Answering Reader Mail and Reader Snapshot

Hello New and Old Readers,

Many apologies that I have missed a posting.  Life has been extremely busy, but fun for both work and personal life.  I do realize I have yet to address how to interview for a 2nd assistant.  Rather than not post til I got that up, I thought I'd answer a shorter question and do something fun - give you a idea of who else reads this blog.  

This week's question at Jobstr is below.

Why do you like being an EA? I always have trouble with that question, I like entertainment and media because I like being around dynamic creative people but I don't "like" being an EA. I fell into it and happen to be good at it.

7 Tips for Working with Your ADD Boss

Hello, new readers from all over the world!  If you didn't know, I also write over at Jobstr.com under Hollywood Executive Assistant.  Here is the latest question...

My CEO is one of the nicest people but has the WORST A.D.D I have ever witnessed. I have a very hard time getting her attention or getting her to answer something that is critical. Are there some tips you can give me to get her to pay attention?

Answering Reader Mail: Career Progression, Wearing Different Hats, and Realistic Expectations

This week’s question also comes from an international/non USA reader!  They write...

“Hi there,

I just stumbled upon your blog today and am glad that I've done so!  I plan on spending some time going through your blog but was wondering if I could get your input.

I'm an EA to the President and CEO of a North American marketing agency that is growing rapidly.  I genuinely love the company I work for and have a great relationship with my executive.  We've gone from 40 head office employees to 400 across North America in the last 3 years.  When we were a smaller agency, I was the EA and Office Manager for a smaller facility.  With our growth, we've moved to a larger office and I now have a team that includes a receptionist and office admin.

I'm really interested in progressing and developing my skills but feel that managing the office is hindering my ability to focus on the core of being an EA.  I've heard of EAs who are promoted to Operations or Facilities roles later on in their careers but at this point, I am playing both roles.  I'm pushed pretty far in terms of capacity on most days - one extra board meeting or event can result in a spiral of 60 hour weeks.  At this level, do you think it's reasonable to have one person working in these two roles and expect success?  Would hate to pass up this leadership opportunity if it could mean progression for me in the future.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks,
Anonymous please!”

Answering Reader Mail / Hello, All New Readers

Hello, new readers!  I see a lot more people are following my blog here, via Twitter, and my Jobstr.com column.  I love getting questions from readers and hearing your comments.

I got a new question from "ET" about EA responsibilities and wanting my input.  I will answer that question next week!  So look for it then!  It's a great question and I'm excited to answer it!  
 
Every time I get a question, I think about how I want to answer for a few days and then I respond directly on my blog, NOT to your email address.  I do keep your identity and other details anonymous, and especially so if you request it.  This year I wanted to post once a week and it takes me about 5-6 days to respond to your question.  

If you submitted the question, it's really helpful to me and the blog audience if you write an anonymous comment saying, "Thanks" or something.  This way, I know you read your answer and I can post the next question or entry.  Sometimes I worry the submitter didn't see their answer when in fact I answered it earlier.

So far, I have answered every single question submitted to me.  Below are the questions I answered and wasn't sure if folks saw their answer.  You can peruse what others have asked to see if you are in the same situation and comment if you asked the question!  Thought it might be a fun way for all the new folks to see an "archive" of a majority of the earlier submissions.

Answering Reader Mail: Creating a Good Relationship with Other Assistants

Today’s reader question comes from a young woman who does not live in the USA.  So just wanted to say hello to all my international readers too!  :)  This is her question:

“I am located internationally and I've been reading your articles.  They have helped me so much but I still have concerns.  I applied to be a EA to the CEO of a big company in my country.   

I passed the HR interview and I am waiting for the answer from the CEO interview.  I had 2 initial interviews or tests before I came down to meeting the CEO.

I am scared, VERY scared I've volunteered a lot.  Both English and Portuguese are my first language (I think that's why they are considering me in the first place). The CEO speaks only English but the official language is Portuguese, so they needed someone who speaks both languages well.

I am scared because I have no experience in the business world and he has another assistant.  I am scared of how our relationship will be because two girls in the same territory is not always good news. So my questions are:

1- What should I do to create a good relationship with the other assistant? Because we will both be his assistants and he already has a secretary.

2- What should I do in the first day (How should I set up my desk? What questions should I ask that will be important later on? Should I bring my boss some coffee? Should I ask his secretary for his schedule?)

I will be awaiting your reply and best regards.”

7 Tips on How to Complain Effectively

Every once in awhile, we all have to complain, offer a suggestion, or disagree.  To communicate your perspective effectively, here are some tips.  I hope you find them helpful.

The Redemption of Noble Failure

Hi, new readers!  If you’re late to my blog, earlier in the year, I made a New Year’s resolution to myself to post once a week.  This week is the 2nd time I have almost not made that deadline.  Should I miss a week, the following week I am to post 2 posts.  

It’s a constant struggle to write a post each week because coming up with new tips, a personal story, or something fun or interesting is hard.  I was reading a book and an ad exec went to a museum every Sunday without fail for inspiration.  It had paid off in many ways having a ritual.  Happiness studies will tell you learning, challenging, engagement, and growing are needed.

This week I mulled about what to write.  Between that I spent many hours reading about Kevin Smith, Steve Jobs, articles on LinkedIn, and watching MTV’s True Life.  Between the last 2 sources a theme began to emerge and a term I knew about, but never phrased as such - noble failure.  

17 Tips for Visiting Japan

I went to Japan after and long absence and wanted to share a lot of cultural tidbits I forgot about or that are new. I was in both the rural areas and Tokyo.  Hopefully you will find them useful or interesting!

Random Question from a Reader

I also write over at Jobstr.com and this is the latest question I answered.

Q: “So you've worked for some pretty powerful people - without naming names do you think any of them weren't all that qualified, but just got lucky to get where they are?”

10 Tips to be a Better Executive Assistant - Part 5

Here are 10 random tips I’ve culled over the years on how to be a better assistant.  This is part 5.  

How to Say No Without Saying No

A lot of people have trouble saying no, both at work and in their personal lives.  It can be for various reasons - they are people pleasers, they don’t want to reject/offend anyone, or they don’t like to be put on the spot so they agree, to make the situation go away.   

The Full Interview - The Person Behind the Professional

I was interviewed earlier this month and so I pasted it below.  You 'll learn my most cringe worthy moment, tips, and a little about me as a person.

Answering Reader Mail: Horrible Bosses

If you’re new to my blog, I offer advice to those who write in to me. I try to write my advice so that young or new EAs can also gleam tips even if the question asked may not apply directly. Anyway, here’s this week’s question.

“Hello! I do hope you are doing well and I really appreciate your blog!!!

Long story short, I am in need of some guidance and I have no where to

turn! If you have any advice to offer me, it would be appreciated

immensely.


I am a 25 yr old, female executive assistant and I am about to begin a

HUGE opportunity for a high profile guy! This includes all of the

perks; travel, private jet, top notch everything, great pay,

incentives, etc etc. BUT my concern is one that I come across much too

often. My looks. Being that I am a young, "attractive" girl, with

brains and drive, this executive is already texting me 24/7 and some

of the comments make me uneasy. I am in NEED of this job as my current

position is with a company that is closing.


He has a wife and child, but it seems that is irrelevant. He wants me

to travel everywhere with him and basically the "attached at the hip",

partner type relationship, which is fine. But I have a boyfriend and a

personal life and I don't want to be in an uncomfortable situation. :(

It is really stressing me out, I feel as though I need to master the

skill of utilizing this sort of "power" over men to my benefit! I just

don't know how.


THANK YOU so much for taking time to read this.”

Answering Reader Mail: Being Terminated (Social Etiquette Part 2)

Hello Readers - 8 months ago, a reader asked me a question about fraternization and social etiquette at work. The link is that original post. The reader then wrote back recently with an update and a new question below.

http://musingsofahighlevelexecutiveassistant.blogspot.com/2012/08/answering-reader-mail-social-etiquette.html

“Last year, I wrote to you regarding my social issues at my work and you gave some very sound advice and things for me to consider.

The situation began to worsen as I continued to fraternize with employees. The lady that disapproved used to work for a very corporate company and happened to be my boss because she was the CEO's assistant. There were no rules against fraternization in our employee handbook and because the SVPs I supported often took their subordinates out for carousing and merriment, I went against her wishes. I believed it would be fine as the SVPs superseded her command, and I felt that I was in safe as long as I was in company of the executives and was in their good graces. In any case, I remained polite to her but I made the conscious decision to distance myself from her instead of our staff as I felt her attitude to be too negative/toxic. She was as new to the company as I was and it didn't take long for me to get to know her; she was always disapproving of someone in some way and had no qualms in voicing her criticisms privately (i.e., the COO won't go out of her way for anyone, doesn't attend company events, and is really just plain selfish, the SVP of Product goes out too much to the level where it's inappropriate, the SVP of HR is disrespectful as he's been late to a couple of all-hands meetings, the Director of Facilities thinks she's the queen, etc.). The funny thing is that she presents herself so sweetly to everyone; at one administrative assistant meeting (she supervises all admins), she proudly announced that there were some people she just did not like at the company but that no one would ever know it. She emphasized the importance of being nice to everyone so that if anyone were to ever say otherwise, no one will believe them.

In any case, she noticed the shift in my behavior as I no longer joked with her nor chatted with her as much as I used to initially. What broke the camel's back was when a well-loved director of the company was terminated by the SVP of Product and I threw her a happy hour after work. Now, the happy hour started out innocently enough; the SVP of Product encouraged everyone to reach out to the terminated director as it was an amicable separation and he understood a lot of people from the company were very good friends with her. The terminated director and I were very good friends and had asked me to organize a happy hour in which she could see some colleagues and bid adieu appropriately. I invited half a dozen people but the word spread like wildfire and almost the entire product and engineering team showed up a little after 5:30pm. A bit of background regarding our company: we have flexible hours and can come and go as we please as long as we finish our work but most of the time people stay after 6p because people usually come in late.

When the lady found out about the happy hour and that I organized the event for the terminated employee, she was not happy. She said that my actions showed that my loyalty was not to the company nor the SVP of Product, and as his executive assistant, it was announcing to his staff that I did not respect him or his decision in terminating the employee. Furthermore, she could not believe that I had the audacity to take almost the entire product and engineering staff to happy hour during regular business hours. I originally just invited six people, but about thirty+ showed up. Needless to say, I was also terminated. In hindsight, I can see where they're coming from and how awful that looks.

My question however, is… should I disclose the reason for my termination in my job interviews? And what is the best way to present it?

Thank you.”

Job Hunting Tips & Telling Your Boss

Happy Friday, everyone! And welcome to new readers! I see more and more people following my blog or Twitter each week! Thank you! Below is a question I received that may be helpful to you too!


Q
I have a great working relationship with my boss, but am starting to look for a more Senior level role. As much I want to be honest, I'm not sure if I should tell him that I'm looking. What's the correct approach?

Answering Reader Mail: Transitioning to a Hollywood EA

"What is the best career path advice or source for career path advice/strategy to go from EA at a top private equity firm to EA with development potential with a production company?"

Work Frustrations and Meaningful Work

My last post was about what I was devouring in books, music, and film. Meaningful and fulfilling interactions in life are what make us happy and sustain us. Often, the battle over work is being bored, not challenged, or one's job not being fulfilling. Surely, as executive assistants we may feel this way when we have to do all the boring stuff - filing, expenses, travel, calendaring, and phones. However, sometimes you are also given fun work and special projects. While the idea to find a job you love and are excited to go to every morning isn't a bad idea, a happier medium/interim solution would be (as Randy Pausch said, is) to strive for actions that have meaning. That could be your life's work.

What I’m Devouring Right Now

A short list of what I’m reading, watching, listening to, or am excited about.

4 Ways You Affect Your Boss' Reputation

I’ve worked for a lot of senior executives through out my career. As an EA, one thing you should be mindful of is the presence and reputation your boss wants to exemplify. This ties very closely with who the boss is as a person, their values, principles, and how they interact with the public, press, employees, and stakeholders. The very best assistants realize the decisions they make on behalf of their boss can reverberate throughout their day or affect other things, whether they are secondary actions or other people. I’ve been extremely lucky in that everyone I have worked for has NOT been a nightmare boss. They have all been down to earth and the most normal people despite their intelligence, job title, and power. Still, executives like to conduct business in their own way and this is how it matters.

New Year's Resolutions - Frisbee Golf & Other Interests

I hope all of your new year’s resolutions are going well. I’ve been mixing it up myself and paying a little attention to each goal and project. I’ve also come up with new fun goals as well. I wanted to write about my little adventures so far.