How Do You Make Them Feel?
One Saturday morning I called a store that sells hand-crafted wood furniture and left a message about an item I had seen in there recently. The store owner promptly returned my call. Sounds good, right? Not really…as we spoke, it became clear – very quickly - that he...
Intention
Thoughts to Ponder
Celebrate Administrative Professionals!
In recent months, I have had recurring conversations with people in business, education, and government about how important quality Administrative and Executive Professionals are to an organization. The conversations were mostly due to scenarios where a solid Administrative Professional would benefit the organization.
Business owners, school principals, directors and department heads are, understandably, considered the leaders of the organization. Don’t get me wrong, they are super important. They cast vision, set policy, provide direction and more. But their role is only half of the equation.
You must also have someone who is good at
executing the vision, the policies, the decisions.
That must be where the phrase Executive Assistant came from, right? They execute the plan. I feel like we’ve done a disservice over the last few decades by taking that role out of so many organizations and expecting one person to both cast and execute the vision. I know very few people who possess the skills to do both and the ones who are able to, don’t have the time and thus the organization suffers.
Full disclosure, I might be a bit biased to those who serve as an Administrative Professional. My mom was our church’s secretary for 30 years. I frequently heard people in the congregation make a comment like, “So-and-so is the pastor, but we know it’s your mom who runs the church.”
I encourage all of us to rethink how valuable those roles are, making sure that we have the position, that we have the right person in the position, that we’re compensating them for the value they provide, that we’re honoring them, recognizing them, and treating them with the respect that they deserve.
I Really Need a Day Between Saturday & Sunday
Change: Love it or hate it?
Change: love it or hate it? We all think we know our answer to that question. We all think we know how those around us would answer it too. 😉 But when you step back and think about it, it’s really not that easy to answer. I typically say that, “I love change”; but I’m becoming aware that that is a false statement. A more accurate statement would be, “I love change that I have chosen.” When you aren’t in control of the change that’s happening, chances are you’re less likely to love it. My heart breaks for the people of Ukraine as they endure inconceivable changes.
I have an idea problem!
You may have heard me say that I have more ideas than I have years left in my professional career. Seriously, I can’t make them stop. What’s worse is that I tend to have endless ideas for others as well, which seems to make my clients happy but my family not as much....
Save Time, Each Day, Every Day!
Saving time may not be as easy as adjusting your clock, but here are a few tips that really will help you save time, each day, every day. Do just one thing at a time. There's a lot of time wasted by going back and forth between tasks. Set a timer and focus. When the...