It’s COOL to be an administrative professional because you develop a one-of-a-kind relationship with the leader you support. They entrust you with a lot of private information sometimes both personal and professional. You guard that with your life and support them to the best of your abilities. Over time you can’t help but notice that you have created something special, unique in the office setting – a professional relationship that doesn’t match any other. How COOL is that?

This trust is typically gained in the early stages of your relationship by proving you can keep information private, complete assigned tasks on-time and at a suitable standard. Sometimes it takes longer for a team to get to this level. As the years pass and you are trusted with more and more you may notice that you have more ‘inside jokes’ with your leader or you know more about your executives next trip without having to ask those detailed questions you once did when you first booked trips on their behalf.

As I have read your comments throughout this Blog-a-thon I have noticed that many of you already have this special relationship with you leaders and it’s obvious that you cherish that. If you don’t have this type of relationship with your current leader, that’s okay too. You can always work toward establishing a better rapport. Here are just a few tiny tidbits. I would love to hear some of the little things (and big things) you do at your office to keep or establish that rapport with your leader.

Here is a list of tips to get us started:

Be an observer! Listen and learn from your executive and allow them to share advice or thoughts with you before interjecting your own ideas. Sometimes we need to get to know a person’s style and way of working first.

Be consistent. If you think your leader is hesitant to entrust you with their most precious tasks – it may be due to a lack of consistency in how you complete this work, ensure you do a top-notch job not most of the time but all of the time. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, if you make a mistake own up to it and keep moving forward.

Be there. As an assistant you need to be there for your leader. Knowing when it is important for you to be there for you leader is important. Whether to complete a report, schedule a meeting or lend an ear - they need you. If you are frequently away from your desk chatting with others about last night’s Dancing With the Stars episode or just hard to find during the workday it can be harder to establish this rapport. You don’t always have to physically be there, just be there for them when they need you. Yes, you are allowed to take vacation and sick days.

So what makes your partnership unique?

I look forward to hearing from you. Also don’t forget that our Blog-a-thon is April 1 – 30, 2011 and by commenting on this blog and any other blogs on this website you are entering to win one of our weekly prizes, mystery prizes or the grand prize – an Amazon Kindle with a very COOL red case. Best of luck to all of you!