November 2012


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Depending on the brilliance of others for my own success

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My virtual admin training camp is three weeks complete and one week to go, and we’re having fun!

My sponsors, Briefings Media, initially planned to use a conference service that would require people to just call in when they had questions. I knew I needed something more robust – more interactive. So we got a system that allows me to keep the lines all open, and enables me to mute only those with background noise. 

Now I can tell when people laugh at my jokes and groan at the tales of woe!

But most importantly, people can chime in with input, questions and ideas.

They send me their tips and pictures and work and I incorporate them into the conference. It’s so great to be able to illustrate the principles with examples from people in the group.

We are 20 gals and a guy strong, learning loads and having a grand time. I learn from them as they learn from me and we learn each other. 

The funny thing is, each time I get a bit nervous about whether it will flow well. After presenting over 1K times, you (I) would think I would have the confidence that it will. But even though I know it’s likely to be great, I still get the jitters – until about two minutes in. On some levels, it’s way easier to present a canned lecture that I control and not depend in any way on the brilliance of others. And yet it’s way more powerful when everyone is smarter than anyone (including me) and they show up completely. 

Executive Admin Training Camp Resource Page

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Final Week! The PowerPoint slides are below. I will post the PDF to dropbox and also will put the final version of action steps there. There are five of you who haven’t joined the Dropbox folder yet. I can email you copies at your request. 

We’re up to 12 members on LinkedIn. I plan to invite previous grads to join us to give us a bigger base to draw from to keep that going. If anyone has a better option, I’m open to it, and am also looking into how I might create a private group on this site. 

The login and call in info is the same as last week.

This link for the screenshare will become live at 12:50 ET. It will ask you to enter your name and click Join Meeting. It works best to wait to click “join” until the conference is live. http://screenshare.maestroconference.com/id=10775916&;;;password=df4d0846bdcc3680

If you can’t see my screen, first try pressing CTRL+F5 (PC) or Command+Shift+R (MAC) on your browser.

If that doesn’t work, you can follow the slides below. The main concern is that you get on the call, but the visuals are helpful and add another dimension.

Again  – there are a lot of slides. We won’t get through them all, so consider the last sections to be bonus material. Enjoy!

 

Week Three! The login and call in info is the same as last week.

This link for the screenshare will become live at 12:50 ET. It will ask you to enter your name and click Join Meeting. It works best to wait to click “join” until the conference is live. http://screenshare.maestroconference.com/id=10775916&;;password=df4d0846bdcc3680

If you can’t see my screen, first try pressing CTRL+F5 (PC) or Command+Shift+R (MAC) on your browser.

If that doesn’t work, you can follow the slides below. The main concern is that you get on the call, but the visuals are helpful and add another dimension.

By the way – there are a lot of slides. We won’t get through them all, so I consider the last sections to be bonus material. Enjoy!

Week Two! The login and call in info is the same as last week.

This link for the screenshare will become live at 12:50 ET. It will ask you to enter your name and click Join Meeting. It works best to wait to click “join” until the conference is live. http://screenshare.maestroconference.com/id=10775916&;password=df4d0846bdcc3680

If you can’t see my screen, first try pressing CTRL+F5 (PC) or Command+Shift+R (MAC) on your browser.

If that doesn’t work, you can follow the slides below. The main concern is that you get on the call, but the visuals are helpful and add another dimension.

 

 

Join the LinkedIn Group here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Executive-Admins-4471091/about

 

Week One: Potential Action Steps: Pick 1-3

It’s useful to familiarize yourself will all the possible action steps. However, if you attempt to implement or explore too many of them at once, you might be like Cookie and the Cocoa Puffs – and not get any.

  1. Connect with one or more of the other attendees between sessions
  2. List and apply three things you can do to contribute to the success of this training
  3. Note and share three things you would like coaching for, or would to explore with someone
  4. Note and share the thing or things you would like to be a resource for (PowerPoint, Prezi, Excel, One Note, Executive Summaries, etc.)
  5. Create an undercover job description
  6. List 3 reasons why your boss is lucky to have you
  7. Craft a response to the suggestion that you’re “just and admin”
  8. Examine your relationship to your title
  9. Define what excellence means for you
  10. Describe your perfect day in your vision of administrative professional excellence
  11. Describe your future state life
  12. Identify the principles that underlie that vision and create actionable principles
  13. Put one thing on your calendar or in your Kanban to move toward your vision of excellence
  14. Set your “fire-fighter” priorities – especially if you support more than one executive
  15. Define what “holding the line” means to you in normal workdays
  16. Define what “holding the line” means to you in crisis
  17. Review your day in terms of Covey;s four quadrants
  18. Assess the impact of Execuphobia in your office
  19. Determine what being a part of the solution, not a part of the problem would mean for you
  20. Define your role as moderator between your exec ad the Execuphobic
  21. Find ways to put yourself into everything you do
  22. If you’re doing something that is really rote, begin by imagining that YOU’RE turning the crank
  23. Create and “refine” SOPs for things you do regularly
  24. Look for ways to make micro-improvements in your work processes
  25. Remember how each task connects with the higher purpose
  26. Pause between activities, even for a moment
  27. Look for opportunities (needs) for the things you love to do
  28. Create/discover language that describes your tasks on a higher (inspiring)  level
  29. Create/discover language that describes your job on a higher(inspiring) level
  30. Review your language for the target of respect, recognition and results
  31. Do a personal, positional and knowledge power (influence) assessment
  32. If you need something from your exec to support your authority, ask for it
  33. Form positive alliances and nourish them daily
  34. Stop starting and start finishing things
  35. Limit your WIP (work in progress)
  36. Visit the Personal Kanban site www.personalkanban.com
  37. Mistake-proof one process
  38. Plan your next conversation with your exec
  39. Create an Executive Summary to help your exec make a decision
  40. This week:
    1. ● Dream: Create your vision of excellence
    2. ● Observe: See what’s broken
    3. ● Observe: Collect your favorite wins/improvements ● Act: Apply a manageable number of action steps (Less is more)
    4. ● Learn: Apply the Improvement Kata five-questions to your experiments this week
    5. ● Share!
      1. Send me:
      2. One hot tip that has helped you – large or small
      3. One thing you do that helps you manage your boss’ calendar
      4. One thing you’ve asked of or told your boss that has improved your communication
      5. Questions

SlideShare to Prepare for Our Next Session

 

 

Week One and Week Two screen and slides

This information below will apply to next week’s session. I will post the next SlideShare within an hour of the conference.

This link for the screenshare will become live at 12:50 ET. It will ask you to enter your name and click Join Meeting. It works best to wait to click join until the conference is live. http://screenshare.maestroconference.com/id=10775916&password=df4d0846bdcc3680

If you can’t see my screen, first try pressing CTRL+F5 (PC) or Command+Shift+R (MAC) on your browser.

If that doesn’t work, you can follow the slides below. The main concern is that you get on the call, but the visuals are helpful and add another dimension.

To download: Click here: http://www.speakstrong.com/pdfs/Executive_Administrative_Professional_Excellence_Week_One.pdf

Check back!

I’ll post the link to the action step summary and other useful items here after the conference.

 

Thanks!

Meryl

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What are your communication pet peeves?

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What kind of communication habits and practices bug you?

I’ve got a list, but it’s distilled down to: 

  • People not saying what they mean. I feel ungrounded when I sense that I need to read between the lines to figure out their meaning.
  • People not walking their talk. I don’t like it when I can’t count on people to do what they say they will.
  • People making personal attacks or speaking in a way that diminishes me or others.

Those are my communication pet peeves. What are yours?

The next step is to take those pet peeves and flip them to identify what communication habits and practices you value.

Can you guess where this is going? For me, it’s saying what you mean and meaning what you say – without being mean when you say it. What is it for you? Having a clear direction to aspire to in your communication draws out the best in you.

May I Share My Experience? vs …Offer Feedback?

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powerphrase icon2What’s the difference between asking,

  • May I share my experience?

and

  • May I offer some feedback?

Both elicit an invitation to share your perspective. But “sharing experience” frames sharing your perspective as impact, and “offering feedback” frames your perspective as advice. 

That said, both beat “let me tell you what you should do.” 

At least that’s what my experience tells me… 

Align with those who want what you want – at the highest level

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weaveJan wanted to learn. Sue wanted to teach. Life was good. They both wanted time where Sue taught and Jan learned.

Until Jan started to want Sue to learn, just a little, from her. Sue resisted. Now they both wanted to teach. Neither one wanted to learn. They both wanted the same thing, and it didn’t work as well.

It’s not about wanting the same thing. Jack Sprat who couldn’t eat fat got along great with his wife who couldn’t eat lean. They weren’t the same, but they did complement each other. Their desires were aligned at the highest level.

Leaders want results. Admins want systems and processes that flow. (Of course it’s not quite that black and white.) Sometimes their desires seem to collide. At the highest level, they depend on each other. That’s the level we need to communicate from. 

It’s like this picture. The stars can overshadow the diamonds, but both are essential to the weave. 

Sue discovered that she was a much more effective teacher when she learned from Jan, too. They got to the level where their desires were aligned again.

Click here to see the basket weave inverted. Looks pretty different, doesn’t it?

We’ll be “inverting the weave ” (seeing through a different lens) at my Executive Admin Online Training Camp in two weeks.  Join us!

The Secret and Often Invisible Power of Assistants and Support Staff

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I spent the day yesterday with two wise friends. One is mature and articulate. The other is young and receptive. I heard my mature friend share her wisdom in ways I never have before. Her light was shining.

I also became aware of my young friend’s remarkable ability to draw out other people’s light. That gift is easier to miss than the articulate wisdom of my older guest. On the surface, the articulate woman was the powerful one. In the light of it all, both shared their power.

I like working with assistants because they work on a level that is often invisible. The old song about “The WInd Beneath My Wings” is a great metaphor for one aspect of assistant genius. It’s a special kind of power, that, when made conscious, can be used deliberately and skillfully for an effective outcome. When made conscious, it also can be a chosen mode of operating rather than default. I loved observing the receptivity of my younger friend and also enjoyed our time alone where she shared more of her own wisdom directly. 

We’ll talk about magnetic power at the Executive Admin Online Training Camp.