Lulu Caravette couldn’t help but be intrigued by the story of the statues at Easter Island. For centuries, most had taken the towering stone figures at face value, assuming they were simply monolithic heads embedded in the ground. But then anthropologists — convinced there was more to the statues than met the eye — were inspired to dig deeper, unearthing a far more complex narrative: for years, sediment and rocks had concealed the figures’ enormous bodies. It’s no surprise Caravette would be taken by a tale of amazing discoveries that lie beneath the surface. After all, the lauded executive assistant has dedicated her career to delving deeper, whether through professional projects that require a keen eye for detail or in workplace relationships that are nourished by a helping hand and an open heart. “There’s always more to the picture, always something new to discover,” says Caravette, who for the past

Making the Idea Reality  Looking back, it was a humble beginning. But to us, it was really big. I’m talking about spring 2015, when the assistants at Maxim Integrated’s headquarters in San Jose, California, held their first Assistant Conference coordinated by assistants, for assistants. The event featured presentations by Maxim’s executives, as well as a lunch. We need to step back in history to pinpoint the driving force behind the inspiration that precipitated our first conference. As we all know, in the early 1950s, the National Secretaries Association’s founding members created National Secretaries Day to promote the administrative profession as a career field that contributes to the economy, company success, and the recruitment of employees to the administrative field. It proactively promoted the profession. But the day’s authentic intent lost its focus. Instead of being a showcase of our best leadership, strategy, and collaborative skills, we too often settled for a sort

What does it truly mean to elevate the Executive Assistant role to one that serves as a powerful and strategic business partnership and reaps endless benefits for your executive? For starters, it goes way beyond ‘tell and do’ and daily tasking. It’s about alignment across the full discipline of the role of the executive assistant, and while many believe they’re already performing at this level, the reality is this; very few are operating as strategic business partners to their executives.

For 26 years, Debbie Gross made it her business to know everything about John Chambers. As the Cisco CEO’s chief executive assistant (CEA), Gross was much more than Chambers’ “right-hand woman” or “girl Friday” or any of the other cutesy clichés that fail to capture the immeasurable value of administrative professionals who ensure their company’s seemingly effortless efficiency.