One of our most respected colleagues, Bonnie Low-Kramen, was featured in a Forbes.com article recently. It's a good read and a quick intro to her amazing work with Executive Assistants around the world.
The first thing to know, Bonnie Low-Kramen tells a full conference room, is that you are not secretaries. You are executive assistants or administrative business partners. The second thing: The people you work for are not bosses. They are managers. Low-Kramen is holding court during a sold-out day of lectures, lessons and discussions at the Sofitel Hotel in New York City—part of a two-day workshop she conducts around the country called Be The Ultimate Assistant.
“What’s your superpower?” she asks the 30 women and one man in the room (around 95% of executive assistants are female). A smiling admin at a municipal agency says she excels at PowerPoint and public safety. The assistant to the president of a private college says she specializes in office secrets and booking travel. “You don’t have to be an expert at everything,” Low-Kramen tells them, “but you do have to know who the experts are to go to…”
…Here are some of the things she can teach you: You have to know your manager’s spouse’s, children’s and pet’s names, and their birthdays. You must keep a list of everyone your manager is willing to interrupt a meeting or a phone call for. Always have on hand the name of his or her doctor, pharmacy and tax accountant. Always have a scan and a printout of everything in his or her wallet.
But beyond tips and tricks, Low-Kramen works to build up her students’ self-appreciation—their most valuable asset—and the conviction that they’re sometimes more astute than their managers. “I empower them to understand that they do know better.” she says. “To see themselves in a different way, as a very powerful and influential set of eyes and ears.”
Read the full article: The Ultimate Assistant Academy: Inside The Elite Training Program For America’s Top Executive Assistants– Forbes.com