This year Adam Fidler Academy celebrates its ten-year anniversary. Founded by Adam Fidler, the Academy has trained and educated thousands of EAs and PAs since its launch back in the summer of 2016…
Adam is well-known in the industry – he was the trainer who introduced the competence of EAs being strategic back in 2016 – long before any other PA/EA ‘trainer’ talked about the concept – and was featured on the cover of PA Life magazine, and in an interview where he set out a future vision for the EA role. He also wrote the ‘EA Manifesto: What I am’ which has amassed millions of views worldwide.
“People still wonder what we teach our students at my Academy,” laughs Adam, “some still have visions of a secretarial school, with classrooms of computer desks and students learning Word and Excel. But, that’s not what we do here. Our students gather around a boardroom table where they learn how to be dynamic business managers, whose role goes far beyond looking after their leader’s diary.”
Educating Executive Assistants: what does Adam Fidler Academy focus on?
EAs and PAs travel from all over the country for face-to-face learning and a bespoke experience at the Academy. “Our curriculum focuses on leadership skills, administrative management and business studies – which are the key competencies of a modern EA,” adds Adam.
“Our EA students become adept in project management, emotional intelligence, commercial awareness and financial acumen. We reinforce business support as a professional function – and the EA as an integral part of the management team.”
With course titles including The Strategic Executive Assistant™ and Get Ahead as an Executive PA™, as well as formal qualifications equivalent to a HNC or degree, the Academy ensures that EAs learn the higher-level skills, such as conceptual thinking, problem-solving and critical analysis, along with an appreciation of the more traditional skills they need to look after a busy CEO.
There is only a handful of private colleges in the world that operate in this very niche market. “Yes, there are plenty of PA and EA networking organisations around,” says Adam, “but for the career-savvy EA, high-quality learning, mapping to industry and educational standards, is difficult to find.”
Looking ahead for the next 10 years: What does the future of the profession look like?
“I have made no secret of the fact that I firmly believe that the PA role will wither on the vine. Firms increasingly employ general administrators, and highly-skilled Executive Assistants,” he says. The majority of the Academy’s students graduate, formally, with a qualification at Level 4 and above.
“EAs are the ones who will support the executive function with achieving strategic goals. That’s where we help today’s EAs to become as business managers who support the operational running of their team, as well as managing their executive’s workflow, and wellbeing.”
“Quite simply,” states Adam, “we don’t train PAs, we educate Executive Assistants, and there is a big difference in that!”
See more at www.adamfidler.academy
You can read more professional development articles by Adam Fidler in PA Life.
