Topic Summaries

We’ve all met that dynamic, charismatic person that just has a way with others and has a way of being remembered.  Building credibility with others will help you move throughout the organization with ease and success.  Using compelling messages will enable you to make an impact and overcome roadblocks.  In this session you will discover and learn:

• How to build trust between you and your colleagues
• Understand the impact of your communication style
• Use compelling messages to make an impact and overcome roadblocks
• Identify opportunities to strengthen relationships and develop powerful influencing strategies
• Activities and real-world scenarios to practice new skills
• Identify and use the six sources of influence

Genuine leaders take a stand and motivate others. Some people are born leaders. Others are born during adversity. The demands of an assistant are constantly changing. It is even more evident with the current COVID-19 situation.

Now you must exercise your strengths for even greater influence, solve bigger problems, and communicate across all levels of the organization. How can you use your strengths to stay committed to yourself, your leaders, and other co-workers? What is it that makes a great leader and how will you stand out as a leader in your role?

In this session, Linda discusses the characteristics of great leaders, shares techniques to manage without authority using stories and examples and guides you to explore your own unique leadership strengths to lead in the moment.

In this session, Linda shares research she has gathered from assistant training, groups and forums and has created a leadership deep dive presentation for assistants. The following information will be discussed:

• Learn the five Golden Nuggets of Leadership
• Finding your superpower
• Building on your strengths and leadership qualities
• Identifying areas to develop and improve
• Using the Ben Franklin Effect to turn rivals into collaborators
• Maneuvering roadblocks and your inner critic
• The Importance of and measuring your integrity
• Learning how to crack the confidence code
• Building a community of people and mentoring
• Knowing your voice and speaking up
• Believing in others before they succeed
• Examples of great leaders who overcame adversity

As the role of administrative assistant continues to evolve, we face many challenges and setbacks.  We make mistakes, organizations restructure, we work in diverse work environments, and more.  In this session, we will explore ways to transform our thinking so we can adapt to the ever-changing environments where we work.  In this session you will:

• Learn skills of self-awareness and self-management
• Understand, use, and manage your emotions
• Distinguish the signs of when change is in process
• Take the lead to help transform the workplace
• Learn techniques to transition with new co-workers and leaders

The administrative world has dramatically changed in the past several years. With the COVID situation, it changed overnight. It's vital to your success as an assistant that you commit to becoming a strategic thinker and business partner with your executive. Why is a strategic thinking assistant different than a task master assistant? A task master waits to be told what to do, is reactive, and spends time putting out fires. Evolving your thinking beyond everyday tasks will enable you to make deliberate strategic decisions and propel you to implement ideas, techniques and practices that will evolve your thinking.

Linda will take you through the Strategic Thinking Process: Align, Assess, and Action to further your credibility and develop communication strategies.

• Learn the Strategic Thinking Process: Align, Assess, and Action
• Know your vision and personal inventory
• Techniques to connect the dots to anticipate your executive’s needs
• Stories about using the strategic thinking process to empower you

Change is a constant in many of our lives. All around us, technologies, processes, people, our environment, ideas, and methods often change, affecting the way we perform daily tasks and live our lives.  Benjamin Franklin once said, "When you're finished changing, you're finished."  This quote is our reminder to constantly embrace change so that we don't become complacent.   This workshop will explore:

• Getting comfortable in a changing environment
• Reasons that affect your resistance to change
• Keeping your competitive edge by anticipating and adapting to change
• Coping with isolation, shifting times, and taking initiative
• Trends impacting the office assistant now and in-the-future
• Tips to optimize and embrace change
• Committing to continuous self-improvement

As an assistant, your credibility, reputation, and success are critical and directly linked to your leader.  The best way to predict your future is to create it.  Getting to know your inner self is key!

In this interactive session, we will use the S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis method.  This method will highlight how to use this analysis to identify your specific needs and goals.  We will work on a visual design to help you focus on your values, achievements, and mottos that make you unique.   Understanding this information will help you identify a plan and put goals into action, define your priorities and even help you align with your leader.

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew exactly what your leader or co-worker needed before they asked? Whether you’re preparing for a conversation with your manager or a job interview, how you present yourself is critical for a successful outcome.  Being confident is a great start; however, preparing yourself with assertive communication strategies will make you stand out, build credibility, and help you connect with people.  In this session you will learn:

• Review four communication styles (passive, non-communicative, aggressive & micromanager) and learn how to assess, approach, align and take action
• Learn tips to make an impact through powerful first impressions and introductions
• Identify skills needed in starting a conversation and progressing to higher levels of conversation
• Build and improve skills of asking questions, receiving and giving structured feedback and communicate with authority
• Utilize methodologies for understanding your worth, your attitudes, and behavior patterns
• Identify your greatest professional strengths and how you’ve demonstrated these traits in a professional setting
• Four techniques to building rapport and insight to increased trust and credibility

Conversations are critical, especially when dealing with difficult leaders or co-workers. There are times when even thinking about having a difficult conversation with a leader or co-worker is intimidating and just plain scary. Not only is timing important, it’s managing those conversations to achieve a great outcome. Difficult conversations are powerful in helping to transform you and your relationships with others. This session will explore:

• Techniques to prepare for critical conversations with your co-workers and leaders
• Self-awareness to determine your style when under pressure or stress
• Ways to find common ground throughout conversations
• Strategies and tips to develop your own dialogue
• Techniques to probe for facts
• How to clarify your intentions and identify what you want to have happen

Teamwork benefits the administrative community in a profound way.  The easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.  Creating opportunities for administrative teams to collaborate and connect will generate unlimited resources and outcomes.  In this session, we learn:

• The power of encouragement and interdependence to each other’s skills, capabilities and unique talents
• Creating strong collaboration and shared leadership
• Interactive activities and techniques to help improve collaboration
• Networking to create a community of people who care about you

There are four key stages to adapt your current knowledge and skills to become a respected business partner.  These stages are critical in developing a good working relationship.  Reaching the fourth stage signifies that you and your executive have developed a level of mutual trust and respect.  In this session, you will learn:

• Ideas and techniques to initiate transformation
• The key to the foundation to a successful partnership
• Develop techniques for open communication with your executive
• The four stages of transformation
• The value of commitment
• Develop credibility attributes, empowerment tips, and communication strategies

Challenging people disrupt our day and make our hearts pound.   We all have had stressful situations with a difficult person.  In this session, we will discuss:

• Impact of not dealing with challenging people
• Effective tools and strategies to deal with those that seem to sabotage our efforts
• Techniques to control your own emotions after a challenging encounter
• Understanding generational and/or cultural differences
• Recognizing when we are part of the problem
• Questions you should ask yourself about a potential challenging situation
• Survival techniques and coping mechanisms