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williamcsanchez · 5 years

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Affiliate Webinar: Game-Changing Leadership Secrets From a Celebrity Assistant

As Olympia Dukakis’ former Personal Assistant for 25 years, Bonnie Low-Kramen knows from experience that as the backbone of companies, it is increasingly necessary for assistants to step up as leaders within their roles.

In the role of gatekeeper, assistants are a critical set of eyes and ears for their managers. But it’s just as vital to be the voice, too. When assistants are empowered to speak up and take the lead in collaboration with their managers, the potential for increased productivity and professional growth is limitless.

Topic: Game-Changing Leadership Secrets From a Celebrity Assistant

Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Time: 1 p.m. EST, 12 p.m. CST, 10 a.m. PST

During this Business Management Daily webinar, you’ll discover:

10 game-changing leadership secrets.

What “going above and beyond” really means.

How leadership works in a support role.

Approaches to build healthy, productive and respectful relationships between assistants and managers, and assistants and fellow staff.

Importance of mentoring as a key to success.

Speaking up and finding your voice.

Ways leadership can transform your career.

Bonnie’s high-energy and inspiring presentation will focus on the ways to leverage your powerful role and relationships resulting in a renewed commitment to excellence and superior results. Click here to register now!

from All Things Admin http://bit.ly/2T5iHT6

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silverchairpartners · 7 years

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Important Skills That Make for a Great Assistant

1. Attention to detail- Knowing the importance of paying attention to the small details. A great Assistant will focus in on things others might not see or notice.

2. Ability to research- Always curious about staying up to date and finding the best option/resource. An Executive will often notice when an Assistant takes initiative and takes the time to make his/her day easier and more efficient.

3. Flexibility- Having the ability to interact with all types of people and personalities is key.

4. Common Sense- This may seem like “common sense” but a great Assistant will use his/her life experience to fill the gaps and take initiative when necessary.

5. Active Listening- Processing information quickly and knowing when it is important to really listen and understand directions.

6. Communication- Conveying information in a concise and eloquent way can have a great impact on the relationship between the Executive and Assistant.

7. Project and Time Management- When you need to come in early or stay late, that shows dedication and reliability. A great Assistant will lead projects and have the ability to manage timelines and structure--this will make a great Assistant stand out from a good one!

Take a look at the link below on Bonnie Low Kramens website discussing this topic further as we find it to be extremely useful information!

http://www.bonnielowkramen.com/2014/12/19/8-soft-skills-make-great-assistant/?utm_content=buffer8f8e2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

#SCP #TalyRussell #SilverChairPartners #silverchair #Skills #important #Assistant #Search #Executive #Recruiting

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bonnie-lowkramen · 3 years

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EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TRAINING

Executive Assistants are one of a company’s biggest and potentially most powerful natural resource. EAs are the backbones of their companies, the right arms to their managers, and the face of the company culture – even in the virtual world. But, here’s the bad news: Historically, they are also the most underutilized, underleveraged, and undertrained members of the team.

The fact is, most of the nation’s 10 million Executive Assistants are still self-taught regarding everything about their jobs. They have succeeded in their roles in spite of the lack of support and training. Traditionally, they have not been included in Continued Professional Development (CPD) budgets.

As the Harvard Business Review has pointed out: “Everyone says that learning is essential for companies’ success — and for your own. And yet, on a daily basis, who cares for your learning? No one. People care about what you have learned. They care about your results. Learning is great as long as you do it quietly, in your own time.”

And on your own dime, I might add. This old model is not working anymore, especially in a workplace rocked by the pandemic. The old rules don’t apply. The workplace needs to respond to the urgent needs of the administrative staff.

Even though training for Executive Assistants has the potential to boost company profits, improve employee productivity and build more powerful relationships between managers and assistants, it is still a fairly new idea in the 2021 workplace. Most often, the reasoning is that EAs don’t have a direct impact on income generation, and therefore the ROI cannot be quantified.

That is faulty reasoning. After all, if an EA’s work is able to save her/his executive one hour of time per week, that saved time has a dollar value. A high one.

The first time I knew that training was an issue among admins was during the Q&A after a presentation in 2006 at a big pharma company. A woman stood up in front of 200 fellow admins and said, “First, I want to thank you for coming because it was really great. Second, I have been at this company for 30 years and this is the first time there has ever been any program for the administrative staff.” The look on her face and the silence in the room that followed has never left me.

Has the situation improved since 2006? Yes. But, not enough. Far too many assistants are still fighting for training dollars.

Why train EAs now?

In the aftermath of 9/11/01 and the financial crisis of 2008, the workplace was thrown into turmoil in both situations and caused the role of EAs to change dramatically. As a result, many found themselves filling the gaps and functioning in part as project managers, and holding significantly more responsibility. An important note is that this happened without changes in EA titles, job descriptions, or compensation.

The WFH movement (work from home) caused by the pandemic crisis of 2020 resulted in an increase of responsibilities for assistants. This has accelerated the need for training. What’s more, support for training is a major factor in job satisfaction and employee retention among administrative staff (and all staff for that matter). It is even more important than a salary increase. This is why professional development is not an option anymore for companies that need their backbone to be strong, skilled, and resilient in a volatile and competitive global and virtual marketplace.

Be the Ultimate Assistant Fills the Learning Gaps

“I created Be the Ultimate Assistant workshops out of frustration. I looked around and saw a severe lack of high-level education for the Executive Assistants, namely me. As I worked with my executive, Oscar winning actress Olympia Dukakis, as her Personal & Executive Assistant. I would ask myself this question. How can I be as great an assistant as Olympia is an actress? When I searched and could not find the answers, I decided to write the book and design the workshop myself.” Bonnie Low-Kramen

Since 2011, hundreds of students have attended the Be the Ultimate Assistant workshop and 10% have attended two or more times. The workshop has been named in the Top Conferences for Executive Assistants to Attend every year since 2018.

Be the Ultimate Assistant training features the topics that matter most to Executive Assistants and the leaders they support. In an intense and highly interactive 2-day and 3-day programs, students dive deeply into the following.

Leadership

Mentoring & Networking

Advanced Communication in a Virtual World

Business Partnerships with Executives

Organization

Event Planning

Travel Planning

Disaster Planning

Handling Workplace Bullying

Career Management

MS Office Computer Technology with Vickie Sokol Evans, MCT, the trainer to Bill Gates’ team

Social Media

Cybersecurity

While compensation has always been an excellent incentive for employee retention, the number one motivator for admins costs nothing. It is respect. If you doubt this, just ask them and give them license to be candid without repercussion. Training is one of the strongest demonstrations of respect.

The most profoundly meaningful and long-lasting investment you can make in your staff is to believe in them enough, trust them enough and support them to learn. Knowledge is power, and it is also a bottomless source of loyalty, commitment, and profits. Isn’t the backbone of your company worth that?