Getting Into the Executive Suite - you want to work with the Top Dog?
Do you have high hopes of working for a President, Chairman, or CEO of an enterprise? Good for you. I had those aspirations when I graduated from high school and knew I wanted to go into the administrative profession. I wanted to reach for the stars! I wanted to work for the big dogs! I knew that type of position would be challenging, energizing, exciting, and have nice perks. But there are requirements to get into the Executive Suite (which could include working for any C-level executive such as CFO). Here is an excerpt from my new book, Underneath It All. . . Post Graduate Revelations Life Assistants to New Heights, that will help get you there.
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With ambition and training, you can climb over the competition.
“My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less competition there.” --Indira Gandhi, Indian politician and prime minister, 1917-1984
YOU must always …
- Look professional. Your make-up, jewelry and attire should be impeccable at all times. (Remember, you’re on-stage daily until you turn the key at your own front door!)
- Be an active listener in meetings. Look for ways to contribute something of value. Meetings offer a perfect venue to showcase yourself. Active listening results in picking up a potpourri of information enabling you to quickly assess needs or challenges. Your response can be notable. Meeting attendees are looking, listening; waiting to receive directions. At this moment, you’re a powerful person!
- Be a strategical thinker. This means you don’t focus exclusively on the here-and- now, like many do, but instead you focus on long-term pros and cons. Dr. Glenn Pfau, a consultant from Virginia, is an image expert who caused me to take notice of this process: if I do this now – what happens? And, then, what happens? My uncle Ralph, the champion chess player, is a strategical thinker. When I observe him over the chess board I can almost “see” the wheels turning as he plots and plans what will happen if he makes this move … or, what happens if instead he makes that move? People who are good at multi-tasking are usually good strategical thinkers. I mention this because … you may already be a strategical thinker without realizing it.
- Poise, grace. These two characteristics grab attention and invite applause. You can try to exude poise and grace like royalty does. Close your eyes and picture Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. She is dignified. She is neither too loud nor too soft when she speaks. She stands tall and seems to float across a room rather than walk. She adapts a ballet dancer’s carriage as she moves and without speaking a word, she earns the admiration of onlookers.
Flexible and adaptable. Anyone can work for weeks to prepare for a special occasion and then – suddenly plans change. “Anyone” is likely to moan but not the Admin who works in the Executive Suite. She may try to salvage something that wasn’t used and apply it elsewhere but she won’t focus on disappointment. She doesn’t have time! She must focus on making this the best of times.
(Come back soon to read Part 2.)