Imagine a world where assistants are recognised not as overhead but as vital infrastructure — as strategic as HR, finance, or marketing. A profession where their voice carries weight, their onboarding is robust, and their potential is fully unlocked. What if empowering assistants didn’t just free leaders’ time, but shifted the entire trajectory of organisations?
Category: Partnership
Scenario Planning: The Secret Superpower of Strategic Assistants
Executives make decisions; assistants make them work. The difference between a task-based assistant and a strategic business partner often comes down to one skill: scenario planning. From cancelled flights to tech failures, top assistants anticipate disruption, build robust alternatives, and execute backup plans before anyone notices a problem. This isn’t just logistics—it’s business continuity, risk management, and executive leverage.
Are You Holding Your Assistant Hostage — or Helping Them Soar?
Too many executives hire assistants for a skillset, then freeze them at that level. Restricting access, keeping decision-making closed, and treating them as reactive task managers doesn’t just limit the assistant — it limits the leader. The assistants who become true business partners don’t get there by chance. They grow because someone invested, coached, and created space for them to develop foresight and judgement. If you want leverage, continuity, and strategic support, the question isn’t about their potential. It’s about your leadership.
Grant Thornton May Have Cut Assistants — But the Business Community Is Pushing Back
Grant Thornton’s decision to axe nearly 100 assistants sparked anger across the profession, but the comments under the Financial Times article tell a more hopeful story. While some still cling to outdated views that leaders should “do their own admin,” many business professionals pushed back, recognising assistants as critical to productivity and profitability. From consultants warning that outsourcing admin is “a disaster waiting to happen,” to senior leaders pointing out that good assistants drive firm-wide efficiency, the message is clear: assistants aren’t overhead. They are infrastructure. And the wider business world is finally starting to say it too.
Why It’s Time to Recognise Administration as a Strategic Function
The Financial Times’ use of the outdated term “secretaries” in a 2025 article about Grant Thornton is a stark reminder of how language keeps the administrative profession undervalued. Administration represents one-fifth of the global workforce — over half a billion people — yet it still lacks a formal voice at leadership tables. While some companies are adopting progressive titles like Administrative Business Partner and Director of Administration, most executives continue making decisions about administration without truly understanding its strategic impact. Until administration is recognised as a core business function, organisations will keep making short-sighted choices that undermine leadership effectiveness.
When Brand Values Don’t Extend to Assistants
A recent job ad for a senior-level EA role — positioned as a six-month “internship” with no stated pay — shows just how far the profession is still undervalued. The responsibilities demanded judgement, business literacy, and executive-level partnership, yet the contract offered insecurity and ambiguity. The disconnect? A company whose brand values celebrate “freedom” and “authenticity” for clients, but not for the assistants expected to deliver them. This isn’t just one job ad — it’s a systemic blind spot.
The Overlooked Risk: Why You Need a Succession Plan for Your Executive’s Assistant
Most organisations plan meticulously for C-suite succession but overlook a critical risk: assistant turnover. A senior EA carries the executive’s operating system — context, relationships, and rhythms that keep leadership running smoothly. When they leave without a plan, years of finely tuned knowledge disappear, productivity stalls, and business continuity suffers. Assistant succession planning isn’t optional; it’s essential.
The Executive Assistant: Manager, Leader, and So Much More
Executive Assistants don’t fit into traditional boxes. They manage complex workflows and priorities while leading through influence, foresight, and relational intelligence. Their unique role bridges management and leadership — without relying on authority, but through credibility and presence.
Celebrating What Works: Sharing the Wins in the Administrative Profession
While it’s vital to call out the challenges assistants face, it’s equally important to spotlight the organisations and leaders getting it right. Let’s celebrate those who value, empower, and invest in their administrative teams—and inspire change through positivity.
Assistants Aren’t Disposable: Why Support, Not Blame, Drives Performance
Too many assistants are being set up to fail—not due to lack of talent, but lack of structure, onboarding, and support. When organisations treat administrative professionals as interchangeable and expendable, they miss out on the strategic impact these roles can offer. Retention is cheaper than replacement, and investing in assistants is an investment in business performance. It’s time to stop blaming individuals and start fixing the system.