It’s about love.
The truly great Personal Assistants all love what they do. They unabashedly and unapologetically love their work in support of others. They blow off comments like, “You’re just an assistant,” because they know better.
Personal assistants are some of the brightest, most organized and resourceful people on the planet. That is why not everyone is cut out for this demanding work. They are very far from being “just” anything. The smartest people in the business world know to invest in the true power of the assistant. They also know to never, never, never underestimate or demean these influential gatekeepers.
I know 
because I was one.
For 25 years, I worked as the Personal Assistant to Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis, and I loved it. Yes, I said it. Friends would say that I was one of the only people they knew who genuinely loved their job. That always struck me as important feedback as I observed how often the world treats assistants with disrespect. That happened to me too. Working with a movie star did not make me totally immune from dealing with people who just didn’t get it.
Personal Assistants are an elite subset of the larger “Executive Assistant” group. Personal Assistants are the women and men who do whatever it takes to get the job done and usually this means everything barring the illegal. Their responsibilities have a remarkably wide range from scheduling the private plane to flying ahead to a vacation location several days ahead of the principal’s arrival in order to prep the house to picking up the dry cleaning and prescriptions. Whatever it takes. And they love it. I did.
Now I teach Be the Ultimate Assistant workshops for Personal Assistants all around the world. In the training, I teach the skills that are absolutely necessary to succeed. The topics in this intense and highly interactive workshop include:
- Leadership
- Mentoring & Networking
- Communication
- Business Partnerships with Executives
- Organization
- Event Planning
- Travel Planning
- Disaster Planning
- Handling Workplace Bullying
- Career Management
- Computer Technology Tips & Tricks
At BTUA, I share the universal truths about this career we love. These apply whether it is a Personal Assistant in Maryland or Malaysia or any point in between.
Here are the top 10 things that assistants do better than anyone else:
- They are relentlessly adaptable. They love the variety the job offers and that no two days are ever the same which makes it easy for them to shift gears at a moment’s notice.
- They love a challenge.“No” is not an option. True confession: I used to play a game at work called “How few emails or phone calls in the shortest time will it take to get this answer?” I won if it took three or less in five minutes or less.
- They underplay their power.Looks can be deceiving. The Personal Assistant has the ear of her/his principal and wields tremendous influence. Do not underestimate this. Seriously. If you want to get things done, don’t.
- Making people happy is their goal.Going above and beyond is SOP. Personal Assistants have an innate desire to please and to figure out the myriad of ways to do that. Assistants are born with a “service heart” and receive great pleasure and satisfaction from being supreme implementers.
- They read minds.They usually need a clue or two. A look on their principal’s face or the way a fellow staffer responded at the staff meeting. Great assistants are clairvoyant and truly know when “it is a good time” to approach the boss, and more importantly, when it is not. Anticipating what needs to be done is their gift and no AI device will ever be able to do what these people do.
- They love to put out fires and bring order to chaos. The assistant is the go-to person in any crisis whether it is dealing with a pandemic or untangling a Zoom meeting gone haywire.
- They are master jugglers. The best assistants enjoy managing 12 invisible balls in the air and are able to handle #13 and #14 too. Just give them a fresh cup of coffee.
- They are hungry to learn. Assistants know that they need to commit to life-long learning in order to stay at the top of their game. Smart CEOs and business leaders recognize this need and invest in their assistant’s professional development.
- They are connected. Resources are an assistant’s best friends. The best assistants have the widest and deepest networks. They know the magic power of relationships to get it done…now.
- They yearn to make a difference. Assistants are the ultimate enablers for their managers and companies. It gives them great pleasure to see the results of their plotting and planning. They don’t need a lot of feedback. A little goes a long way.
If fully utilized and are well managed with respect and appreciation, Personal Assistants will function as the eyes and ears of their principals who will prove their value every day.
