It occurs to me that a skilled assistant is a lot like a conductor of an orchestra.
They don’t have to be a virtuoso violinist or world-class flautist.
They don’t compose the score.
They may not play the actual music.
But the performance doesn’t happen without them.
While everyone else focuses on their own part, the assistant holds the whole in view.
They manage timing, pace, transitions, rhythm, and volume.
They read the room and understand:
When to push.
When to pause.
When to hold steady until the tension resolves.
That isn’t just coordination. It’s leadership.
Unspoken, often unacknowledged, but foundational.
The impact? It’s quiet. It’s often uncredited.
But no one else in the business is trained to see across departments, anticipate human friction, and steady the pace under pressure while protecting the integrity of the outcome.
No one else operates in that space between structure and flow.
Assistants do.
Because they’re systems thinkers.
And because they understand both people and process, and how to move between them in real time.
So when we talk about modern leadership, let’s not limit it to the ones out in front.
Let’s acknowledge the ones shaping the performance.
The ones holding it all together, beat by beat.
