One reason so many assistants experience burnout is due to identifying too closely with the executive they support. Let me explain.

When an assistant has a great partnership with their executive there's an unusual (mostly unspoken) closeness and bond. It was certainly my experience in many of the senior roles I held in my career.

Here's how it happens:

Fun fact: only 5% of assistants globally seek feedback outside the annual performance review cycle. This is a huge missed opportunity to support growth, career progression and to understand where to focus for the highest impact. Here are some quick tips to get you comfortable with seeking feedback regularly.

Reading data and financials is a skill gap many assistants struggle with. Read on to hear:

why nailing this skill will support you to create impact in your work, be rewarded and recognised for your contribution.

and a practical way to get started

With burnout rife in the assistant community and on the rise, now is the time to re-define what high performance means today. Here are some practical tips on designing a career that will be sustainable, fulfilling and authentic.

Networking. Something few people enjoy but an art that once mastered, can pay dividends. Here’s some tips to help you feel more comfortable and confident networking and to help you understand how it can support you in your career.

Preparing for an AGM is one of the most stressful times in a corporate calendar. Keep reading for practical tips to create ease, ensure all details are covered and your stakeholders are well prepared to face investors and shareholders.

Here's something I hear from assistants repeatedly. Their executive works in a highly reactive state. Their calendar is full, their workload is high, the pressure is relentless. They jump from deadline to burning platform and have little space in between. They're a bit chaotic, but they're okay with it because they're meeting their obligations and getting there *just* in time has to be good enough.

They resist any structure the assistant tries to introduce to create ease and flow. Nothing has worked.

There’s a missing link that hasn’t yet been tried - a direct conversation about impact.

One major difference between administration careers and other professions is that others tend to have the benefit of being included in talent mapping and succession planning.

This means other professionals are nurtured, mentored and developed differently. They’re shown how to build out their career runway and how to highlight their value in meaningful ways.

Administration professionals are most often left to fend for themselves with this. It’s a horrible, cold, hard reality. It’s what drives me to do the work I do.

During my 27 year career as an Executive Assistant, I sat in countless Executive Committee Meetings where talent mapping was discussed.

I was a fly on the wall observing deep debate (sometimes very heated) and dissections of the performance of individuals. What I heard over and over again was enlightening.

As an EA I had a regular habit that served me well.

I carved out time every month to check in on how I was going, where I was going and how I was feeling. Not my performance goals, a more personal check in that was all about me, not what I could deliver for the organisation I was in.

I began doing this after noticing all of my executives spent time regularly thinking about themselves. Their career. Their success. Their happiness. Their development. Their professional relationships. Everything they needed to rise and rise and rise.