Episode 54

54 A Return to Episode 20: The Power of Hiring the Right Executive Assistant

It’s that time of year that I begin to hibernate and take a good look at the business mission, direction, vision, and team members. This includes independent contractors. I take a step back and take a serious look at what worked, what I need to start doing, and what I need to stop doing as I move into the new year.

Maybe it’s time you took a good look at your executive assistant or your need to hire one. With the right assistant, you can go so much further than trying to do so with the wrong one.

I’ve been a dual-preneur now for over 20 years, and there is one thing that I have learned both on the corporate and entrepreneurial side: it’s the importance of having the right type of executive assistant on your team. The challenge for the busy executive is we need an EA that has been corporately trained, yet not so corporate that they can’t think outside of the box.

Having started my corporate career from the file room, I’ve held many support positions along the way. Each role built on the next and provided me with an understanding of what it takes to be an exceptional executive assistant, learning how to create a happy executive with each of my positions.

In this episode, I will share a few examples of what the right EA looks like. The first example will be when I once worked for the SVP of a sales division in a consumer packaged goods research firm. Knowing how to identify what he really needed by asking the right questions during my interview made him comfortable enough to open up and share his pain points with me. This opened the door for me to share with him how I could make those pain points go away. It worked. They called to offer me the job before I made it to the train to head home. I’ll even let you in on my secret weapon from the summer. How I managed to move mom into an assisted living facility, launch a new podcast and a new website while working a full-time job, taking care of clients, giving international keynote speeches, being a board member, and a member of several committees all while holding down my full-time job and maintaining my personal life and marriage without losing my mind.

See you inside the episode.

What You Learn:

  • Why hiring an Executive Assistant can make or break your business
  • What a good assistant looks like from the perspective of being one and also hiring one
  • Delegating and communicating with your assistant to help balance your home, work, and love life with confidence and calm 
  • My secret to finding the perfect EA – it may surprise you!

Featured on the Show:

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About the Podcast

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The Happy Executive Woman® Podcast
Where executive women learn how to be happy in business and in love.

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About your host

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Anita Charlot

Wellness & Retention Strategist | Corporate Relationship Consultant | Board Member | Keynote Speaker | Executive Coach for Black and Brown Women | Award-Winning Founder and CEO

Creator of The Happy Executive Woman®, the Conversations in Color™ Corporate Workshop, and the Coloring Her Dreams™ coloring book series, and author of The 5 Phases of Dating ~ The Grown A** Woman's Guide to Attracting and Maintaining Authentic Relationships. All were created to empower, uplift, and support the emotional well-being of Black and Brown women in the workplace and their allies, mentally and emotionally.