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It was Administrative Professional day last week, designed to recognise those responsible for the smooth running of offices and to give recognition to their vital roles.

One of my roles is that of an Executive Assistant for Mike Coote Coaching. I was invited back by the Halcyon Group to both speak and chair their 10^th Annual Global EA and PA Summit. Prior to the pandemic I have spoken at events for them in Vienna, Prague and Berlin. Originally this was going to be a hybrid event that was then was changed to online. It still felt global with speakers and delegates from New York, Prague, UK, Dubai, Uganda and other places in the USA such as Boston, Seattle and Pennsylvania.

Here is my summary of an exciting and informative two days.

• Heather Baker from Baker Thompson Associates spoke to us about Benefit from Change. She encouraged us to approach change from an open mind and learn to develop positive elements, accept and thrive with it.

• Mike Coote from Mike Coote Coaching was next. His topic was on Language and Communication that REALLY work. He shared with us some ways to make ourselves stand out and be memorable. He reminded us to meet logic with logic and emotion with emotion.

• It was my turn next. I shared some of my experiences in life to illustrate that self-care is vital and that we must look after ourselves so that we can be there for others too.

• After a meal break, we heard from Ilene Feinman, Senior Executive Assistant from Citi Bank, who highlighted ‘Great Assistants – what sets them apart from the rest’. This included being intellectually curious and dressing for success.

• Mike gave us another presentation, this time on Mental Models of Communication and to be aware of habitual behavioural responses and how we can develop new learned behaviours to be more effective.

• Stephanie Hendrick, motivational speaker and author from Meant for More was highly motivating with her presentation on ‘Leadership and Office Management – Clarity precedes success’. Her model is based on Action, Assess and Adjust.

• The first day completed with Bob Black, Board Director and Executive coach from Boston Consulting Group with his session entitles ‘What Great Looks Like – and how to get there.’

• We concluded with a panel discussion about using Emotional Intelligence to deal with difficult situations.

• Our second day began with a session on Communicating with IMPACT from Lindsay Taylor, Director, Multi-award-winning Author, Trainer and Podcaster from Your Excellency Ltd. She spoke of the Power of Three for being memorable, such as the Verbal, Vocal and Visual aspects of communication.

• We then heard from a dynamic duo of Executive Assistants from NBCUniversal , Tom McCormick and Caroline Clifton. Their energy and enthusiasm in speaking to us about ‘Being more than ‘just the assistant’: the Evolution of the EA role’ proved their points. I loved one of Tom’s comments that ‘the only person that welcomes change is a wet baby’! They encouraged us to keep up with technology, e.g. Rocketbooks, ChatGPT, Concur.

• Rachael Cox, Executive Business Administrator from Microsoft spoke to us about ‘Habits of Highly Innovative Assistants’. These include having clear communication, being responsive, listening and learning and optimising your time. She shared how the Task App in Microsoft To Do helps her team. I loved that she highly recommended being a mentor.

• We had a panel discussion on how to set meaningful boundaries. We all agreed that the ‘old school’ presumption that an EA/PA should be available ‘morning, noon and night’ no longer should be expected. The mutual respect and needs for mental wellness are now considered more valuable.

• Jillian Haslam, author, speaker and philanthropist, spoke to us on ‘How to deal with overwhelm and exude positivity’ She encouraged us to be aware of trigger points and inspired in many ways, including ‘create your own circle of confidence and take it with you wherever you go’. Jillian has an amazing story of how she began life in slums in India.

• Finally, Mike concluded the summit asking us ‘What are your sub-conscious filters and how do you use them to better your level of communication with those with whom you work?’

As chair, I summarised the two days and left the delegates with a challenge of using ACT – what would they Apply, Communicate and Transform.

I wish to thank Halcyon Group, especially Harriet Kibone who was on screen both days and Rachel Bertran and the team behind the scenes who made the technology run perfectly. They put together an excellent summit and hope they will do so again.

I also wish to thank the speakers who shared their expertise and time.

Finally,  my warm thanks to the delegates who joined with enthusiasm and a willingness to participate.

As Tom and Caroline from NBCUniversal said, ‘Relationships are everything .. build them’. I believe that this summit built on some existing ones and am excited at growing new ones.

Elaine 🙂