This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
This November, get 14 months for the price of 12 when you subscribe to Admin Professional Today for a year.
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Executive Support Insights

 

Discover the latest insights from Lucy Brazier OBE into the evolution, empowerment, and future of the administrative profession.

 

Administrative Profession AI & Automation Strategic Business Partner August 22, 2025

Assistants Are Not Accessories: Why Outdated Mindsets Are Dangerous in 2025

When a CEO transition prompted someone to suggest an EA should “go with the pharaoh,” it revealed the persistence of a dangerous mindset: that assistants are disposable. In reality, assistants are infrastructure — holding institutional memory, guarding relationships, and ensuring continuity no handover can replicate. With AI accelerating change, organisations that still view assistants as replaceable risk burning out leaders, losing knowledge, and undermining business performance. It’s time to end the stereotype and start recognising assistants as critical strategic assets.
Administrative Profession Culture & Events Partnership Strategic Business Partner August 21, 2025

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 While some still cling to outdated views that leaders should “do their own admin,” many business professionals pushed back, recognising assistants as critical to productivity and profitability.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.
Administrative Profession Culture & Events Partnership Strategic Business Partner August 20, 2025

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.
Administrative Profession Culture & Events Partnership Strategic Business Partner August 19, 2025

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.
Administrative Profession Goal Setting Strategic Business Partner August 15, 2025

Fear Isn’t a Limitation — It’s a Compass for Growth

In the administrative profession, fear often hides not in our weaknesses, but in our potential. Too many assistants hold back — staying silent in meetings, waiting for permission, shrinking into the background — not because they lack skill, but because they fear their own power. The truth? Fear isn’t the enemy. It’s the signal pointing to exactly where your influence and leadership are waiting to emerge.
Administrative Profession Culture & Events Strategic Business Partner August 14, 2025

The Motherhood Penalty and the Assistant Profession

UK campaigner Joeli Brearley revealed this week that mothers earn 33% less than fathers — and in a profession that is 98% women, that matters. Too often, assistants are dismissed as “unambitious,” but what if that perception is simply bias in disguise? When society undervalues mothers, it undervalues women’s work — and that bias bleeds into how assistants are judged. Assistants are ambitious. They run portfolios, align leaders, and manage complexity daily. The real question isn’t why assistants don’t want to progress — it’s why ambition is still defined through a male lens.
Administrative Profession Strategic Business Partner August 13, 2025

Perfection Isn’t the KPI — Impact Is

For assistants, flawless execution often goes unnoticed, while even the smallest mistake is remembered. No wonder the weight of perfection feels crushing. But perfection is the most dangerous KPI — it fuels anxiety, erodes confidence, and overlooks the real value assistants bring. Your worth isn’t in the absence of mistakes, but in the countless unseen outcomes you make possible every single day.
Administrative Profession Strategic Business Partner August 12, 2025

Consistency Is the Currency of Trust for Assistants

Excellence isn’t about one brilliant moment — it’s about reliability, time after time. Just like a restaurant that lost its magic after one inconsistent evening, assistants risk their reputation if they can’t be counted on consistently. Reliability builds trust, and trust is what executives rely on when making decisions and delegating authority. Consistency isn’t just a habit — it’s the foundation of your professional reputation.
Administrative Profession AI & Automation Strategic Business Partner August 11, 2025

Administration Isn’t Dying — It’s Evolving Into Strategic Partnership

AI will take the clerical tasks, but that’s not the death of the administrative profession — it’s the rebirth of it. Assistants have long been operating at a strategic level: translating ideas into action, safeguarding client relationships, and enabling leadership. The fastest-growing skills for assistants are project management, data analysis, financial literacy, and change management — not clerical, but business-critical. The risk isn’t AI, it’s outdated perception. Recognise assistants as strategic partners, and you’ll unlock one of the most cost-effective assets in the business.
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