Annie:
Welcome to the Whole Assistant Podcast, where assistants come to embrace their badassery and discover how to show up more strategically for their careers, their executives, and most importantly, themselves. I'm your coach, Annie Croner. Join us as we dive into the skills of strategic strategies and mindset that will help you unleash your full potential. Anyway, so today we're talking all about making the shift from Chaos Coordinator to the anchor. And look, guys, I think we have all, at one time or another, used the term Chaos Coordinator to describe what it is that we do. But words matter. And I just want us to consider that there may be a better way of thinking about what it is we actually offer the value we bring to the table that is different from a Chaos Coordinator. And so I'm going to be sharing a concept called being the anchor today, like the anchor on a ship. And we're going to look at how these two ways of thinking about our roles difference. So there again, words matter. Words are how we define and articulate the value we bring to the table. Words can either add value to what we do, or words can devalue what we do. So let's look at the term Chaos Coordinator. Is this a helpful way of looking at yourself and your role? Do you want to spend your time coordinating chaos, or would you rather stop playing small altogether? And I'm going to
Annie:
share a story, so. Oh, man. A long time ago at this point, I was speaking at an event and a friend of mine was also speaking at an event, and this friend brought somebody to help her. And the person that she brought didn't really have a lot of experience working with speakers. And this person's energy was just really all over the board. And her energy ended up kind of affecting the rest of us in an interesting way in that because she was frantic and she was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, we also felt inclined to do the same. Like we met her where she was at without even recognizing or realizing it. And so I do think that it is important to actually frame our roles in a helpful way that will help us show up to be the calm in the storm instead of feeding into that frantic energy, that frantic way of being and that frantic mentality. All this to say that ingesting frenetic energy is also something that just happens for a lot of us because a lot of us are really empathetic. But I will offer that perhaps a better way of thinking about your role is to be the anchor and not the chaos coordinator. Like I like to think about myself and how I want to show up in crazy situations and I want to be the calm in the storm. I don't want
Annie:
to feed into that frantic energy. I don't want to feed into the crazy. So I prefer to view the administrative role as being the anchor. So you're solidly holding the ship down while others around you are tossed around by the waves on the surface. Your executive can be up on the waves, riding the waves, tossed around by the wind, tossed around by the waves. And you can be solid. You can be that person that is a grounding force for your executive. You can be that person that is a grounding force for your team as well. And this is also a great way to there again affect company culture. Because if you are able to think clearly, if you're able to remain calm while everyone else around you is frantically running around like chickens with their heads cut off, that can just add so much value. So much value. First, of all, there are many benefits to being the anchor. One of those benefits is objectivity. But I do think that we can make a difference from chaos coordinator to anchor. And the first kind of step in this is to just lay down that frenetic energy and embrace what I like to refer to as a powerful calm. It's just that we're going to do it from a much better place. You will be more productive, you'll think more clearly and ultimately you're going to be more effective as a business partner if you remain
Annie:
clear headed and we remain clear headed by remaining calm. And I do think it's going to be important for us to recognize what is yours to own and control and what isn't. So what is yours to own and control are your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, which then create your results. So there again, you're going to stay in your own lane emotionally and then recognizing what is out of your control, which is how your executive chooses to show up, which is how your team chooses to show up. Right. So recognizing that power comes from the calm and then choosing to remain calm despite the chaos around you, again, it's easier said than done. But I do think that one key strategy to actually embracing calm is to give up this identity of being the chaos coordinator. I want to be the place that chaos goes to die. I want to bring death to the chaos, and I want to set up systems for everyone's success. I want to set up systems for my success, for sure. I want to set up systems for my executive success. And the way that we do that is by releasing this idea that things have to be chaotic in us, even though they're chaotic outside of us. We always have control over our inner world. We don't always have control over our external world. And look, it's natural for the external world to sometimes infiltrate the inner world. But
Annie:
what I like to do and what I encourage my clients to do is I just put my hand on my heart like, okay, this is mine to own. This, that's theirs to own. And just remind yourself, kind of coach yourself through that. You don't have to ingest your external environment. And also, if your external environment is toxic, I am not going to advocate that you stay in that environment either. We get to decide how we show up on purpose for any situation, and that includes chaos, and that includes these environments that are more fast paced. There's a difference between being fast paced and chaotic. Right? I work at a clip. I work very fast paced. But it is seldom that. I am working from a place of chaos and disorganization. Normally, I am working from a place of intention that I have lined out earlier in my day, my plan for the day, and I execute and I do it at a decent pace. So I'm not saying that we don't want to get things done. I'm not saying that we want to twiddle our thumbs or kick back and not do anything. I think that our brain often goes to extremes. Like either you're steeped in chaos and you're managing all the things, you're doing it from a frenetic energy, or you're calm and you're kickback and you aren't doing anything. You're just kicking back, eating bonbons and watching Netflix. I am not advocating
Annie:
for either one of those things. What I am advocating for is intentionality and a reframe of your role and a reframe of how you're showing up for that role. So in order to stay injective, we are going to have to release this idea that we are chaos coordinators. We just are. And there again, words matter. So I really encourage you all to adopt this idea of being the anchor, being that calming presence, being that person your executive turns to when they are feeling a little out of control, when they are feeling overwhelmed, even if you are feeling a little bit of the overwhelm as well. It's such a value add to your executive. It is such a value add to your team. And look, we are all a work in progress. So if you can remember as the chaos is swirling around you, to return to yourself in a meaningful way and ask yourself in that moment, how do I want to show up for this? Do I want to show up feeding into the chaos or do I want to stop playing small? Do I want to be the anchor for my executive and team or do I want to be up riding the waves with them, feeding into that energy? You always have a choice. So that is what I have for you guys today. I hope you find it helpful and I hope that you can make the mindset shift from chaos
Annie:
coordinator to being the anchoring force in your executive's life and world. Okay, guys, that's what I have for today. That's all for now. Hey, before you go, don't forget to grab my free strategic planning session guide. This stealthy playbook will help you and your executive find clarity on their priorities so you can make a difference. Go to wholeassistant.comguide or click the link in the Show Notes to snag your copy. And if you're loving the podcast, please subscribe, leave a review and share with another assistant ready to level up. Thanks for listening, and until next time, keep embracing your badassery.
