CLARIDEN GLOBAL - Executive Secretary and
Personal Assistant (ES/PA) Conference 2015
Managing Your Professional Development: Effective Strategies for Career Progression and Skills every PA Should Acquire
• Feedback process - useful models
• Ongoing personal and professional development - Identifying where you are
vs where you want to be
• Understanding and harnessing technology and new media
• Skills every PA should acquire
• Strategies for effective business networking
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Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
A. Top Four Leadership Challenges
1. Getting people to work together who have different
agendas (60%)
2. Balancing competing demands and priorities (56%)
3. Motivating and inspiring employees in a world of
constant change (48%)
4. Accomplishing difficult assignments without the
necessary resources (45%)
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Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
B. Top three challenges affecting Business today (if your
Boss is a CEO or Business Unit Head)
1. Recruiting, retaining and training talented employees
(49%),
2. Developing and implementing business strategies that
result in profitable returns (49%)
3. Reducing operating costs to increase efficiency (41%)
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Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
C. Unspoken Problems faced by Bosses (1/2)
1. Too much communications (Email <yahoo, google,
outlook, intranet>, IM, mobile, office phone, blackberry,
etc….)
2. Uncooperative Heads from other departments/business
units
3. Conflict among subordinates
4. Too many meetings to attend
5. Follow up on tasks (especially tasks delegated to
others)
6. Lack of resources
7. Incompetent subordinates
8. Unbalanced family life
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Managing your Boss: Boss’
problems
C. Unspoken Problems faced by Bosses (2/2)
9. Pressurized career progression
10. Too much information to read, store and retrieve
11. Need for more influence and power
12. Multiple and conflicting accountabilities (some are not
even recognized officially)
13. Monitoring the performance of multiple
projects/committees
14. Forgetfulness
15. Stress
16. Lack of Time
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Managing your Boss: My
Boss, the Client
1. Do not treat your boss as a boss. Treat your boss as a
Customer
2. I used to have four main clients at every client: the HR
Manager, CEO, Company, Staff
3. Now I have also four clients: Boss, Big Boss, Company,
Employee
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Managing your Boss: My
Boss, the Client
1. What I have learned about properly managing
clients and customers:
1. Make them look good and they will make you look
good
2. What ever you give to the CEO, give to the HR
Manager
3. You better be more prepared than the client
4. The client wants results, not activity
5. No matter how much I hated my client, he is still the
one buying rice for my family
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Managing your Boss: My
Boss, the Client
1. What I have learned about properly managing
clients and customers:
6. Clients don’t to hear the word “No”. They prefer
“Maybe”. The best is “Yes, can be done.”
7. Clients will pay you for one job but request ten other
jobs for free if they can.
8. You have to produce first, then only get paid.
9. If you want a big project, aim for the small project
first.
10.A client will pay you the rate that they think you
deserve, not what you think you deserve.
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Managing your Boss: My
Boss, the Client
1. What I have learned about properly managing
clients and customers:
11.A client won’t pay for your development. They expect
you to get better by yourself. If not, they just look for
another consultant.
12.You are not the only consultant they can hire. Are
you better than the rest? How do you know?
13.The client is always right. Agree first, try to change
later.
14.Clients hire you to solve problems that they cannot
solve or do not want to solve.
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Personalities (1)
PEOPLE
•animated and enthusiastic
•communicate physically & verbally
•“open up” right away
•priority is relationships
•casual and flexible about time.
•focus on the needs of people, not tasks
•base decisions on gut feeling and emotions
TASK
•take a little longer to warm up to relationships
•priority is tasks
•work-oriented, well organized
•follow guidelines and procedures.
•punctual and disciplined
•rational, logical individuals
•base decisions on logic and data
PEOPLE
TASK
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Personalities (2)
CLOSED
•slow-paced and reserved.
•patient and cooperative
•cautious, supportive, and good
listeners
•ask questions for clarification,
•support, and information
•go step-by-step.
OPEN
•fast-paced and spontaneous.
•express opinions readily
•risk takers who want results now
•enjoys overcoming obstacles to
accomplish results.
•tend to be impatient
•move at a quick pace
•jump right into things.
CLOSED OPEN
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1. Each of us is given exactly 24 hours a day. No
more, no less.
2. What we do with our time is entirely up to us.
3. But, in everything we do, every minute, makes
a difference.
4. Whatever we do today, affects us tomorrow.
Law of Cause and Effect.
5. In the same way, the more effort we put into
our lives, the more we will gain.
6. Time required for something expands
according to expectations
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Personally speaking…
1. Small time segments
2. Do things at times that no one else is doing it
3. Carry paper & pen (or Smartphone Notes)
4. Pre-work
5. Internet (search, templates, tools)**
6. Forced Break Times
7. Control phone calls (call out, return call out)
8. In phone calls (or face-to-face) – serious first,
social second
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9. Allocate extra time for all task planning (this
includes traveling)
10.Analyze and manage personalities
11.Learn to say ‘No’
12.Plan for 5.30pm exit
13.Fat = 50% (money) + 100% (time)
14.Email Efficiency:
– cc, by name, subject, one page, BLUF
Personally speaking…
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Additional Career Advice…
Take over some work:
a. Decisions that the boss makes frequently and repetitively and
that are predictable in nature
b. Assignments that will add variety to your routine work
c. Functions that the boss dislikes
d. Work that will provide experience for you
e. Tasks that you're capable of doing
f. Activities that will make you more well rounded and that will
broaden your expertise
g. Opportunities to use and reinforce your creative talents
h. Recurring matters
i. Minor decisions
j. Time-consuming details
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Managing Your Career:
Management Ladder
1. Pick the area of Management you want
2. Set long-term and short-term goals
3. Determine competencies needed for short-term
goals
4. Invest (Time + Money)
5. Time = Study, Work, Projects, Reports, Mentor
6. Be prepared to invest up 50% IN ADDITION to
your current work-load and current schedule
7. Time Management skill is critical
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Rules of Work
• Rule 1.1: Get your work noticed
• Rule 1.2: Never stand still
• Rule 1.3: Under promise and over deliver
• Rule 1.4: Know something the others don't
• Rule 1.5: Be 100 per cent committed
• Rule 1.6: Enjoy what you are doing
• Rule 1.7 Develop the right attitude
• Rule 1.8: Never complain about how hard you
work
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Rules of Work
Rule 2: Know that you're being judged at all times
• Rule 2.1: Dress well
• Rule 2.2: Cultivate a smile
• Rule 2.3: No limp fish, perfect your handshake
• Rule 2.4: Show confidence and energy
• Rule 2.5: Pay attention to personal grooming
• Rule 2.6 Be cool
• Rule 2.7 Speak well
• Rule 2.8: Write well
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Rules of Work: Summary
• Rule 38: Don’t let it get to you
• Rule 41: Be proactive, not reactive
• Rule 47: Be ready to unlearn – what works,
changes
• Rule 54: Recognize when you’re stressed
• Rule 55: Manage your health
• Rule 75: Let the company know you are on its side
• Rule 76: Don’t bad mouth your boss
• Rule 77: Don’t bad-mouth your team
• Rule 78: Accept that some things your bosses tell
you to do will be wrong