Excerpts from the 2005 Annual Briefing for Administrative Professionals

“Shaping the Future: Leadership Skills for the Administrative Professional.”

.......... presented April 27, 2005
Keynote speaker, Cokie Roberts, long time ABC congressional correspondent, shared insights on leadership and her perspective on skills needed to succeed in the future.

“Leadership is about having passion for your work, having professional knowledge and competence, and implementing innovative ideas to make departments and organizations better.” She believes leaders share four common core skills. Leaders are:

  1. Visionary and willing to take calculated risks
  2. Confident, politically astute and truthful
  3. Create the plan and communicate it clearly and concisely so others can follow it
    4. Take action – they do what they say
In researching her latest book Founding Mothers, Ms. Roberts thought she was simply gathering interesting stories. What she found instead was a pervasive and persistent influence of teamwork in the founding of the United States.

Career and family are not isolated; and therefore, balancing work with life is critical to achieving personal and professional success.”

“Mentoring and family relationships shape and enrich our style, our lives, and our careers.” the founding of the United States.

Joni Daniels, author of Power Tools for Women shared tools for communicating and motivating effectively.

Change “I SHOULD” to “I WANT TO” to “I WILL”

  • “I should” statements demonstrate a sense of powerlessness.
  • “I want to” statements shifts you to a level of desire within yourself.
  • “I will” statements are assertive, claims ownership of an idea and places the concept in the present. You accept control of the idea and will act on it.

Four keys to communicating (how you say it is the most important aspect; use body language)

  • Talking – animation, non-verbal, pace
  • Listening – use eye contact, don’t be distracted
  • Asking questions – get clarification
  • Awareness – of those critical things

Safety Goggles – a critical skill
Provides for clear vision and allows you to see and sell the big picture. Take time to think about and plan this big picture, see the goal, then sell your vision to others.

Power Drill – for precise questioning
Create openings by using the exact bits—asking just the right questions—that allows you to progress. When you drill with precision, you understand when and what to ask, what not to ask, and when to figure something out for yourself at a later time. The goal is to communicate precisely with others and be genuine.

Power Sander– smooth out the rough spots with others and buff up your sense of humor. Polish relationships and smooth down edges and you will most likely succeed, and help others succeed, as well. An understanding of what brings joy into your life and inspires smiles from others makes everything you do become easier.

Duct Tape – an emergency solution
Sometimes the best tool, no matter how well-honed, may not get the desired outcome.
You have to use the tool that hides on the bottom shelf—the tool that holds things together—the infinite roll of temporary and permanent Plan B’s, C’s, D’s, E’s.
Jo A. Peay, President, International Association of Administrative Professionals® shared results of IAAP’s survey on career goals and challenges facing the profession (based on 3,200 member responses). www.iaap-hq.org

Current Job Titles
30% - Administrative Assistant
18% - Executive Assistant
06% - Executive Secretary
05% - Office Manager or Supervisor
05% - Secretary
04% - Administrative Secretary
03% - Administrative Coordinator
02% - Assistant to (exec title)
02% - Administrative Manager
27% - Other

Primary Career Goal
41% - Remain in the admin field
20% - Advance within the company
09% - Retire
08% - Move into management
04% - Own a business outside of admin field
04% - Work as self-employed virtual assistant
04% - Change careers
04% - Other
06% - Not sure

Level of Authority and Automony in Decision-Making Responsibility Increased in Past 5 Years
48% - Increased some
30% - Increased significantly
18% - Stayed the same
05% - Decreased

Most Significant Issues Facing the Profession in 5-10 Years (10 is most)
8.9 - Keeping up with changing technology
7.9 - Increased workload
7.9 - Doing more with less resources/cost
7.8 - Balancing work and family
7.7 - Need for more managerial training
7.1 - Corporate downsizing
6.2 - Corporate offshoring/outsourcing

Change in Number of Support Staff in Company Last 3 Years
39% - Decreased
32% - Stayed the same
21% - Increased
07% - Unsure
01% - NA

Affect on Workload for Admins if Staff was Reduced
45% - Increased
35% - NA
04% - Stayed the same
01% - Decreased

Rating of Workplace Challenges (10 most challenging)
8.4 - Juggling multiple priorities
6.1 - Dealing w/difficult people/personalities
6.1 - Volume of work—no time to accomplish all
6.0 - Understanding/using technology
5.7 - Serving multiple supervisors
4.5 - Adapting to organizational changes
3.4 - Working for difficult supervisor
3.0 - Lack of equipment/facilities to do job well

Level of Job Satisfaction in Current Position & Rating of How Well Manager/Supervisor Uses Current Job Skills/Abilities (scale 1-10; 10 being most satisfied) - 7.2

Diane Domeyer, Executive Director at OfficeTeam shared results of a recent major study predicting changes in the workplace over the coming decade. www.officeofthefuture2020.com

Administrative Entrepreneurs

  • Provides essential connectivity in a dispersed office
  • Emotional intelligence and intuition paramount
  • New job titles
  • Resource coordinator
  • Workflow controller
  • Knowledge manager
 Office of the Future: 2020
  • Mobile workforce with “instant offices”
  • Telecommuting - over 100 million people
  • Around-the-clock check-in
  • Virtual interaction replacing in-person meetings

Key Competencies

  • A nalysis
  • C ollaboration
  • T echnical aptitude
  • I ntuition
  • O ngoing education
  • N egotiation
Responses to the question “what do you feel is the most important or a very important leadership quality?”

Cokie Roberts …Team player
Jo Peay …Respect
Joni Daniels …Skills outside the norm; break the box – be more assertive; stay up on your technical skills

Response to question on “the importance of soft skills”

Joni Daniels ….soft skills is the blood that pumps the heart of a business.
Jo Peay ….soft skills are things you don’t learn in a textbook; you have to develop them while working with people.

Question to Jo Peay on “how do you keep from being burnt out?”

  • Network with other admins
  • Develop yourselves – learn about something else, or how to do something better, or develop a new skill
  • Take time out – for fun, for you, for relaxation
..…Information used in this article was adapted from annual briefing notes, participant guide, and IAAP website