โThere are many people out there doing EA roles. There are 3.2 million in the UK alone doing admin roles and secretarial work, with 10 million working in positions that require admin skills to support their main job. In 2015, 20% of new UK roles were in โadminโ and over the next five years 1.2 million people are needed to replace those expected to retire and leave the profession. Itโs a blossoming industry.โ Such figures are staggering.
Some of you reading this will know Adam Fidler, an International Executive Assistant Consultant who offers teaching, training and self-development of PAs, EAs and business support managers. He is the author and trainer of two of the UK’s most sought-after corporate Executive PA courses ‘From good to outstanding’ and ‘The Strategic Executive Assistant’ which run regularly in London and Manchester. His corporate experience as a Board/C-Suite Level PA/EA in a variety of blue-chip organisations includes Boots PLC, Bank of America and as a Private PA to a high-profile Chairman.
I ask Adam what his strengths are as an educator of the assistant role. โIโm able to articulate, reference, frame and describe the role of the true Executive Assistant in a way that Iโm not sure has been widely publicised or written about previously. Itโs not that what I offer, or what I believe in, or what I teach assistants to do is rocket science or totally new โ but Iโve not seen other people, trainers, writers, able to describe and elevate the role the way that I can. I champion the job as โmanagerialโ and encompassing leadership qualities and I donโt articulate it through traditional secretarial speak or words.โ
He develops this explanation further though his theory of โBlack Boxโ and โRed Boxโ and the elevation of moving the role from โBlack Boxโ to โRed Boxโ. The โBlack Boxโ mentality encompasses the secretarial stereotype such as transactional duties, processing, typing, filing, photocopying, even diaries. The โRed Boxโ mentality is about โthe new role of the assistantโ, and focuses on assistants needing to develop, what he calls, a โmanagerial mind-setโ. This means assistants need to โalign their behaviours and their leadership style into a โmanagerโ. And the first step in moving towards that โRed Boxโ is fostering with assistants a change in their belief about what their role is. When you transition from โBlack Boxโ to โRed Boxโ you will get a higher salary.โ Fundamentally, if your job description only describes transactional duties, your salary will always be capped.
โI went through this transition. I was a secretary for many years and bosses would instruct me with what they wanted me to do. But when I went on to work as a high-level EA, the role was different as I was suddenly expected to do a lot of the thinking myself. Where an old boss would come to me previously and say โIโd like you to arrange a conference for me next week, invite these people and arrange a board dinnerโ โ and I would carry out what I had been instructed to do โ my new boss would say โIโm thinking of having a board awayday next Thursdayโ and leave the room and Iโd be left sitting there thinking ‘what does he actually want me to do?’ What that taught me was, at that level, I was expected to come up with the ideas to be creative, give him a draft agenda and think โif I were the CEO what would I need for my board awaydayโ? And that was a hard transition. From that moment on, I developed strategic awareness to become the creator and the shaper of content and be aware of everything that was happening in the organisation. I became a full participant and a leader โ as opposed to an observer.โ
He defines the role of an EA as โa person who has to know the business thoroughly and have the competence to deal with strategic decisions, be able to lead, manage, be solution-focused and work with more autonomy and more independence. This is why I teach assistants to be aware that they have to develop independence of thought and action. Their roles should be designed around supporting the broader organisation, not just the executives. The big thing for them to learn is to influence on their own merit โ and not through the executive they support.โ
I broach the term โBusiness Partnerโ โ which is another way that the role is sometimes referred to: โthe term is all wrong! โ what we mean is that EAs work in โpartnershipโ but even that is limiting as it implies that your job is always aligned to someone. Iโm calling for assistants to become โBusiness Managersโ and this means designing your job around business needs, your needs, as well as your boss. In the old days, job descriptions were set in stone โ thatโs very old-school. New assistants today actually have influence and respect. The world is very different now, we have to move with it.โ
So how can assistants become the best at their job? โThe best assistants do what is known as โreverse mentoringโ โ whereby they teach their executives to be better leaders. The top assistants help their executive to become more โexecutiveโ.โ So, assistants should in fact ask themselves โwhat does being an โexecutiveโ actually mean as an EA?โ It means having a managerial mind-set, having personal courage and conviction, saying no appropriately and diplomatically and operating within the boundaries of your role, of which youโll have to adapt and shape depending on the executive you support.โ
Such extensive skills surely will put assistants in good stead to get that long-awaited promotion? โIt will help. Itโs about job content, responsibility when the chips are down. No one ever got promoted for being good at diaries and good at Word because everyone now does diaries and Word. So, the only way you are promoted, receive more salary, more recognition and more credibility โ which is what assistants are always crying out for โ is that you demonstrate managerial qualities. You need to be solution-focused, be able to write a business plan, feel confident enough to do a presentation in front of a board, manage other members of staff along with doing appraisals and performance reviews. Historically, these arenโt the jobs of โassistantsโ but the jobs of โmanagersโ. When we take away the automated activities, diaries and technology, if that is all your job is, thereโs nothing left. You have to create a new role and that new role is being a โmanagerโ. The reason it works, is, as an โassistantโ doing those things, youโre a cheaper commodity than a boss employing a deputy CEO.โ
But do all bosses want this forward-thinking assistant? โNot all of them. Some still want the assistant who will sit there and does as he or she is told, but that job will not survive because new leaders have come through who are creative and wacky and want to have a conversation with their assistant and say โwhat do you think?โโ. Not all assistants are quick to embrace this because theyโve not had to think in this way before.
โI used to get into work early and think if I were my boss, what would I want or hope or expect my assistant to have thought about on my behalf? The starting point is always putting yourself in the shoes of your executive โ not in your own shoes. This in turn develops what is known as self-reflection and learning agility, whereby you step back and critically evaluate your role to think โhow could I be more effective for my executive and the company as a whole?โ
โThe top-level role of an EA is โneutralโ. Look at it from a business perspective โ elevate from the dancefloor onto the balcony. I had to learn to step back and look at the bigger picture. From the balcony, you can see what is and isnโt working, people who are and arenโt in sync, dancing in or out of time to the music. When you do this, you give yourself a totally different perspective. As an assistant, if you believe you are their just to support, do the diaries and are reactive, you are doing yourself a disservice because youโll never progress as you wonโt feel motived. Youโve got to have other โstrandsโ, be a team player and be collaborative and lead by example. The skillset and attributes required by todayโs assistants are enormous. Itโs a very difficult job.โ
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What can assistants do to elevate themselves in the workplace and change peopleโs perspectives? โIt isnโt what you do, itโs how you do it. Influencing on your own merits and being self-aware, which leads onto emotional intelligence, emotional agility, strategic thinking, a sound commercial understanding and being effective rather than efficient.โ
And what does this mean exactly? โEfficiency can be automated but being effective is broader. As assistants, we can always look to think cheaper, smarter, quicker, in a timelier way, but the effectiveness of decisions of how you operate, how you act and support your boss is what is more important, as that uses your leadership qualities.โ
Many PAs that I meet lack confidence in their ability. โConfidence is definitely important but self-belief is what assistants should be striving for. The moment they change their belief about themselves and their role, remarkable things will happen around them because people respond differently.
โMany assistants donโt always take charge of defining what they are about. When you know what you donโt want in a job, it highlights exactly what you do what in a job. You will attract and manifest the job that you want. If you canโt get from your job what you want, then you can choose to go elsewhere.โ
Can every assistant make steps to move from โBlack Box to โRed Boxโ? โAbsolutely. Speak to your boss and ask for more responsibility. Itโs all about preparing for that next role.โ
We talk about the future of the role. Adamโs response is to the point. โThe role of the Personal Assistant will not survive. All that will remain is administrators, and they will either be automated or done by junior office staff. At the top level, youโll have EAs which will be called โBusiness Managerโ or โBusiness Support Managersโ. Itโll eventually be about supporting the effectivities of an organisation, commercially and operationally. Assistants have a choice, they can either transition, elevate and step up โ which a lot of them are doing โ or they can go backwards and potentially be made redundant.โ
Evidently, where we have confusion with the perception of the role, we still need more clarity. โAssistants donโt have the evidence, the weight, or the way of framing or articulating how their role should be or is defined to their companies. You have to be self-resilient and have self-belief. Itโs a very lonely job and you donโt get much support from your superiors. Wanting to progress comes from you.โ
And so, with this in mind, it provides the perfect opening to close by announcing Adamโs big news โ and news that Iโm sure PAs in the North especially will be excited to hear about.
โItโs been a big ambition of mine to open my own secretarial school โ and itโs a pleasure to announce that in Manchester, which is my home town, Iโm opening the Adam Fidler Academy which will be a day school for people who want to be the best Executive Assistants. I will offer assistants the right resources, support and environment which are reflective of my professionalism and beliefs about the role. Itโs not a corporate environment, itโs creative and thought-provoking.โ
Adamโs Academy is a training suite that will run tutor-led courses for small, intimate groups of around ten. There will be accredited courses from the Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) as well as his usual two-day programmes. โThere is nothing for PAs in the North. There are networks but they focus more on the social aspects. If you are more north than Birmingham, there isnโt a lot happening. So, I very much hope to capitalise on Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, Scotland and to give people in the North the best opportunity to perfect the art of being a successful executive assistant, because a lot of those canโt travel to London for learning.โ
So, what differentiates Adamโs programmes from others? โHigh quality content. Itโs about people taking away elements that will work for them both now and in the future. Iโll be doing more managerial training, general training and personal development โ as this is what the future assistant is going to need to focus on in order to progress.โ
What is his inspiration? โPut simply, to share the knowledge of the journey that Iโve been through and help assistants to be better at their job. Itโs about giving as much as I can, changing peopleโs thoughts about themselves and giving them confidence. Assistants need self-belief and the feeling of โI can achieve thisโ. Iโm bowled over by the talent and the ambition of todayโs assistantโs. Iโm struck by how savvy and strong this new generation is. They are the inspirations.โ
For more information about Adamโs courses, visit executiveassistant.org
Words: Amelia Walker; Photography: Dave Willis; Special thanks to One Aldwych Hotel, onealdwych.com