When assistants are excluded from leadership discussions, organisations lose one of their most valuable sources of insight, continuity, and execution power. Here’s why they must be in the room where decisions are made.
Leadership
Your Gifts Were Never “Soft Skills”
Every assistant has unique gifts — calm under pressure, empathy, intuition, foresight — yet too often they’re dismissed as “soft skills.” But these are not soft; they’re powerful, essential, and increasingly irreplaceable in the age of AI. When you use your gifts boldly, you don’t just grow stronger — you give others permission to do the same.
Why Scaling Organisations Need Assistants to Reinforce Discipline
Scaling from £10M to £100M isn’t about complexity—it’s about discipline. Clarity, rhythm, standards, and simplicity are what drive growth. Assistants already deliver this discipline daily, making them indispensable partners in scaling organisations.
Cross-Functional Influence: The Assistant’s Superpower in the AI Era
Cross-functional influence is something assistants have already been doing for years. So I was excited to see this powerful insight from the new 2026 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report “As AI weaves through every line of business, organisations must break down silos and encourage learning that spans traditional functional borders.” In other words, departments […]
What If We Reimagined the Administrative Profession?
Assistants are no longer just “support.” They are strategic business partners whose insight, influence, and execution can drive faster decisions, stronger relationships, and measurable business impact. The question is: what if organisations truly recognised that?
Stop Destroying Yourself to Survive: Why Assistants Must Reclaim Their Voice
Too many assistants are told they’re “too much” or “not enough.” They’re asked to shrink, hide, or erase themselves just to fit in. But you were never hired to disappear — your voice, insight, and humanity are your value. It’s time to stop dimming your light and start thriving unapologetically.
Why Discipline Doesn’t Scale Without an Assistant
An article I read this weekend argued that scaling from £10M to £100M requires discipline — clarity, speed, standards, and simplicity. But here’s the truth: assistants are already doing this work. They filter noise into clarity, create organisational rhythm, uphold cultural standards, and intercept complexity before it stalls growth. Discipline only scales when leaders have an assistant reinforcing it, every single day.
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.
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.