Provide value from day one, but long-term strive towards this vision: - An EA's (executive assistant) work fits an iceberg model. The visible work represents ~10% of their actual value. The role is about liberation, not support. - Anticipation (thinking steps ahead without being asked). Widely seen as single most important factor - Pattern modeling of the exec - Read what they read, understand their influences, internalize their definition of success - Work towards accuracy in predicting their response/decision in anything - Organizational overview - EA has wider daily reach than the exec. See what others don't see - Cultivate "Switzerland status": Employees are often more comfortable sharing with EA than exec. Use this to surface viewpoints exec hasn't considered - Scenario simulation - Have contingency plans for scenarios like what if meeting runs over, what if other person cancels - From military CAV model: The aide must "have thought of it the day before yesterday, accomplished it yesterday, and report it done when the boss thinks of it today." - Business knowledge - Understand the company, mission, strategy, research, etc. - Filter / preprocessing - Minimize [[Cognitive load theory|extraneous cognitive load]] - Batching, format/rewrite, prepare surrounding tasks and research - Triage everything that comes in - Continuously build systems for efficiency and to ensure nothing falls through - Route based on urgency + importance: Pass through immediately, batch for later, delegate, filter out entirely - Route without asking. Build a map of what can be delegated to who - Decline requests in such a gracious way that people still feel valued - Get as far as I can on everything and gather relevant context before passing on - Learn to ghost write the exec - Quality > Quantity. Do my very best in everything, even when that means doing less. Everything is much easier if exec can trust my work - Prevent decision fatigue - Make all the small decisions like event, meeting and travel logistics to preserve exec's cognitive resources - Understand exec's energy, circadian rhythm, peak focus hours, life outside work and preferred meeting structure to organize everything ideally - Follow-through - No loose ends ever, never be the bottle neck - Notifications for everything on watch, process anything that comes in with a 10-minute rule. [[It's all about speed]] - Hold meta-cognition in meetings - Help maintain focus, flag when things are slipping - Track action items and decisions - Chase follow-ups - Strong EQ - Reading people and reading rooms - Calm under pressure - Occasionally manage up: Push back, deliver uncomfortable truths - Default to confidentiality. Treat everything as confidential unless explicitly told otherwise.