Hi Reader, I had a task sitting on my list for two weeks. I knew exactly what it was. I knew it probably wouldn’t even take that long. And yet every time I opened the document, I stared at it for about ninety seconds, felt my whole body say “absolutely not, thank you,” and decided my desk urgently needed dusting. Not my proudest moment, I'll admit. It got me thinking about procrastination, and all the advice we get bombarded with on this topic. I don't think we need another app to solve this...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I've been running a lot of live sessions lately and last week one moment stood out. We were looking at a job ad together (Ralph Lauren, senior EA role) and someone flagged a single line in the requirements. The chat went off. Instantly. Strong opinions, both directions. It made me realise that the instinct these EAs had in that moment, that gut read of what a role is really asking for, is exactly what most resumes are missing. And it's costing them interviews. So I wrote about it:...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I've been doing a lot of resume reviews lately and the same thing keeps coming up. Someone sends me a resume that's thorough, covers everything, clearly took real effort. And then I find out they've been sending that exact version to every single job they've applied for. That's usually where it's going wrong. I wrote about it this week, including two specific examples from recent reviews that I think will make it click. It's a quick read and there's a practical fix you can apply...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, You're in the car on the way home. And you're replaying the moment you didn't say anything. Again. Maybe it's the third time this month the priorities shifted last minute and you had to redo three hours of work nobody noticed. Maybe you've been operating half-blind because your exec hasn't looped you in properly. Maybe someone said something in a meeting and you thought "someone needs to action that" and then nobody did. You know something needs to be said. You just can't figure...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, This came up again in a coaching conversation this week. An Executive Assistant. Smart, experienced, across everything. She said: “I just don’t feel like they really see what I do.” This is something I keep seeing: brilliant, capable EAs who are genuinely operating at a strategic level, but whose exec would describe them as "great at keeping things running." Not wrong. Just limited. And that’s the version of you they're making decisions about. The work of a great EA is designed to...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I’ve been in a lot of conversations lately. Coaching sessions, webinars, fireside chats… and a steady stream of emails from people trying to make sense of where their role is heading. Different industries, different countries, but the same pattern. Some people are becoming indispensable. Others, just as capable, are starting to feel stuck, overlooked, or slightly replaceable in their job. Same role. Very different outcome. And it’s not coming down to experience or effort. It’s...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, A conversation this week got me thinking. We were talking about what actually makes some Executive Assistants harder to replace. And qualities that kept coming up were much quieter than you might expect. Things like: Being calm under pressure. Reading the room. Understanding the broader context. Knowing when to step forward and when to hold back. And I found it interesting that those aren’t just professional skills. They’re human ones. When I went through my coaching certification...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, In the last few emails, I’ve talked about invisible work.How it shapes careers.And how many people learn, over time, to shrink their language around what they do. Today I want to talk about the other side of that. What actually changes when someone stops doing it. The first shift is internal. People stop thinking of themselves as “just support” or “a safe pair of hands”. They start seeing themselves as someone who: Keeps things moving.Creates clarity.Protects focus.Influences...
7 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, In my last email, I mentioned how hard it can feel to explain your impact clearly, even when you know you add real value. I want to talk about why that happens. It’s easy to assume it’s a confidence issue. Or to think maybe it's imposter syndrome. Most of the time, it isn’t. More often, it’s adaptation. Over years of working with people, you’ve learned how to scan a room. You’ve learned what’s safe to say. What gets rewarded. What gets shut down. What gets a person labelled...
7 months ago • 1 min read