Annie Croner [00:00:00]:
Hey there. Welcome to the Best of Series, where I share the Best of the podcast in 2025. I have done this over the last few years with the podcast and it's a lot of fun for me to go back through the episodes and to look at all the thought leadership that I've developed over the year. And these episodes represent that thought leadership and these episodes also have high listenership. So I hope you enjoy the Best of Series and I will see you in 20 with more new content, more fresh ideas and perspectives. Until then, enjoy the Best of Series. 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, strategies, and mindset that will help you unleash your full potential. Let's go. Welcome back to the Whole Assistant Podcast, you guys. I just got off of a couple of coaching calls with different circumstances but similar situations. And I just have decided that I'm just going to pop on here and record this episode in the hopes that what I'm going to share with you guys will encourage you today and will help you feel less alone, will help you feel like you're not going crazy. And so, yeah, here it goes. I coach a couple of clients of mine who work in really chaotic environments. And as I was coaching them, I
Annie Croner [00:01:40]:
brought up the question, like, does your executive operate in chaos? Now, both of these executives are founders. Both of these executives work in environments that are not startup environments, but are smaller organizations. And as I was coaching my clients, I was asking them about their executives and how they operate and if operating out of chaos is something that is typical for them or not. Because I have seen this so much. And actually Dan Martel wrote a book, and the book is called buy back your time. And I read. I've read that book a couple times now. And what I love about Dan's book is that it breaks down why founders in particular should hire themselves an assistant. That that assistant can be really helpful. Now, he has a still a very limited view of all that we manage and all that we do and all that we're capable of, as do most executives, to be quite honest. So I just am aware of what he said in the book, which is most founders or a good number of founders grew up in chaos, so chaos feels normal to them. And so when it comes time to take risks in their career, that also is not a big deal because they are so used to taking risks. They're so used to feeling unsettled. They're so used to the chaos. And so as executive assistants and as support professionals, supporting someone like this, it can be incredibly challenging. Whenever you finally find that you're getting a rhythm, the executive will kick up the dust. The executive
Annie Croner [00:03:20]:
will decide to pursue another initiative or work another thing into the mix, or they're going to do a hard pivot. And this is really normal for the executive. And the advice I gave my clients today was, you are going to have to show up clean for your work and also know that how your executive is showing up has literally nothing to do with you. This is them. And until they're willing to get introspective and uncover or unravel why chaos feels so normal to them, this will be your reality. Because they will say that they want order, and they will say that they want predictability, and they will say all these things. And just when you feel like you're getting on top of it, just when you feel like you are getting into a rhythm, they'll kick up the dust. They'll make big shifts, they'll make a big change. They'll take on a new initiative, they'll shift in a way that just creates more chaos. And with both of these clients, there's a level of frustration there with that, and I understand that. I think it's important to recognize and realize that this is just going to be your work environment, because your executive is creating this work environment. And with one client in particular, this person had a swirl of people around them. Their executive had, like, a good number of people swirling around them the whole time, trying to tend to this person's needs, trying to make sure that they had what they needed. And it was just utter chaos. And so what can happen is, as the executive assistant, we can think that if we had just done something better, if we just showed up differently, if we had just managed things a
Annie Croner [00:05:00]:
bit better, that it would reduce the chaos. And I'm here to say that is not true. True. When you're dealing with chaos in an executive and when that chaos is normalized on an internal level for someone, this is just going to be your reality. So I don't think that you have to leave. I just think it's something to be aware of. Because what we can tend to do is we can tend to gaslight ourselves. We can tend to be like, oh, if I just had done put a, B and C into place, then, you know, we. It would have saved us from all this chaos and not actually true, it's not actually factual. Because if you had perhaps prevented one level of chaos in one portion of the business, or in one sense, chaos would have popped up somewhere else, because the creator of the chaos is your executive. And so I just don't want you guys gaslighting yourselves into thinking that you are the problem here, because you're not the problem here. Your executive operates in a certain way, in a certain fashion, and it's okay not to want to operate in that same way. And I think a lot of people feel like they can't hang. Like I should be able to hang with this group. I should be able to do all the things, but I just don't feel like I can. That is also really normal. And both of my clients were experiencing some level of that today. So I just want to encourage you guys, chaos is not always on you to fix, especially if you work in a chaotic environment where your executive is chaos personified. And this does happen fairly frequently. We can be the keepers of the company culture, but
Annie Croner [00:06:40]:
only so long as we are in a supportive environment for that and as we have really reflective executives who are willing to set aside the chaos to perhaps operate in a new and different way. And I think it all starts with awareness. I will also say that it is not your job to make your executive aware of their chaos. You can present data points to them, and that can be helpful in pointing out certain dynamics in your workplace. But we want to do that from a clean place. And by that, by the word clean, what I actually mean is we want to disconnect from the actual outcome of any conversation that we may have with our executives. Because if we're so attached to a specific outcome and that doesn't happen, we are going to make that mean something about us instead of something about our work environment or something about the situation at hand, just as a data point. So just bring some awareness to this, especially if you're working in a chaotic environment, especially if your executive is a glitter thrower, they are visionary, and they also have chaos ruling around them. And every time you begin to organize the chaos, more chaos gets thrown into the mix. This is something for you to be aware of. And you cannot fix this level of chaos. You just can't, because it's coming down from the top, especially if you're working with a founder. And so recognizing that this is gonna be a limitation of your job life and that your role will primarily be reactive instead of proactive, is something that I would highly encourage you to do. One of my clients asked Me today, they're like, do you think I can hold a quarterly strategic planning session with my executive? And I said, absolutely not.
Annie Croner [00:08:20]:
I don't think you can hold a quarterly strategic planning session with your executive because your executive will be clear on their priorities in the moment. And the next moment, it's all going to change. It's all going to be different. So in that case, you have to learn to roll with the punches. You have to learn not to tie the value that you're bringing your executive and your organization to the outcome for your executive. If your executive is like the Tasmanian devil and he's swirling around and he's like, all over the place, it's going to be really hard to find that strategic alignment. It's going to be really hard to hold your executive accountable if you're dealing with this type of personality. And honestly, one of these. One of these executives is genuine. They're a good person. But I just think that there is just a level of chaos that this person is really accustomed to working in. And so that is what I have for you guys today. The last thing I would want to see you do is blame yourself for something or to tell yourself that if you showed up differently, the circumstances would change or that if you were more effective in your role, you would be able to rein this person in or you'd be able to actually reduce the chaos in this situation. The chaos is a circumstance. And then you get to decide how to show up for that chaos or whether or not you want to show up. I hold no judgment either way. You can stay or leave. It makes no difference to me. I will say that staying in an environment because you feel you should, to try and prove to yourself that you can play or belong may not be the best motivation for staying in a role. Only stay in a role if you actually
Annie Croner [00:10:00]:
want to stay in a role. And here's the thing, guys, you must know and like your reason why you make any decision you make. I don't require that I like any decision my client makes or that I understand fully their reasoning. My only requirement for my clients is that they know their reason why and that they like that reason. So get really clear on the reason why you're staying. Get really clear on the reason why you want to leave. There is no judgment in not wanting to work in a chaotic environment. It is not for everyone. And I know for a lot of us, chaos is normalized because we were also raised in chaotic environments. So dealing with a chaotic parent or dealing with a chaotic superior, it all just feels natural to us, and you get to decide whether or not you want that to feel natural into the future or you would rather show up to work and to a bit less chaos. There are always going to be things that we're going to be dealing with that we may not want to deal with at work or that may be less than ideal or less than optimal. Only you know if your work environment fits into this category of chaotic or whatnot. So that is what I have for you guys today. I just don't want to see you gaslighting yourselves into staying in a role that is not great for you. I also don't want to see you try to convince yourself that you are going to be able to change this person or this circumstance, because chances are you probably won't be able to. You'll be able to offer services in the moment and those services may be a bit more reactive than you would care for, especially if you are more strategically aligned and you want to be a more strategic business partner. It may not be 100% possible for you in your current work environment and that has nothing to do with you. Okay guys, that is what
Annie Croner [00:11:40]:
I have for you guys today. Be intentional. Be whole. That is 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 greater impact. 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.
