 other people at Emperors
Palace! Panic hit me in the pit of my stomach – I can’t do public speaking!
You might as well ask me to go and wrestle a crocodile on the banks of
the Nile River! So once again, I had to remind myself about that s-t-r-e-
t-c-h-i-n-g, that embracing of new experiences... I was amazed at everyone’s
faith in my ability to do it – why did I not feel that faith myself?
Since then, the journey we embarked on has been such a wonderful
experience accompanied by responsibilities that include: regular
interaction with other Office Professionals, reminding and encouraging
one another on trivial matters that could potentially improve or
negatively affect our profession. Also, appreciating one another on the
good work we do almost every day, working extra hours, supporting
more than just our managers and ensuring that the departments we
work in are positively viewed, both by other departments within the
organisation and stakeholders outside these organisations.
As a Tribe, we now strive to live up to the title and set an example of what
is expected of a good, responsible and accountable Office Professional.
We may not always get it right, but are consciously aware to:
•  Show respect for everyone
•  Appreciate diversity of views, interests and personality
•  Value attitude over aptitude
•  Have an honest and open communication with those around us
This is not an easy task and most of the time we may not succeed. But
one thing we promise is to continuously self-introspect, take a firm stand
on self-leadership and engage each and every one of us in building a
lasting brand, which is that of an Office Professional.

The day of meeting the judges arrived and with a heart beating in my
throat I set off to meet them. And something amazing happened. I
was met by Sonia Salgado, the warmest, most assuring person you can
imagine. Sonia immediately made me feel at ease, made me feel welcome
and like one of the family. Next I met Susan Engelbrecht, another
fantastic warm person – a fellow finalist and fellow member of Tribe
2014. Just before I was ushered into the room with the judges, Tracy
Dardis joined us, having finished her session declaring: “Tomorrow we
are all going to rock, girls!!”

Long story short, the 3 September arrived, the day of the Summit – I
met lots of people during the morning, people who shared the same
profession and passion for this profession. I felt at home – we were spoiled
and looked after by Tribe 2013. We listened to amazing speeches from
the other finalists – I was blown away by the talent. Who will ever forget
that Hen-speech from Zorro? When it was my turn to get up there and
deliver my speech, all nerves and anxiety disappeared and I just spoke to
people who shared the same passion for this profession.

thirty eight www.executivesecretary.com

 CAREER DEVELOPMENT

The Evolving Role of the WRITER

Robert
Administrative Professional Hosking

Time stands still for no one, including
administrative professionals. Gone are the
days when filing papers, answering phones and
scheduling meetings comprised the bulk of
their daily routine. Today’s administrative job
descriptions encompass so much more.
For their Office of the Future research,
OfficeTeam and the International Association
of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) recently
conducted a survey of the responsibilities and
titles of more than 2,200 support personnel in
North America. The following highlights the
evolution of the administrative field, and what
workplace trends you can expect to see in the
near future.
Duties and roles are diversifying
Administrative professionals still perform
much of the conventional duties that have long
been part of the profession, but many more
tasks have been added to the mix. They are the
go-to people for organizing meetings, planning
events and creating presentations — sometimes
even giving them. They also need to have top-
notch technical skills: Proficiency in Microsoft
Office is the minimum, with some employers
requiring office professionals be adept at cloud-
based apps, social media, database management
and even website maintenance.
Here are some other skills that employers are
adding to job descriptions:
• Excellent written and verbal communica-
tions, including bilingualism
• Customer service
• Knowledge of a specific industry or business,
especially healthcare and oil/gas
• Financial savvy, such as handling expense
reports and processing invoices
• History of taking initiative — doing what
needs to be done without having to be asked
Outdated job descriptions and titles get an
upgrade
The mantra of modern administrative
professionals is “No job is too big or too small.”
With all these added responsibilities, some
job titles are changing accordingly. According
to OfficeTeam and IAAP’s study, some of the
more innovative labels are Chief Executive
Administrator, Administrative Chief of Staff
and Director of Administration. There are
even Directors of First Impressions (old title:
receptionists). The survey also found that
having an accurate job title is at least somewhat
important to 93 percent of respondents.
Half of the survey respondents said their job
description coincides with what they actually
do, but a significant 41 percent said it does not.
If you’re in the latter group, it may be time
for an upgrade. This is especially the case for
support staff who have been in their position
for many years. When you’ve “outgrown” your
job description and title, talk with your boss
to see whether you can bring both up to date.
Ad hoc duties multiply
Some office managers, especially those in startups
and smaller companies, have to do it all. When
was the last time you were asked to take care of
the office’s pet snails or to help land a helicopter
on the roof? These are actual tasks that admins
were enlisted to do, according to the survey.
Almost nine in 10 (87 percent) of respondents
said they perform tasks outside of their job
descriptions at least somewhat often. Here
are some other actual duties from our survey
that fall under the “other tasks and projects
as assigned” category: get a visa to India in
two hours, write a skit about hand-washing,
organize a hula-hoop contest and... get a snake
out of the women’s bathroom.
Administrative salaries keep up with
changing job titles
Nearly half (46 percent) of administrative
professionals surveyed felt they are being paid
less than what they deserve in their current jobs.
However, smart employers realize that they
must pay more to attract candidates with in-
demand skill sets. According to the OfficeTeam
2015 Salary Guide, US administrative salaries
in 2015 are projected to rise an average of 3.4
percent over 2014. Here are some job titles that
are anticipated to see larger percent increases,
along with their 2015 salary ranges:
• Senior executive assistant (+4.2%):
$50,500–$67,250
• Senior administrative assistant (+4.2%):
$38,250–$49,000
• Office/facilities manager (+4.1%):
$38,750–$50,000
• Medical executive assistant (+4.1%):
$40,000–$56,250
• Customer service representative (+4.1%):
$26,500–$36,250
• HR benefits specialist/coordinator
(+4.0%): $38,750–$53,000
With rapid changes in technology, business and
globalization, administrative job descriptions
and titles are evolving almost as quickly. Make
sure you’re keeping up with this office of the
future.

about the author

Robert Hosking is Executive Director of OfficeTeam (www.officeteam.com), the world’s largest specialised staffing
firm for administrative professionals. In this role, he manages operations for more than 315 OfficeTeam locations
worldwide, which place tens of thousands of highly skilled candidates each year into positions ranging from Executive
and Personal Assistant to receptionist and customer service specialist.

Hosking is a frequent speaker on employment issues. He has presented at industry conferences and has been interviewed
by the media on workplace topics.

www.executivesecretary.com THIRTY NINE

 LEADERSHIP

Think Like a Leader WRITER

CLAIRE

and Become Your LISTER

Own Boss
2015 is here, and now is the perfect time to
reflect on how the last 12 months have been
for us, and how we can prepare ourselves
for the year ahead. 2014 was undoubtedly a
great year for the profession; not only as it
was the International Year of the Secretary
and Administrative Assistant (IYOTSA), but
through the networking, partnerships, industry
events and exhibitions I have attended, it’s clear
to see there is a positive and passionate up-rise
in the profession. PAs want to, and are taking
control and pushing their careers to new heights.

With knowledge comes leadership, and

therefore it is only natural that sometimes you
can feel as though you have reached your limit,
and are in need of direction when it comes to
the next steps. Whilst there is an incredible
breadth for career development and alternate
directions in the PA or Assistants’ fields, it must
be noted that the experience, knowledge and
leadership skills which have underpinned your
role, could be put to alternate use in setting
up your own business. This could give you the
new challenge you crave, greater opportunities
to earn more, or just greater flexibility in your
working life.

There are various opportunities out there which

will utilise the fundamental knowledge and
skills you have amassed throughout your career,
not only as a PA, but also in other fields which
you can expand in. Whilst the prospect of
setting up and running your own business can
seem extremely daunting at first, upon closer
inspection it’s clear to see you already have
the business insight and acumen to underpin
and run a business, and the credibility and
skills to continue assisting others/clients with • Understanding business accounts Understanding business structures and law
underpinning and running theirs. • Marketing The structure of a business and the legal
requirements for business owners are crucial
Key points to consider if you are thinking of Taking a look at these areas of expertise in in the successful running of any business. You
going it alone are: more detail, it soon becomes clear how you will already have a good grounding of different
can enhance your existing skills, and take your business processes, but in order to run your own
• Understanding business structures and law career to the next level. thriving business it is essential to build on this

forty www.executivesecretary.com
 LEADERSHIP

knowledge and also have a good understanding
of the legalities of starting up and running a
business. Becoming familiar with what type of
business structures there are, and which would
work best for you, will allow you to gain a great
insight into other crucial areas of your business
set-up such as business reporting, accounts
audits, finance and business contracts, which
will all need your attention.
Some of the questions you will need to answer
include: will you be a sole trader or will your
business be a partnership? If so will it be
a limited liability partnership? There are
advantages and disadvantages to each business
structure, and it’s important to understand
what the associated implications are for each
before you set up shop. It may be that you prefer
working alone and for yourself, but what about
when illness strikes or the beautiful beaches
of Barbados are calling for a family vacation –
what contingencies will you have in place for
your business to continue making money?
It may be that a partnership would be a great
way to set up your business, finding someone
who can complement your skillset, and make
it so your business appeals to a wider clientele.
But partnerships mean you take a smaller
chunk of the profit pie, and racking up more
debts and expenses is more commonplace in
this type of business structure, as are drawing
up legally binding, costly agreements for each
party.
As we all know, the world of business is tough
and complex, and it’s extremely important to be
well versed in what type of business you would
like to run, and the legalities surrounding this,
from the very start.
Understanding business accounts
For a business, nothing is more important than
its finances, so understanding business accounts
is absolutely essential. Getting to grips with
the principles of business accountancy will put
you in great stead, enabling you to understand
balance sheets, profit and loss (P&L) accounts,
depreciation, capital and revenue expenditure.
We’ve all cringed at the cases on Dragon’s Den
where entrepreneurs were completely unaware
of the profits and losses of their own businesses,
when questioned, so seeking training and
guidance to acquire the knowledge and
understanding of how your business accounts
and profit margins work will enable you to
steer your business in the right and profitable
direction, and be more informed to make sound
and astute business decisions going forward.
Being able to understand profit margins over
accounting periods enables a business owner
to see if the business is being managed in a
stable way and also identify how well the cost
of sales and its overheads are being controlled.
Training in the areas of finance which underpin
a business is an absolute must for you if you
are considering setting up your own business.
Whereas you may have already had a good
insight in to business accounts in your role as a
PA, in order to make your business as successful
and profitable as possible, you must know how
the accounts and finances which are at the heart
of it work.
Marketing
In today’s market, driving a business forward is
a tough and highly competitive game. Beating
competitors and increasing profit must be at
the forefront of your business development
plan, and pushing marketing forward is a
fundamental sales channel. In many cases, the
importance of marketing in business is often
overlooked, but understanding the marketing
concepts and processes involved in how to
effectively place your business and the services
you offer in the marketplace is integral to its
overall visibility and success. What is the point
of setting up a great business which offers a
fantastic service, which a prospective client
needs and is willing to pay for, if they don’t
even know you exist?
The marketing communications you select to
communicate and promote your business may
vary, depending on your agenda. Advertising,
PR, SEO, Social Media and promotional
materials such as flyers, are very popular
areas of focus in marketing a business, but
in order to ensure your chosen method of
marketing communication is as effective as
possible, it is important to carry out market
research. Qualitative and quantitative research,
questionnaires and consumer profiling are great
ways to understand your target audience, and
allow you to make informed decisions about
how to market your business, and really get
your message to hit home, and in turn attract
loyal clients who trust and believe in your
business as much as you do.
Facing a New Year can be both an exciting and
scary time for any professional in their career.
There are usually tough decisions to be made,
as to how you can move your career forward
and by what means. As exciting as the prospect
of starting up a business may seem, jumping
out of your comfort zone and taking the next
step can often feel like a huge leap. Now is
the perfect time to take a step back, and really
think about where you want your career to go
in 2015.
Grasping what’s involved in setting up a
business is extremely important for anyone
looking in to starting a new business venture.
It is essential to consider the skills needed to
really underpin and drive a business forward
from conception to execution. Of course, it’s a
huge undertaking, but if you really feel this is
the next step in your career, seek the advice,
training or guidance that will allow you to make
informed decisions, and consider whether this
is the right move for you. By gaining practical,
hands-on experience in some of the key areas of
business, you’ll have a renewed focus to ensure
your new career succeeds, no matter where you
decide to take it in the New Year.

about the author

Claire Lister is MD of Pitman Training. www.pitman-training.co.uk. Renowned for its heritage in PA and Secretarial
courses, Pitman Training has remained synonymous as the leading independent training provider, revolutionising office
communications since 1837. Specialists in Office, IT, Administration, Finance and Business Skills, Pitman Training
offers a flexible approach to training for employment and has been trusted for generations which has enabled the provision
of exceptional centre-based and online training for thousands of people every year throughout the UK.
In support of this article Pitman Training would recommend the following training programmes: “Introduction to
business structures and law”, “Understanding Business Accounts”, “Marketing Essentials” and “Business Startup”.
Many training programmes provided by Pitman Training will be CPD accredited as of January 2015.

www.executivesecretary.com forty one


Creating Powerful
Partnerships
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is
progress; working together is success. – Henry Ford
One of my most successful partnerships is with
my loving husband, Rene. We’ve been blessed
with a marriage that has withstood the test of
time for 29 years. Our greatest blessings are our
four amazing children, our fabulous daughters-
in-law, and our incredible grandchildren. Rene’
and I have been together longer than we’ve
been apart and I can’t imagine our lives without
one another. There is nothing I treasure more
than my family.
My husband is my best example of what it
means to have a successful partnership. When
you’ve been together for 30 years, trust me,
you’ve seen some incredibly human and
vulnerable moments. We’ve been there for each
other through the good times and the bad.
We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst.
Ironically, many of the same factors that create
a successful marriage are the same factors that
create a successful business partnership. First,
and foremost, it takes trust. Without trust,
there is no foundation. Secondly, you must
realize you are better together than you are apart
and you rely on one another for your success.
Thirdly, when you go through a challenge
together and help each other get through it,
your bond becomes stronger than ever.
No matter how great your current partnership
is with your executive, there is always room
to improve. When you understand how
impactful a powerful partnership is on your
career, you’ll be motivated to learn how to
manage the relationship to get the highest
possible return.
What is a synergistic partnership?
The first time I experienced a synergistic
relationship was with a Vice-President. The
partnership started out with him recruiting
me, which is a pretty fantastic way to start. He
told me he had an opening for an Executive
Assistant and I was the perfect person for the
position. He told me my strength in leading
teams, my professionalism and interpersonal
skills were exactly what he needed. He made
forty two
Communication
me feel very valuable. He had a clear goal and
purpose for me. He also gave me complete
authority and freedom to act. He valued my
opinions and thought of me as a professional, a
leader and a partner.
We became a united team and mutually respected
and trusted one another. Our goals and values
were aligned, and our styles complemented each
other. We experienced successes and overcame
challenges together, and we mutually enjoyed
working with one another. This is the type of
partnership every assistant should have the
opportunity to experience!
The definition of a synergistic partnership is
when the result is greater than the sum of its
individual effects or capabilities. Synergy is
the ability of a group to outperform even its
best individual member. Whether you are the
executive or the administrative assistant, once
you experience a synergistic partnership, you’ll
never want to settle for anything less.
There are three basic ways to develop a
partnership:
1  Understand who the partners are and their
styles.
2  Understand their roles and priorities.
3  Establish routine communication.
I’ve worked for a variety of managers who were
as diverse as you can possibly imagine. They
each had their own unique style and way of
doing business. Each had his or her strengths
and weaknesses, as well as quirks and hot
buttons. It would be a mistake to assume all
executives would want to manage their offices
WRITER
PEGGY
VASQUEZ
the same. You’ll need to ask some strategic and
critical questions in order to find out everything
you need to know about your executive. The
key is to learn as much as you can. Think about
it this way, how can you support someone you
don’t know?
During your first week, find out how your
manager prefers the office and the workload to
be managed. While asking questions, offer your
office management experience by providing
suggestions. Working together, determine the
best method for managing your office.
Here are a few of the questions you’ll want to
ask:
1  Would you like an open door policy? Or,
would you appreciate the role of a gate keeper
to limit and/or screen the drop-by visits?
2  Are you a morning or afternoon person?
What time do you usually arrive at the office
and leave the office?
3  Would you like me to answer your phone or
would you prefer to do so? Would you like me
to screen your calls? Are there certain callers who
you want to get through no matter if you are in a
meeting or otherwise busy when they call?
4  Is there a preferred time for a daily meeting?
Would you like to have it at the beginning of
the day or the end of the day?
5  When is the best time to approach you
regarding a sensitive subject?
6  When is the best time to schedule high level
meetings?
7  What are your pet peeves and quirks?
8  What are your expectations regarding
how email, voicemail and incoming mail are
handled?
9  What is your expectation regarding tracking
deliverables?
10  What are your expectations regarding how
the administrative assistant acts independently
and on behalf of the executive?
Once these basic questions are answered, you
can move past the basic partnership level by
finding out what’s important to your executive.
Talk to him/her about roles and priorities. Let
it be known you want to do all you can to help
www.executivesecretary.com

create success. Ask for a copy of his/her goals
and have a conversation with him/her centered
on those goals. Align your goals to those goals.
Find out what your manager thinks and worries
about. To ensure your manager’s success, you
need to know what your manager is accountable
for and what is measured. Once you have this
information, find a way to help your manager
deliver! I promise you, if you help your manager
reach one of his/her goals, he/she will value you
tremendously.
These are strategic questions to help you
form your partnership. With answers to
these questions, you’ll be aligned with your
executive and be able to manage the day-to-day
operations. You will also be able to increase your
level of interaction with his/her direct reports
and earn his/her respect because he/she will
know you are in the know at a strategic level.
You’ll be armed with information to provide
you with insights and judgments which will
help you determine what actions to take and
when to take action, as well as how to manage
your executive’s time, calendar and priorities.
Communication is essential in developing a
powerful partnership. Communicate clearly,
openly and often. You can communicate in
person, email, text, written notes or whatever
medium works best for the given situation.
There is a huge amount of information coming
into an executive’s office. Decisions are made
based on that information and then information
is shared. Often the information needs to be
massaged before it can be shared. The political
landscape needs to be considered. Together,
you and your executive need to determine
who will need what level of information and
what background needs to be provided with
the information. Your ability to handle the
communication on behalf of your executive is
worth its weight in gold! This is an area where
you can save your executive time.
Most of us support very busy people. Because
of this, it is imperative you don’t leave the
daily meeting with your manager to chance.
Instead, schedule time with your manager. As
administrative professionals, we control our
manager’s calendars. It is our job to make our
managers more effective and more successful
than they could be without the support of an
administrative professional.
Your meeting with your manager is crucial to
his/her success because you are managing the
executive’s calendar, triaging email, tracking
deliverables, obtaining information to prepare
your executive for meetings, gathering and
writing talking points and getting all the details
about upcoming events. When you meet with
www.executivesecretary.com
Communication
your executive, make the best use of his/her
time by being thoroughly prepared and having
all the information you need at your fingertips
so you can quickly and concisely answer any
question he/she may have. To do so, you must
be in the know and have an understanding of
what is happening today, tomorrow and in the
future.
I’ve heard administrative assistants say their
managers don’t want to meet with them and
don’t see value in the daily meeting. I’m always
perplexed because I’ve never had a manager
say this to me. I know, without any doubt, the
information I give to my manager in the daily
meeting isn’t provided in any other meeting.
My manager could likely obtain a portion
of the information I provide, if he wasn’t in
meetings for most of the day, which is why
triaging email is such a key part of the role
of the administrative assistant. I know I am
saving him time and he knows it as well. Our
managers are often in meetings and haven’t
had time to review email the entire day. When
we meet with our managers and alert them
about emails, deliverable due dates, and gather
information based on upcoming meetings, we
save them time. Demonstrate your value by
making it your mission to save your manager’s
time and facilitate their success.
Most days I have a long list of things I need to
discuss with my executive. I arrange items in
priority order to ensure what I must cover, gets
covered. I pay close attention to my executive
to make sure he’s still “present” and hasn’t
drifted off because of the many obligations on
his plate. If I feel he’s “checked out” and is no
longer able to take in the information or have
the discussion regarding the things on my
list, I pause and state, “That’s it for today. The
rest can wait until tomorrow.” Every once in a
while, he will urge me to continue reviewing
the remaining material. Most of the time, he
says, “Thank you. You know me too well.”
Playing the role of an advisor is another key
role of an administrative assistant. I’ve learned
to allow room to discuss what my executive
would like to cover, instead of only being
focused on my list of “to dos.” Often, when
I ask him how things are going, or what’s on
his mind, he’ll open up and share something
with me he wants to discuss. It’s during these
times the administrative assistant becomes the
advisor and a stronger partnership develops.
The door is opened to a deeper level of dialogue
and brainstorming begins as the executive asks
for advice regarding an approach or an idea he /
she is considering. This sharing of ideas allows
your executive to see how well you know the
organization and all the players.
When you help your executive see another
view point and offer another approach, it helps
the executive consider many other aspects
of a given situation. These are the types of
conversations where trust is paramount as well
as the ability to hold information in confidence.
This interaction defines what it means to work
“with” someone versus working “for” someone.
You have moved from the typical administrative
assistant role into the role of a business partner.
One of the best ways to help your executive
is to use the art of strategic questioning. For
instance, your executive has agreed to provide a
presentation to someone who isn’t directly tied
to his/her priorities. By agreeing to this activity,
his/her schedule is now tied up and no longer
available for something more strategic that
does align with priorities. You can guide your
executive back to what is most important to
him/her by asking strategic questions, such as:
“I realize you agreed to provide a presentation
to ABC Group. Help me understand how this
fits into the big picture and relates to your
goals and priorities.” When you use strategic
questioning effectively, your executive will be
guided back to what is really important.
Once you experience this level of partnership,
you realize what a powerful role you have
as an executive assistant. It is essential for
administrative assistants to realize the power
they have and respect the power as well. If
you misuse the power, you’ll likely only have
the opportunity to do so briefly before your
executive knows it and that opportunity will
come to a screeching halt! Administrative
assistants are in key positions to influence our
executives. Many times, we are their advisors,
confidants and encouragers. We can use this
power to encourage them and pull them
forward to greater success, or we can misuse our
power for our own agenda. When you respect
the power you have and understand your job is
to help others be more successful with you than
they are without you, you’ll be respecting the
power appropriately. Respect and realize the
powerful role you have!
Understanding your partner’s style
In order to partner well with others, you need
to know their personality styles. Life would be
easier if we all communicated the same and
had the same thinking patterns. However,
that is certainly not the case. We each have our
preferred method of communication and due to
these differences, we can find ourselves in the
middle of a conversation or a meeting where
the communication just isn’t working.
The more you know about your style and
that of your executive, the more likely you
forty three
 Communication

will be able to form a powerful partnership.
I encourage you to study your executive’s
behaviors and communication style. Observe
how he/she interacts with others. Find out if
he/she is prone to focusing on “people” or on
“tasks”. Recognize how he/she speaks. Does
he/she speak in terms of “telling” or “asking”?
Make it your mission to know what makes your
executive tick.
I’ll provide you with a little insight into each
of these styles through the strengths and
limitations summary below. The best way
to experience this information is through a
workshop which includes a personality profile
assessment and applied learning activities. This
workshop is consistently one of my attendees’
favorite sessions.
One of the best things you can do for your
executive is to fill the gap. Know your
manager’s strengths and limitations so well
that you set him/her up for success by utilizing
your strengths to fill the gap in one of the areas
of weakness. If you don’t possess the strength
your executive needs in a particular situation,
team him/her up with someone who does. For
example, if your executive is an Enthusiastic/
Overbearing type of individual and is so excited
Strength and Limitation Summary
Enthusiastic/Overbearing Goal-Oriented/Distant
Strengths Strengths
makes it difficult for anyone else to talk. Would you
like me to give you a signal in the future to help you
allow for staff to make a comment?”
I’ve used this technique before and it works
well when your executive knows you are doing
all you can to ensure he/she is successful.
This type of partnership won’t happen
overnight. Some partnerships form quicker
than others, some partnerships are better than
others. All powerful partnerships take effort
and time. It takes time to develop, time to
build, and time to maintain a partnership.
Adapt to their style
In our roles as administrative assistants, we need
to be flexible, nimble and highly adaptable to
our environments and those whom we support.
When I ask executives, “What is the most
important skill in the role of the executive
assistant?” The most common response is
“Flexibility”.
Frustrations often come when we work with
someone in an opposite quadrant from our
quadrant. For example: The “Enthusiastic /
Overbearing” who has a tendency to be pushy,
expressive, likes risk and change – compared
Personable/Timid Thorough/Perfectionist
Strengths Strengths
When you are in this situation, you’ll probably
notice a shift in the energy between you and the
other person. You can feel the invisible wall come
up and the communication is stifled. You may
even notice the negative energy before either of
you speak, because we speak with more than
words. Our personality and communication
style is expressed in our body language as well
as in our verbal communication.
If you find yourself in this situation, I have a
few tips for you:
Dial your style down.
When you notice you aren’t communicating
effectively, use your self-awareness skills
to determine if you are coming across too
engrained in your own style for the other
person to relate to you. For example, if you are
an “Enthusiastic / Overbearing” type and you
are talking with a “Thorough / Perfectionist”,
you may be too animated and too expressive for
their level of comfort. By “dialing down” your
preferred enthusiastic approach, you’ll find
the tension begin to ease and communication
begin.
Genuinely appreciate your differences.
When you have a better awareness of the
diverse styles, you’ll understand how each style
contributes to the success of the team. Once you
internalize the fact there is no right or wrong
style, and no style is better than another, you
will be more apt to truly appreciate all styles.

Risk Taker Practical Team-oriented Exacting Learn as much as you can about your style and
Inspiring Orderly Caring Meticulous the style of your executive. Knowing more
Open and Direct Very Direct Devoted Practical
Pursues Change
about yourself will help you be more flexible so
Self-determined Trusting Thorough
Socially Skilled Organized Sensitive Factual you can deal effectively with your executive and
Persuasive Traditional Enthusiastic Reserved put your unique traits to work for you, instead
Competitive Goal-Oriented Helpful Calm of against you.
Confident Dependable Accessible Has High Standards
Enthusiastic/Overbearing Goal-Oriented/Distant Personable/Timid Thorough/Perfectionist Mirror their style.
Limitations Limitations Limitations Limitations
When people perceive you to be like them, they
Impatient Rigid Impractical Withdrawn are more comfortable talking to you. When you
Manipulative Unapproachable Vulnerable Dull mirror others, you are a reflection of them. If
Pushy Distant Hesitant Sullen
they are standing, stand. If they are seated, sit.
Intimidating Dogmatic Too Other-oriented Shy
Overbearing Stubborn Indecisive Slow to get things done If they are smiling, smile. If they are reserved,
Restless Critical Subjective Perfectionist be reserved. Use their same behaviors. Use the
Abrasive Insensitive Passive same rate of speech and posture. This makes
Reactive
the other person feel comfortable because he/
she perceives you to be like him/her, which
enables communication. This is not to say I’m
about a particular topic that he/she doesn’t advising you to be fake – it simply means to
to the “Thorough / Perfectionist” who likes
allow for others on the team to talk, provide modify your communication style to allow your
consistency and the status quo, is reserved, and
him/her feedback and make a suggestion. communication to be more effective.
dislikes aggressiveness. Imagine the natural
“Mr Executive, when we were in the meeting earlier clash with these two communication styles.
When you use these methods, you are speaking
today and you were so excited to share the news about At the core, these communication styles are
their language which allows others to hear you
the XYZ project, I made a few observations I’d like complete opposites. The way each of these
and understand you. This does not mean you
to share with you. I saw Mr Direct Report trying to styles prefers to communicate instantly rubs
need to change and become someone else. It
make a comment, did you notice him? I’ve noticed the other style the wrong way.
simply means, in order to communicate more
when you get excited about something, sometimes it effectively and develop a powerful partnership,

forty four www.executivesecretary.com


you may need to make some adjustments to
your preferred method of communication.
Maintaining the partnership
Once you’ve established the partnership, you’ll
need to continue to nurture it. You can nurture
the partnership in a number of ways. First and
foremost, by performing at your optimum level
and doing so consistently, your executive will
know he can trust you to perform consistently
and can relax, knowing you’ve got all the
details handled.
Another key aspect in maintaining the
partnership is keeping confidential information
held in confidence. Doing so builds trust. When
your executive trusts you as a confident and as a
high performer, you’ve got the foundation for a
powerful partnership.
Show recognition to your executive for a job
well done. The saying “It’s lonely at the top”
is very true. I’ve learned that most executives
appreciate being cared about as a person, not
just as an executive. Demonstrate compassion
for the difficulty of the position and the weight
upon their shoulders. Most executives aren’t
recognized or thanked often enough, especially
in light of everything they do. Make a point
of finding ways to genuinely recognize your
executive when they’ve done a great job.
Emulate a strong professional code by being
known as someone who underpromises and
overdelivers. Do 10% more than what is
required, requested or expected. One of the
essential elements of a powerful partnership
is accountability and follow through. What
happens to a relationship when someone
doesn’t follow up? What about the opposite?
What happens when someone delivers quicker
than expected and with more information than
requested? The latter is the behavior you want
to emulate.
No one wants to work with a whiner or a “can’t
happen” kind of person. Most of us don’t want a
relationship with these types of people. In fact,
we avoid these types of people. Be known as the
one who always follows through, is dependable,
reliable and accountable.
Collaborate with others and help others succeed.
The serendipitous part about this is that it will
build your self-respect and confidence. Help
people find a way to get things done.
Lead by example. You and your executive are
a team which means you both must “walk
the walk” and “talk the talk”. When you are
working for the manager who is making the
decisions, you no longer have the right to blame
management, you are a team and you both need
www.executivesecretary.com
Communication
to support one another. Be the person you want
to look up to.
The power of feedback
When you work with someone closely day after
day, you will be in a situation where you need
to provide feedback. The situation might be as
small as telling your executive he has a dirty
nose before walking into an All Staff meeting.
These types of feedback conversations may be
uncomfortable and awkward but fairly easy
to do. Your executive will appreciate the kind
approach and will know you had his back and
saved him from an embarrassing situation.
There will be other times when the situation is
much more impactful and can be highly political.
These conversations are downright scary. This
is where the trust you developed early on in
the partnership will carry tremendous weight.
Be confident and courageous enough to offer
feedback and have the difficult conversations.
The last thing your executive needs is another
“yes” person. Executives need someone who
they trust to tell them the truth. This isn’t
what they want to hear or what will make them
feel better; these are the conversations that are
designed to make your executive better. This
takes guts, confidence, judgment and caring
enough about your executive’s success that you
are willing to take the risk. I’ve had these types
of conversations with executives and, every
time, I was scared, yet each and every time my
executive was grateful for the conversation and
thanked me for my open and honest feedback.
When receiving feedback, first and foremost,
assume the person providing feedback has
positive intent and cares enough about you to
help you succeed.
Listen with an open heart and open mind. It
might not be warranted, but you won’t get far
without it.
Ask questions and assume the message
comes from a place of goodwill and generosity.
Scepticism doesn’t help you hear.
Reflect on the message and consult a mentor
to help process the information and determine
changes you may make.
What if the partnership isn’t working?
If you find yourself in a situation where the
partnership isn’t happening, the first step is
to assess the partnership and identify what
isn’t working. Focus on the facts and remain
objective as you ask yourself these questions.
Do your best to avoid becoming emotional.
1  Where are the gaps?
2  Where are the challenges?
3  Where are the strengths?
4  Am I aware of their style and putting
that knowledge to work in my day-to-day
interactions?
5  What haven’t I tried?
6  What’s stopping me?
Now that you’ve assessed the facts about the
state of the partnership, you are ready to create
an Improvement Plan. This plan isn’t only for
partnerships that are broken; every partnership
can benefit from an improvement plan and
result in taking it to the next level.
The first step is to schedule the meeting. Say
something along the lines of: “I scheduled a
meeting for us to talk about how we manage the office.
The meeting is scheduled for 1 ½ hours, however, it
should only take us 45 minutes. I wanted us to have
plenty of time to discuss this topic.”
Taking this action will demonstrate to your
manager that you are actively engaged in
creating a successful and productive partnership.
Walk through each of the steps in the Improve–
ment Plan. Communicate professionally by
discussing the facts and keep emotions in
check. Talk about what is working, what could
be improved upon, and together determine the
next steps. Ask your manager for suggestions
and offer your ideas. Keep the discussion
focused on developing a highly efficient,
productive environment.
Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one
factor that can make the difference between damaging
your relationship and deepening it. That factor is
attitude. – William James
The point of the meeting is to improve the
partnership and to get buy-in on a new
approach, not to assign blame and rehash past
issues to determine who was right and who was
wrong. Keep your manager’s style in mind.
Don’t take things personally if your manager
isn’t overly enthusiastic about the new plan and
approach. Just be prepared to follow through
with what is agreed upon.
If you’ve done all these steps and given it enough
time to change, it might be time to seek a new
partnership. If this is the case, know that:
1  The partnership failed. This doesn’t mean
you failed.
2  Because you took all the right steps and
invested time and effort into the relationship,
you can leave without regrets.
3  Stay professional along the journey of
finding a new position and without burning
any bridges.
4  Find a new position and exit gracefully.
forty five
 Communication

Have I done this? Yes! Several years ago, I

worked for a great company. I had a great job. The Improvement Plan
I was successful, had increased responsibility, a
growing salary, a change in job titles, and was Create an
doing really well except in one area. The CEO improvement plan
and I had a difference in values. Over time, I and share with a
came to realize the CEO wasn’t going to change mentor or coach
his values, so I had two choices. I could stay and
buy into those values or I could leave. I chose
to leave and it was absolutely the right choice Implement the Revisit/Modify the
for me. plan Plan

Powerful partnership memories

I am so grateful for the powerful partnerships
I’ve had throughout my career. I made a
conscious decision to align my goals with my
executive’s goals and find ways to have our
styles complement one another. It was my goal
to become a united team with mutual respect
and trust. I’ve had the opportunity to develop
powerful partnerships and know without a
doubt I made a difference in my executive’s
success.
I can recall times when I was the chief
confidant and advisor, and together we figured
a way through a challenging situation. I’ve
helped brainstorm possible solutions and
talked through all the details to arrive at a path
forward. I’ve been able to remind my executive
of a message he wanted to deliver, provided
information at a key moment, and quickly
wrote a note and quietly passed it during a
meeting to help him share the information
he wanted to share with his team, which not
only helped my executive but helped the entire
team.
Knowing I’ve made a difference is what keeps
me going and contributing at a high level. This
is especially true when you are working for the
top executive. There is an entire organization
depending on your executive to deliver so each
of them remains gainfully employed. What a
Revaluate
partnership and Share the plan
the improvement with your manager
plan
Work with the
manager to modify
the plan and share
revised plan with
mentor/coach
huge responsibility, and we, as administrative were tears and laughter. A few members of the
assistants, are part of that equation. We are former core team spoke and shared humorous
often the ones holding everything together in stories as well as paid our respects. Our stories
the middle of a crisis or chaos. defined his character and integrity. As each of
us spoke, we realized his family wasn’t aware
Never doubt what a key role you play as an of many things he had accomplished and
administrative assistant. overcome, in his role. We had worked together
for several years and the stories were numerous.
I’ve been an administrative assistant for long
Watching his family and friends light up as the
enough I’ve not only experienced leaving a
stories were told was a moment I will always
company, and having my executive leave, I’ve
cherish.
also experienced the death of an executive. One
of the most humbling and respectful moments
was when a past executive’s wife asked me
to speak at his funeral. We were in a simple
backyard filled with friends and family. There

about the author

Peggy Vasquez is an author and motivational speaker. Peggy’s passion and personal mission statement: “To empower
others to succeed,” is realized through her latest book, “Not Just an Admin” and by providing presentations to
audiences around the world as well as by providing support to executives.
She gravitates toward opportunities to inspire, teach and lead others. Peggy has been the Chief Executive Assistant to
the Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory since 2005. Prior to joining PNNL, Peggy was an Executive
Assistant for senior executives in the nuclear, financial and agriculture industries. In this capacity, she provides a
valuable resource for all matters involving relationships, time management, disseminating information and facilitating
communication, chief among them: tact, business etiquette, diplomacy, sound advice and judgment. In addition to
providing strategic administrative support to executives, she is often requested to provide leadership and training to
internal and external audiences. Peggy has led teams and implemented many programs, including recognition and
mentoring programs.
Follow Peggy at: http://peggyvasquez.blogspot.com/
Contact Peggy at:
http://notjustanadmin.com/
www.peggysuevasquez@hotmail.com
peggy.vasquez@pnnl.gov

forty six www.executivesecretary.com


Making Conferences
Count
To many of us who have been handed the task of
organising the company conference, it can seem
like a great boulder in the calendar – looming
towards us months ahead, overshadowing our
day job in the final countdown and a huge
relief to have behind us once it’s been and gone.
And even then, we know it won’t actually be
over until we’ve conducted a post-mortem to
establish how successful the event was and
what learnings can be gleaned from it.
Depending on your corporate culture, such
evaluations might range from a simple
“happy sheet” to a forensic analysis of business
outcomes. With this in mind, my company
recently undertook some research amongst in-
house event planners to see what constitutes a
successful conference in their eyes.
The satisfactory outcome of “everyone
enjoying themselves” garnered the greatest
number of responses, earning an 88% tick
rate, while logistical (64%), budgetary (69%)
and scheduling (43%) scored heavily as well.
Successful post-event budget reconciliation was
cited by 48% of respondents. 71% mentioned
having their event objectives met against targets.
Next we homed in on those conference
objectives, providing a menu of 14 options,
including logistical, budgetary and business
priorities. An alarming 14% of our organisers
claimed not to be setting any kind of objectives
at all. Logistical and budgetary gained most
marks (69% mentioned budget, 64% cited
venue and facilities, and 43% itinerary).
A lot of general business aims were ticked,
such as communicating business strategies
(mentioned by 60% of our respondents)
and raising staff morale (57%). Education
(staff training or raising staff knowledge)
was top scorer, cited by 74%. However,
business performance improvement that
could be measured and monitored came way
about the author
Nicky Whyman is Commercial Director of KDM Events, one of the UK’s leading providers of event content. A
sales management and business strategy specialist in the field of creative corporate events, she has nearly 20 years’
experience in Sales. After gaining early B2B sales experience in the manufacturing and service industries Nicky made
the transition to the events industry in 2000. Her role spans business development and marketing, formulating and
implementing strategy, as well as managing her own key accounts and providing commercial guidance to sales teams.
Visit www.kdmevents.co.uk.
www.executivesecretary.com
EVENTS MASTERCLASS
down the pecking order. Only 21% cited the
improvement of staff retention; 19% named the
collection of new business initiatives, and 26%
mentioned helping to achieve sales targets.
So we concluded that few organisations see event
evaluations as a tool for assessing behavioural
change. This is possibly because it’s quite rare
to measure performance before an event, so as
to provide a baseline figure. Although 88% of
our respondents said they undertook post-event
surveys, less than a quarter (24%) said they
surveyed delegates before the event as well.
And without such comparative metrics, post-
conference analysis would be, at best, a vague
indicator.
It also seems that even when organisers are
setting business objectives for their conferences,
these events are largely designed for one-
way communication rather than as a tool for
generating ideas, sharing insights or addressing
issues affecting organisational growth.
We then asked respondents about their delegate
feedback questionnaires and found, not
surprisingly, that these were drawn up with a
heavy bias towards the components of the event.
WRITER
Nicky
Whyman
87% of our respondents asked their attendees
about the quality of activity and entertainment,
79% canvassed for venue approval and 71%
questioned on format or itinerary. However,
it became clear that much less data was being
collected on the achievement of business goals,
such as effect on motivational levels (cited by
35%), new skills learned (33%) and specifics
relating to the event’s business content (37%).
Interestingly, the organisers we surveyed said
that they would like to be able to demonstrate
the business case for their events. As many as
75% of respondents stated that they believed it
would be an advantage if they were able to easily
quantify the success of the events they organise.
Our findings gave the distinct impression that
the focus on wider business goals is considered
outside the remit of many event organisers.
And admittedly, there are already enough
challenges – finding the right venue, securing
the speakers, accommodation, invitations,
dietary preferences... the list goes on – that it’s
easy to get bogged down by the logistical and
budgetary aspects of delivering the event.
And yet, clearly, somebody somewhere needs
to be taking the initiative to say “OK, why
are we holding this conference? What kind of
outcomes are we hoping for? And how can we
effectively measure subsequent performance
changes to prove the success of our event?”
There seems to be a sizeable gap between
the thinking of the Board members, who set
company strategy, and that of the person
responsible for organising the event – even
though the Board would be unlikely to agree to
the expenditure on the event without having a
solid business reason to hold it. But if somebody
can take that initiative, the company conference
can become a transformational vehicle to
help bring about major improvements to the
business. Could that somebody be you?
forty seven
Organisations & Associations Directory
AUSTRALIA ITALY SPAIN London PA Network
Australian Institute of Office AssistenteDirezione.it Asociacion del Secretariado Profesional www.london-pa-network.org
Professionals (AIOP) www.assistentedirezione.it de Aragon (ASPA) National Association of Administrative
www.aiop.com.au MACSE Italia - Manager Assistant www.asparagon.com Staff in Schools & Colleges (NAASSC)
Executive Assistant Network (EAN) Carriera Sviluppo Evoluzione Asociación del Secretariado Profesional www.voicetheunion.org.uk
www.execassist.com.au www.macseitalia.it de Cantabria (ASECAN) PA-Assist.com
BAHAMAS ManagementAssistant.it www.asecan.net www.pa-assist.com
IAAP Chapter www.managementassistant.it Secretariat i Empresa (SEiEM) Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA)
www.iaapbahamas.com www.secretariatiempresa.blogspot.com
Secretary.IT Manager www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk
BARBADOS Assistant Network Asociación del Secretariado Profesional
Barbados Association of Office SORTED
www.secretary.it de Madrid (ASPM) www.sorted-pa.com
Professionals (BAOP) www.aspm.es
www.baop. org JAMAICA The PA Club
Jamaica Association of Secretaries & SRI LANKA www.thepaclub.com
BELGIUM Sri Lanka Association of
Association Liégeoise des Secrétaires et Administrative Professionals (JASAP) UNITED STATES
www.jasap-online.org Administrative & Professional
Assistant(e)s de Direction (ALISAD) American Association of School
Secretaries (SLAAPS)
www.alisad.be JAPAN Administrators (AASA)
www.slaapsonline.com
BRAZIL Japan Office Professional Alliance www.aasa.org
(JOPA) www.jopa-hq.org SWEDEN
Brazil’s National Federation of American Society of Administrative
Secretaries (FENASSEC) Chefssekreterarna Stockholm
Japan Secretaries Association (JSA) www.cssto.se Professionals (ASAP)
www·fenassec.com.br www.hishokyokai.or.jp/index-e.html www.asaporg.com
Sindicato das Secretarias do TAIWAN
MALAYSIA The Professional Secretaries Association of Celebrity Personal
Estado de Sao Paulo (SINSESP) Malaysian Association of Professional Assistants (ACPA)
www.sinsesp.com.br Association of the Republic of China
Secretaries & Administrators www.chinesesecretary.org.tw Los Angeles
CANADA (MAPSA) www.acpa-la.com
adminassist.ca www.mapsa-malaysia.com THAILAND
Women Secretaries Association of Association for Healthcare
www.adminassist.ca Administrative Professionals
MOZAMBIQUE Thailand (WSAT)
Association of Administrative Assistants Association of Secretaries of (AHCAP)
www.aaa.ca www.secretarythailand.org
Mozambique www.ahcap.org
Federation Des Secretaires TURKS AND CAICOS
www.assemo.co.mz Association of Executive &
Professionnelles du Quebec (FSPQ) Turks & Caicos Association of Office
NETHERLANDS Professionals (TCAOP) Administrative Professionals (AEAP)
The Social Network for Virtual Nederlandse Vereniging van www.tciofficeprofessionals.org www.theaeap.com
Assistants Directiesecretaresses (NVD) Association of Professional Office
www.vanetworking.com UGANDA
www.nvdsecretaresse.nl Managers (APOM)
National Association of
CAPE VERDE NEW ZEALAND www.apomonline.org
Secretaries & Administrative
Association Professional Secretariat Association of Administrative Coaches, Authors, Speakers
Professionals (NASAP)
in Cape Verde (APSCV) Professionals New Zealand Inc Professional Assistants Association
www.apscv.cv www.nasap-uganda.org
(AAPNZ) www.aapnz.org.nz UNITED KINGDOM www.caspaa.com
CARIBBEAN
PAKISTAN Association of Personal Assistants (APA) IAAP-International Association of
Caribbean Association of Secretaries
Distinguished Secretaries’ Society www.paprofessional.com Administrative Professionals
& Administrative Professionals
www.casap-online.org of Pakistan (DSSP) Association of Celebrity Assistants www.iaap-hq.org
www.dssp.org www.aca-uk.com Legal Secretaries International Inc
EUROPE (ALL COUNTRIES)
European Management Assistants PHILIPPINES Association of Medical Secretaries, www.legalsecretaries.org
(EUMA) Philippine Association of Practice Managers, Administrators & National Association for Legal Assistants
www.euma.org Secretaries & Administrative Receptionists (AMSPAR) www.nala.org
Professionals Inc www.amspar.com
FINLAND National Association for Legal
Sihteeriyhdistys Sekreterarföreningen ry www.philsecretaries.org
Association of Secretaries Secretaries
www.sihteeriyhdistys·fi PORTUGAL www.uksecretaries.co.uk www.nals.org
FRANCE Associacã de Secretarias
British Society of Medical Secretaries & New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA)
Cercle des Assistantes et Profissionais Portuguesas (ASP) www.nycelebrityassistants.com
Administrators (BSMSA)
Secrétaires (CLAsS) www.asp-secretarias.pt
www.bsmsa.org.uk The International Virtual Assistants
www.class6942·free·fr SINGAPORE
Global PA Network Association (IVAA)
GERMANY Singapore Association of Administrative www.ivaa.org
www.globalpanetwork.com
Bundesverband Sekretariat und Professionals (SAAP)
Büromanagement e.V. (bSb) www.saap.org.sg Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & The Office Professional
www.bsb-office.de Administrators (IAgSA) www.theofficeprofessional.com
SLOVENIA
www.iagsa.co.uk The Virtual Assistant Chamber of
HONG KONG Zveza klubov tajnic in poslovnih
Hong Kong Association of sekretarjev Institute of Legal Secretaries (ILS) Commerce
Secretaries & Administrative www.zveza-tajnic.si www.institutelegalsecretaries.com www.virtualassistantnetworking.com
Professionals Institute of Administrative Virtual Association for Administrative
SOUTH AFRICA
(HKASAP) Management (lAM) Professionals
Association for Office Professionals of
www.instam.org www.thevaap.com
INDIA South Africa (OPSA)
Indian Association of Secretaries & www.opsa.org.za International Association of Virtual URUGUAY
Administrative Professionals (IASAP) Assistants Associacion de Secretarias del Uruguay
IAAP Johannesburg Chapter
www.asapap.org/ www.iava.org (ADESU)
www.iaap-johannesburg.org/johannesburg
Institute of Professional www.adesu.org.uy
INDONESIA Professional Association for
Ikatan Sekretaris Indonesia (ISI) Secretaries & Administrative Administrators (IPA)
www.isi-bandung.com Assistants (PAFSA) www.inprad.org
www.pafsa.ath.cx

FORTY EIGHT www.executivesecretary.com

EVENTS
Every Thursday
#adminchat - Executive Secretary
Magazine’s free weekly Tweetchat for
Administrative Professionals Online
FEBRUARY 2015
Skills Development Forum
for Office Administration
Professionals, JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA
February 18 - 19, 2015
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
International Confex and OMPA
(Office Manager and PA Show),
LONDON, UK
February 18 - 19, 2015
Two Essential Days for PAs – CAPE
TOWN SOUTH AFRICA
February 23 -24, 2015
Two Essential Days for PAs -
GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA
February 26- 27, 2015
The Assist Conference 2015,
LONDON, UK
February 27 - 28, 2015
Be the Ultimate Assistant Two-
Day Weekend Workshop, AUSTIN,
USA
February 28 - March 1, 2015
MARCH 2015
Advanced Certificate for the
Executive Personal Assistant
(ACEPA™) LONDON, UK
March 2 - 6, 2015
Executive Secretary LIVE LONDON,
UK
March 20 - 21, 2015
Executive Secretary LIVE, the world’s
leading international conference for
Assistants returns to London with THE line-
up to see in 2015. Last few tickets available
now at www.executivesecretarylive.com.
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
Australian VA Conference,
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
March 20 - 21, 2015
Please visit www.executivesecretary.com for full details of these events and many other local,
national & international training & networking events. You are also now able to upload your events
to the website free of charge.
APRIL 2015 2015 AAPNZ AGM & CONFERENCE
Administrative Professionals CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
Week USA 31 July - 1 August 2015
April 19 - 25 2015 Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
LUCY BRAZIER will be in the USA
from 17 – 26 inclusive for Administrative
AUGUST 2015
Professionals Week and is happy to come
and speak at any event for Assistants for no 9TH WORLD ADMINISTRATORS’
fee, as long as her travel and accommodation SUMMIT PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW
is covered. For more details please contact GUINEA
mwant@executivesecretary.com August 12 - 14 2015
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
“Change your thoughts and
you change your world” EUMA CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DE
Training Day MILAN, ITALY SECRETARIADO, SANTOS, BRAZIL
April 11, 2015 August 20 - 22 2015
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
‘From Good to Outstanding’ LOS
ANGELES, USA OCTOBER 2015
April 20 – 21 2015 23rd Annual Administrative
Professionals Conference TEXAS,
USA
Project Management Masterclass October 4 – 7 2015
for Assistants DALLAS, USA
April 20 – 21 2015
office* 2015 LONDON
October 13 - 14, 2015
‘From Good to Outstanding’
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
CHICAGO, USA
April 23 – 24 2015
22nd Annual Conference for
Administrative Excellence, LAS
Project Management Masterclass VEGAS, USA
for Assistants SEATTLE, USA
October 27 - 30, 2015
April 23 – 24 2015
NOVEMBER 2015
EXECSec Summit NORTHAMPTON, UK Executive Secretary LIVE, DUBAI,
Meet the buyer event April 27 - 28, 2015 UAE
SAVE THE DATE
MAY 2015 18 – 19 November 2015
2015 Live Summit (FOR VAs) SOUTH Venue TBC
CAROLINA, USA Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
May 4 - 7, 2015
FEBRUARY 2016
EXPO SECRETARY DAY MILAN, ITALY Executive Secretary LIVE,
May 24 - 25, 2015 JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event SAVE THE DATE
19 – 20 February 2016
Venue TBC
Global Executive Assistant
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
Summit
PARIS, FRANCE
May 28 – 29, 2014
Lucy Brazier will be speaking at this event
JULY 2015
Summit 2015: IAAP Summit 2015
(previously EFAM) is in LOUISVILLE,
USA
July 25 - 29, 2015
 The world’s top international conference for
Assistants returns to London in March 2015

The 5* Grange City Hotel 20 - 21 March 2015

Executive Secretary LIVE returns to London for a third successive year, featuring eight of the world’s
top trainers for Assistants, handpicked for their exceptional content and delivery.

Eight world-class speakers are flying in not just to motivate and inspire you, but to provide essential training
that will boost your knowledge, skills and productivity. Executive Secretary LIVE is two days filled with a packed
conference agenda, an innovative practical training day and great networking opportunities.

Delegates will leave the event with a plethora of practical tips, as well as immediately actionable ideas to increase
productivity and impress. But above all, we want to inspire you to go back to your businesses and use what you have
learned to add new dimensions to your role. We hope you will agree that we have put together a programme that is a
mixture of both the inspirational and practical.

“I can’t remember when I last felt that enthusiastic after a training/conference.”

“I was expecting great things and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.”
“A truly impressive line-up of speakers, both in terms of content and delivery. A well balanced
programme between the practical, the life experience and the inspirational.”
“First class speakers, great networking and a real room full of positivity and inspiration.”

The Speakers

Lauren Jiloty Zelda La Grange Ann Hiatt Vickie Sokol Evans

Senior EA to Bill Gates, encompassing both Nelson Mandela’s secretary, EA to Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, World class Microsoft Office
Mr Gates’ roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates gatekeeper and constant companion Google, former EA to Marissa Mayer (CEO of Master Instructor
Foundation and Microsoft for the best part of 20 years Yahoo!) & Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com)

Lisa Olsen Richard Arnott Kemetia Foley Anel Martin

Co-owner of Admin to Admin, Big 4 Management Consultant Rising training star with more than 20 PAFSA President, IYOTSA 2014
presenting fresh, stimulating & creative with over 25 years global project years’ experience providing administrative Task Team and South African PA of
educational events for Assistants management experience support to senior level executives the Year 2011

LAST FEW PLACES AVAILABLE!

BOOK NOW AT
www.executivesecretarylive.com