© 2020 by Deidre L. Dixon Looked over at my sister and what did I see? Someone fly Someone strong Looking back at me. Said hello to my sister and what did I hear? Someone kind Someone smart A woman I could revere. Explored beyond the surface and what did I find? One with strength One with poise Story similar to mine. She was Black, Brown, Yellow, Red and White. She was tall, medium, short with a weight from heavy to light. She was middle class, poor and she was wealthy. She was in bad shape, doing okay and completely healthy. She was married, divorced, separated and single. Her hair was blonde, gray, red, black, brown and mingled. She was an elder, young and she was middle-aged. She was just getting established, floundering through life and set for the rest of her days. She was encompassing a whole spectrum of

An article on Forbes referred to Executive Assistants as the “glue that binds all pages together.” In fact, after having worked as an Executive Assistant at two different organizations, I can’t think of a better way to describe the Executive Assistant role. Every successful Executive Assistant strives to provide top-notch service in a way that makes them an indispensable asset to their organization. Over the years, this role has transformed from an administrative support role to a strategic planning one and it requires expert-level skills. Here are the 7 skills that have helped me succeed as an Executive Assistant throughout the years: Unrivaled Task and Time Management Abilities: No two days nor two projects in this role ever look identical. Organizational habits, the ability to prioritize work based on need, and a natural tendency for time management are a must in order to succeed. Situational Anticipation: Being able to anticipate the needs of your

About 14 years ago I found myself in the uncomfortable and frustrating situation of butting heads with a fellow Executive Assistant who made things as simple as setting up meetings between our Executives a constant uphill battle. It was essentially her way or the highway, which created a working environment that I found increasingly more difficult to navigate. I had just read Ben Franklin’s autobiography where I learned about a psychological phenomenon called the Ben Franklin Effect whereby the act of doing a favor for someone, especially a person that you dislike or feel neutral about, makes you like them more. The name comes from a story in Franklin’s autobiography, in which he asked a rival legislator if he would be willing to loan him a book from his library. Flattered, the man lent it to Franklin. One week later, Franklin returned the borrowed book with a thank you note.

On the surface, my bio may look pretty boring. For the last 25 years, I’ve worked at the same company, supported the same executive, been married to the same man, and lived in the same town. However, if you dig a little deeper, you will see I love to stay challenged. While I have supported the same executive, I’m also a mother of four active kids, as well as a wife, athlete, writer, and team builder. I’ve been asked how I measure success. My answer has always been the same. I ask myself this one question: Are you happy? In my experience leading administrative teams, I’ve found that if an Executive Assistant follows these five guidelines to create their own happiness, I end up with a high-performing, happy EA that I tend to retain. I hope you find these guidelines helpful to you as well in creating happiness in your own

I know a lot about fear — I’ve been locked in its tight grip many times. But recently, I’ve come to realize that those unnerving experiences can be amazingly empowering. For administrative assistants, professional growth is necessary. Throughout our career, we will find ourselves challenged by new expectations — public speaking, leadership roles, collaboration, responsibilities outside core competencies — and fear may link arms with us. But we have a choice: see fear as a prison, or an opportunity for a managed partnership. First, it’s important to understand the chemical messaging in your brain. This is the foundation for controlling how you experience fear, how you will act on that experience, and how the experience will ultimately impact your personal and professional growth. We will focus on the two most common types of fear: the fear we seek for thrills, and the real and perceived dangers we don’t seek out.

On May 2nd, 2019, the very first Chicagoland Admin Awards Gala was hosted at the historic Hilton Palmer House Hotel. Ike Saunders, EA to Christopher Kennedy, had the incredible honor of taking home the prestigious Colleen Barrett Award for Administrative Excellence. Ike’s acceptance speech brought down the house. It had all the best stuff that speeches are made of, it was inspirational, hysterical, surprising and had the audiences’ complete attention. It also includes an interesting twist involving the same date in Kennedy history 50 years ago to the day! Here is a complete transcript. Cheers! Sunny Ike Saunders’ Acceptance Speech Transcript: “I would like to thank and congratulate Sunny Nunan, her assistant Dustin, and the committee members for bringing the Admin Awards to Chicago. The vibrant, diverse, talented crowd in this room is testament to your ability to coalesce a community of incomparable administrative professionals in a city that is

I’ve been an Administrative Professional for 34 years, and during my role as an Executive Assistant, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve experienced the hollowing feeling of being left out by my coworkers, nor can I tell you how many times I’ve had Assistants come to me after their team or executives excluded them from a birthday gathering or happy hour or important meeting and say, “I can’t believe no one even asked me if I wanted to join.”   “I know, unfortunately, that happens” I tell them. “I’m so sorry.”   It’s hard to explain why it happens, because it is inexplicable. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. Clearly, everyone knows we’re part of the team — if the copy machine is broken or there are questions about travel, expenses or various office processes, we’re the first ones people come to for answers.

“Sometimes I can be a little much for people,” laughs Jamie Gilbert. “I know I am — it’s who I am.” The five-time Admin Award-nominated executive secretary at Texas Health Resources is perfectly proud to wear that mantle. Her whole life, Gilbert’s worked to fill her moments with muchness: Much kindness. Much heart. Much passion and enthusiasm.  That no-holds-barred approach has not only propelled her to success as an administrative professional — she won THFW’s John A. Wiggins Service Award in March 2006 and also serves as executive secretary for the Texas Nurses Association District 3 and as the administrative liaison for THR’s administrative professionals group — but also in her roles as a mother and writer. Recently, she combined the latter two talents, self-publishing a book titled Life’s Boot Camp Ramp, which is a compilation of nearly daily letters and poems she sent to her son Sailor H. Gilbert after he entered

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