The Founder & The Force Multiplier: How Entrepreneurs and Executive Assistants Achieve More Together

by Adam Hergenrother

Need nothing and enjoy everything!

Enter your Executive Assistant. Your EA will ensure the venue is booked, AV is set up, the correct people are invited, an agenda is prepared and delivered, supporting documents are sent to stakeholders ahead of time, questions are answered, logistics are managed, water is poured, and lunch is catered. She will work with you to prepare (perhaps even write) your speech and will collect all relevant pieces of information from the correct parties to create a comprehensive presentation.

others believe a proper title clarifies the role and dispels confusion, especially in a large organization,

Accurate titles provide clarity to both internal and external stakeholders.

Personal Assistant: A Personal Assistant manages the personal and family life of an Executive. This position can overlap with the Executive Assistant. The Personal Assistant and Executive Assistant work together to manage the Executive’s schedule. The Personal Assistant is responsible for personal items such as personal bills, household purchases, family travel, medical appointments, and personal events.

Administrative Assistant: An Administrative Assistant assists with the day-to-day administrative details for an office, a division, or multiple Executives.

Executive Assistant: An Executive Assistant is a tactical genius and is responsible for managing the Executive. Executive Assistants live in the now…or usually one week to thirty days out. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t planning for future events or travel or chipping away at longer-term projects. It simply means their work is driven by the demands of the day and week—meeting prep; handling phone calls, emails, and visitors; scheduling; answering questions that come into the Executive Office; keeping the CEO on track and on time; managing and organizing files and information; researching; preparing travel; etc.

Chief of Staff: A Chief of Staff is a high-visibility strategic partner who supports her leader with effective decision-making, project management, and execution of strategic initiatives across all departments or companies. The Chief of Staff lives in the future…or a minimum of ninety days out (anywhere between ninety days and one year, and often beyond). She handles what she must in the moment, but much of her time is focused on long-term planning and projects to ensure the growth of the organization and the success of the leader.

The EA is responsible both for making sure she helps her Executive complete his 20 percent as well as making sure the Executive doesn’t become distracted with the miscellaneous 80 percent.

You’ve attracted talent who want to be on the journey with you, and they see the vision…vaguely. They are excited about it but don’t quite understand how to get there or how they are going to contribute. It’s your job to provide extreme clarity and focus on exactly what needs to be done that day, that week, that month, to drive the entire organization forward. Cultivate a culture where asking great questions is the norm and where you allow your team to push you and challenge your thinking.

You will not be able to serve others or be the leader you need to be if your own tank isn’t full. Read, journal, exercise, meditate, attend conferences, teach.

An Executive Assistant’s 20 percent is ensuring the objectives, goals, and vision of the Executive are organized, communicated, delegated, and executed.

In theory, the Executive Assistant’s 20 percent is the Entrepreneur’s bottom 80 percent,

Executive Assistants can force multiply the vision by scheduling regular company updates. These can be in the form of town halls, a letter from the CEO in the annual report, daily blog posts, quarterly video announcements, weekly emails, monthly company meetings, etc.

is the EA’s job to ensure that promises made are promises kept.

The EA can also force multiply a leader’s communication by maintaining a database that houses important, and sometimes seemingly irrelevant, information about people. This can be family members, employees, candidates, vendors, community members, former employees, competitors, business leaders, etc. As the EA and Executive meet with people and conduct research or meeting prep, store any details about the meeting or the individual. Set reminders for anniversaries, birthdays, or important life milestones.

Provide value, expecting nothing in return, and it will be returned tenfold.

EAs are the eyes and ears while Executives are presenting. Watch the room.

The ideal strategic partnership is a business relationship where each party is dedicating their time and resources to the partnership, rooted in their strengths. Each party is accountable for their contribution and deliverables.

we’re talking about one role, one job, that takes two people, focused on their strengths, to get it done.

Hallie pisses me off almost daily, but that is a good thing. If you don’t have someone you trust who is challenging your thinking and pushing you to be a better leader, then it’s probably not the right relationship. While she supports me daily, I don’t think of her as an “assistant,” but rather as a business partner. Whatever projects I’m working on or decisions I’m making for the organization, she is privy to and part of the process. She maximizes my time and maximizes my reach by acting as an extension of me at all times.

There are five key things you can do to create a strategic partnership with your Executive Assistant: Give up control. Meet and communicate regularly. Set clear expectations, goals, and wins. Build trust. Invite her into the inner circle.

A talented EA will not tolerate being micromanaged and, in fact, will end up leading you to a certain degree.