Professional Development for Executive Assistants

Jeremy · 0:00

Assistant, you are a leader. As an assistant, you constantly face obstacles that hold you back from accomplishing your career goals. Whether it's a job change, shifting deadlines, a micromanaging executive, a toxic coworker, a high-pressure project, or an intense negotiation with a vendor, the administrative profession is not for the faint of heart. If you're looking to maintain the status quo and be just an assistant, this podcast is not for you. But if you want the confidence and ability to conquer the challenges that most try to avoid, then you're in the right place.

Speaker 2 · 0:47

The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.

Jeremy · 0:59

Hey friends, thanks for tuning in. You are listening to The Leader Assistant Podcast. I'm your host, Jeremy Burrows, and for this episode, I'm going to share an excerpt of my audiobook. My book is called The Leader Assistant, Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant. This book and audiobook, there's also a digital e-book or paperback version, so whichever medium you like to soak in your books, you can do so. But The Leader Assistant outlines four pillars. Embody the characteristics, employ the tactics, engage in relationships, and exercise self-care. These pillars will help you rediscover your passion for the profession and become a confident, future-proof, game-changing leader assistant. If you neglect even one pillar, you'll head for burnout, stagnation, and anonymity. You are meant for so much more. Are you ready to be the leader assistant the world needs? For episode 150, we're going to listen to Chapter 14, which is all about professional development for executive assistants and speaking of professional development, be sure to check out our live and online training and development events for executive assistants. You can find out the schedule and register for an upcoming event at leaderassistantlive.com. I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my book. Chapter 14, Professional Development A leader assistant has the ability to work as a strategic partner, learn the business, and be proactive and enthusiastic about improving their skills. Mina Ai, freelance executive assistant and event manager in Melbourne, Australia. I love this quote from James Clear's Atomic Habits, An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. A great book, by the way. 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. Leaders look for ways to learn, grow, and improve in all areas of life and work. But understanding your motivation for professional development is important. The root of your desire to improve shouldn't be to achieve an outcome. Your motivation for improving should be to become and own your identity as a confident, game-changing leader assistant. During the first eight years of my career as an assistant, I didn't have the right motivation. I was all about completing job tasks instead of becoming the leader my executive needed. I didn't seek out training, connect with other assistants, or own my development. I think I read two books in those eight years, and they were books my executive wrote. And the only reason I read them was because I was tasked with proofreading them. I was so focused on taking care of my executive that I neglected my need for growth. The result of all this? I was underpaid, overworked, and eventually burned out. I wrote this book to help you avoid the same mistake. The second you think you don't have room to grow is the second you become replaceable. Here are a few ways to own your professional development, because no one else will do it for you. Read books that help you with communication, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and industry knowledge. Read the books your executive reads, too, and not just to proofread them. Take online courses and attend webinars and conferences dedicated to a variety of topics, both related and unrelated to the industry you're in. Don't just go to assistant training events. Go to events your executive attends as well. Connect with other assistants to learn a ton about how to lead in your role as an assistant. I'll talk about this more in Chapter 20. When I first sought out professional development, there weren't many resources for assistants. Thankfully, several great options are available today, so dive into the administrative professional training landscape and figure out what will help you the most. To jumpstart your research, check out leaderassistantbook.com forward slash bonus for a list of helpful resources for assistants. We'll walk through how to ask for training dollars in a minute, but first, be aware that investing in yourself doesn't have to involve a significant amount of money. Let's look at one of my favorite tactics for affordable professional development, being intentional with your daily commute. Don't waste your commute. Whatever your mode of transportation, if you knew how much your commute costs you, would you value the time a bit more? According to a Bloomberg analysis of US Census data, time spent on commuting amounted to an equivalent of $15,000 or more per year for cities like San Francisco and New York. Even if you don't live in one of the cities on the top of the list, you could be spending considerably on your daily commute. How long is your commute? Are you wasting this precious time scrolling through social media on the train? Are you listening to a local radio station with mind-numbing advertisements blasting in your ear? Are you judging other drivers the entire way to work? What would it look like to be intentional with your commute? You could listen to an audiobook or a podcast to learn how to become a better communicator. You could meditate in silence. Or maybe listening to talk radio, even with those annoying ads, is in fact the most effective way for you to decompress after a long day. My commute is one of the few times I can listen to audiobooks and podcasts or enjoy the alone time after a long day without interruption. Whatever you choose, make good use of the time you have. Don't waste your commute. Paid Training Affordable training is great, but every company should set aside training dollars for their assistance. It's common for C-suite executives, managers, and directors to attend expensive conferences, sign up for subscriptions to the New York Times or Harvard Business Review, buy business books, and even hire professional coaches, all on their company's dime. Meanwhile, one of the most critical team members in any organization, the assistant, often gets the short end of the professional development funds stick. Does your executive see how training you would greatly benefit them? Why won't your company set aside resources to equip and empower you? Here are five likely reasons your company isn't paying for your professional development. Reason number one, you don't ask. When was the last time you asked for training dollars? Waiting for your executive to call you into their office to say, here's $3,000 for you to go to that assistant conference next month, have fun, is not a good strategy. Instead, be assertive and put together a thoughtful proposal outlining what training event or course you'd like to participate in. Outline why you believe this training will make you better at your job and what specifically you're going to learn and pledge to report back with a summary of key takeaways and action items after you complete the training. Attach an itemized budget including travel expenses, if applicable, so your executive knows exactly how much money the training will cost the company and how many days you'll be offline, if any. If your company has never paid for your professional development, ask if there's a designated budget for development or continuing education. If they say there's not, ask them if there's a different budget they could pull the funds from. Reason number two, your ask is too vague. If your proposal covers all the bases, but the section detailing how it will help you be better at your job is too vague, your request will likely get shut down. You can't say, I'll be a better assistant, and expect your executive to approve a $3,000 expense. Instead, make the result of the training about them. For example, this conference will teach me how to track key performance indicators for our company so we can have better data for making strategic decisions about the future. There's also a session on calendar management that will save me hours each week freeing me to take these specific tasks off your plate going forward. Reason number three. You ask at the wrong time. Timing is everything. If you present a compelling case for training, but right in the middle of a financially tough season for your company, don't be surprised if it's not approved. Be aware of the overall health and season of the organization before submitting a request. If your company just surpassed its sales targets for a third quarter in a row and they're handing out bonuses left and right, it's probably a great time to ask management to pay for your training. Another idea is to submit your request for training months in advance, with the hopes of getting added to the budget for next year. You likely can figure out when each department puts together their budget proposal and attempt to get your training dollars added during that process. Reason number four, you ask for too much initially. You can aim high the first time you ask, but if they say no, come back with a smaller proposal. For example, if they say no to a $3,000 conference out of town, ask them for a $1,000 budget for an online course. Sometimes it's best to take what you can get, then document how much impact you had to the bottom line after your training. Proving the ROI for previous training will empower you to ask for more the next time. The ability to negotiate for more is a game-changing tactic we'll cover in the next chapter. Reason number five. Your executive and or company doesn't care about your development. Finally, if you submit a strong proposal with a clear return on their investment at a time when the company is thriving financially, you might still get shut down. If this happens, you're likely in an organization that doesn't value your professional development. If this is you, have a conversation with your executive and HR manager. Let them know you would like their support as you seek to grow in your role. If you don't feel valued by the organization, tell them. Ask them why they won't provide training funds for you. This conversation will help you see whether they truly support you. If they don't, it's time to move on to a different executive and or organization. The bottom line. Unfortunately, some of you might have a difficult time finding another role at a company that will pay for your training. If this is you, it's time to get creative. Ask your executive if you could reallocate funds from another budget to pay for half of the training and let them know you'll cover the other half out of pocket. You could also contact the organizers of an upcoming event you want to attend and ask if there are opportunities to volunteer. Maybe you could run the registration table, which would give you the opportunity to meet other assistants as well as sit in on most of the conference sessions. If none of the above ideas work, you might have to pay for training yourself. If so, remember one of the best ways to invest in your future is to invest in yourself. Don't be afraid to spend your own money. We can't expect others to invest in us if we're not willing to invest in ourselves. I hope you enjoyed this chapter from my book The Leader Assistant. Be sure to check out the entire book or audiobook at amazon.leaderassistant.com. Talk to you soon.

Speaker 2 · 13:59

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