Annie:
Welcome to the whole Assistant podcast. I'm your host, Annie Croner. I'm an assistant who's passionate about our profession, and I'm also a certified coach who's invested in your success. You've come to the right place if you want to know what it looks like to stand in your power and achieve success with an assistant free from overwhelm and burnout. Now on to today's episode.
Annie:
Hello. How are you doing today? I'm doing really great. It is sunny outside. It is warm, even though it's the beginning of March. And there are a few days here in Colorado that are unseasonably warm. And they always get me really excited for spring. Even though we are not in the throes of spring quite yet or in the throes of summer, this is one of those unseasonably warm days. So I'm loving it.
Annie:
It has me really excited. We went on a walk as a family. We had lunch at this place called Denver Beer Company. We live near a Denver beer company, and there's like this little outdoor area where kids can go play. And we just had so much fun. It's so great to be outside in the middle of winter and to not have it be super duper cold. So, having a good day, thought I'd pop in my office to record this podcast and come and share with you all. So today we're talking about three ways executive assistants impact company culture.
Annie:
This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. This is something that has been rolling around in the back of my head. This episode has been rolling around in the back of my head, rather. And I really want you to take in what I'm about to share with you because I think that we don't think that we have as much impact on the company culture as we do, but it's totally not true. So, for good or for bad, and I've coached clients in both avenues, clients who thought that their actions weren't harming the company culture and clients who didn't realize the impact of their actions in a positive way. You are impactful. So I just want you to know that. And I really want to bring some awareness to this so that you can make sure that you're impacting your company culture in a way that makes sense and you're impacting your company culture intentionally instead of this willy nilly, instead of this lack of awareness.
Annie:
Right. So the first kind of way that we impact company culture is that we are the bridge between our executives and the rest of the organization people will be much more likely to come and complain to you than they will with your executive. So, people, what's really fascinating to me, I'm always surprised people feel like they can speak freely and openly with most executive assistants. And so that gives you an incredible amount of cultural power, actually, because you can decide what data you want to pass on to your executive without selling your colleagues out. I would hope not. But you can decide which data points you want to pass on to your executive because you're getting the raw, unfiltered version a lot more of the time than your executive does. People aren't going to go complain to the CEO or CFO or CMO or anything like that, but they will come to you if they have a problem. And pointing out certain cultural dynamics and certain dynamics within the team, certain team dynamics, is also a really cool value add for us as executive assistants.
Annie:
So you are the bridge between your executive and the rest of the organization. And it's a really cool thing that I want you to consider the next time you're thinking about sharing information with your executive, what you should and shouldn't share. Is it going to impact the culture in a good way? Is it going to impact the culture in a negative way? What's the information or the data that you can take from others and just present to your executive in a way that will support the organization and the company culture? Most of us aren't thinking about those dynamics whenever we're listening to people or whenever we're sharing with our executive something for us to truly be aware of, especially when we're talking about strategic partnering. And I'm going to be talking a lot more about strategic partnering on this podcast. I'm in the middle of rebranding everything now, my website, everything to really help you guys kick butt and take numbers. And this is one key element, or one key aspect of how you can strategically partner with your executive is to show up like you are the bridge and recognize that you are the bridge whether you like it or not. Right? So another kind of way that assistants impact company culture is all your knowledge, all your organizational knowledge. So you have your fingers on the pulse of the organization, you know, the interpersonal dynamics, you know people's insecurities because you probably witnessed them in action where there again, your executive may not have a lot of people tend to act really professional in front of the higher ups, right? But you probably have a better understanding of who needs to know what.
Annie:
And you also probably have a better understanding of the blind spots within leadership around these things. For example, if anybody's going to know that your executive is favoring a certain person under them to the detriment of his team and be able to share about that with the executive, it's probably you, right? Things like favoritism, things like how hard somebody is working and contributing, the breadth of their contribution, those sort of things. You're going to have a different perspective on those things than your executive does. And that's a beautiful thing. And you can really affect company culture with how you decide to utilize or not utilize that information. It's just something to bring some awareness around. And last but not least, you set the standard and tone in your organization. So it's kind of a funny thing.
Annie:
I just recently got done with a free master class where we were talking about setting the standard in your organization. So don't gossip, guys. Just don't. Just don't. And what was really fascinating about this webinar is that somebody actually popped in the chat and they're like, but what do I do when someone's gossiping to me? Right? Because it can be really awkward when somebody's gossiping to you and you've not partaken in the gossip yet. So here's my number one strategy for nipping gossip in the bud. You want to just ask if they need anything, don't address the gossip, don't answer their question, nothing. It's like, how can I help you? Okay, I'm in the middle of something.
Annie:
I've got to get back to it. You do not have to participate. And by not participating, you're actually setting the standard and the tone. You're setting the standard that you won't allow for gossip, even if they don't necessarily stop, even if they take their gossip to someone else. It's always good to set the standard and the tone. And look, I understand how awkward it can be, especially if it's like a buddy. Especially it's an ally, somebody that you consider a friend. But gossip, I got to tell you, nothing poisons the cultural water faster than gossip.
Annie:
Okay? And then also don't micromanage if you happen to oversee somebody. Micromanaging can be cultural death. It can be so frustrating straining culturally. So I don't know if you remember if this is you, if you manage other people, if you remember what it was like when you first started out in your role, or even maybe you have a favorite manager. My guess would be that your manager let you have enough leeway to make a few mistakes. Right? Not everything has to be done a specific certain way, so long as you're focused on the outcome. And so this no micromanaging thing can be a huge game changer when it comes to the culture and when it comes to making sure that the culture that you have in the company is one that you actually want. If you oversee people, and then last but not least, you have the power to let negative thoughts and words die.
Annie:
Words spoken by others in frustration. You don't have to pass those along. You don't thoughts you hold about other people, you don't have to hold on to those thoughts. Every thought is optional, even if it feels super true to you. Even if it feels like the 100% truth. So I know this episode is short and sweet, but I just wanted to talk for a moment about how impactful you can be in company culture and check in with yourself on perhaps how you can implement the strategies I've shared today and how you can bring some awareness to the ways in which you are impacting company culture. Okay, guys, be intentional. Be whole.
Annie:
That is all for now. I help assistants apply the concepts I share on this podcast. If you're ready to take your growth deeper and you're curious whether working with me in a coaching capacity is right for you, please email me at [email protected] to schedule your complimentary discovery, call.
