The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant

by Jeremy Burrows

Many people hire an assistant because they need help getting organized, but others are highly structured and simply spend too much time on the wrong tasks.

Look for ways to cut seconds out of your work processes. Always ask yourself the question, “How can I minimize wasted time and maximize productivity?”

Being proactive means planning for something that’s scheduled to happen. Anticipating means planning for something that might never happen.

Sit down with your executive on a regular basis to go over their top three goals for the next week, month, and quarter. Discuss what needs to happen to accomplish these goals, and write out action items for each.

Bringing AOL Instant Messenger and the dreaded group text message thread to the workplace might have been the worst idea ever.

Game-changing assistants can’t afford to be online and available all the time.

your executive’s most valuable asset is their time, and you’re tasked with managing that asset.

How you manage your executive’s calendar has a huge impact—positive or negative—on every aspect of their world. Their physical, emotional, and relational health. Their energy, productivity, and focus. Everything flows out of how they spend their time.

starting small is better than not starting.

There’s no work/life balance. There’s only life balance.

It’s one thing to tell the board your executive spends too much time meeting with internal team members. It’s another to show them a graph or chart with the exact number of internal meetings versus external meetings your executive had in Q1 versus Q2.

there is one crucial meeting that, if utilized well, can be the most productive meeting you’ll ever have: your meeting with your executive.

Block out times for meetings, and times for no meetings. One of the biggest benefits of creating and sticking with the meeting blocks and Ideal Week calendar strategy is your executive gets to decide when they want to have meetings—and when they don’t.

When you make first contact with someone to set up a meeting, include a list of three to five dates and times that work for your executive.

So save the other person some time and energy by doing the work in the first email, and save your executive time and energy by maintaining control of their calendar.

I know some people are afraid to archive emails, so they keep them in their inbox “just in case,” but an inbox should be reserved for emails you still need to take action on. If no action is needed, get that mess outta there.

But don’t go too crazy with automations and labels. Focus on auto-labeling the high-volume, repetitive emails.

I like to reply to emails ASAP because assistants should strive to make responsiveness one of our key skills.

an immediate email response is part of your job description,

I learned long ago not to trust my memory.

“With outcome-based habits, the focus is on what you want to achieve. With identity-based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become.”

The second you think you don’t have room to grow is the second you become replaceable.

Life is too short to journey across glaciers alone, but it’s also too short to let others walk over you to climb their own glacier. Take an audit of your current relationships, then do your best to limit the time spent with those who use you.

No one, not even your best friend, has the ability to understand what we (assistants) go through. —Monique Helstrom

open dialogue is the key to a productive working relationship.

Ask a lot of clarifying questions if you want to anticipate and read your executive’s mind to improve productivity and efficiency.

Questions aren’t a sign of weakness, they’re a sign of leadership.

Great relationships are what make an assistant a leader.

Leadership isn’t a popularity contest.

Leader Assistants contribute to building a healthy culture of accountability in the workplace.

John Maxwell: “Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.”

Spending time on a hobby is one of the most practical and powerful things you can do to resist burnout.

Have a running list of your and your executive’s favorite orders at restaurants you frequent.

Leaders celebrate, encourage, and even require rest.