Which type of CEO are you?

Forming a successful partnership with your Executive Assistant means knowing which type of CEO you are.

Knowing which type of CEO you are will enable your Executive Assistant to understand what you need. 

Without understanding your needs, your assistant will spend time on unimportant tasks, resulting in hours of lost productivity and ultimately slowing you down.

Three stages of development for an Executive:

Stage 1 |Technician 

“You need to do things my way. I can still do everything myself”

• Short term results.
• Task orientated not outcome focused.
• Micromanager.
• Top down control.
• May not have worked with an EA before.

Stage 2 | Manager

“You need to be available in case I need you, I can do it with or without you”

• Some systems and procedures in place.
• Allowed some flexibility but must drop everything when I need you.
• Usually worked together for a while.
• Still holding onto projects that could be delegated.
• Not fully understanding of the capability of an EA.

Stage 3 | Leader

“We can do it together and we’re better working as a team”

• Trusted partnership.
• Continuous improvement.
• Empower EA to make decisions on their own.
• The EA is given ownership of their role.
• Encourages EA to get involved in other areas of the business.

The most important thing to understand is that all working styles need to be met with understanding. 

I want to re-iterate, there is nothing inherently wrong with being a technician although the technician tends to experience more interpersonal stress than manager and leader. 

Clearly there are advantages of being the Leader CEO here. The advantage of working in a trusted partnership with your Executive Assistant means that you have someone you know you can rely on, someone who understands your priorities and someone who understands the enormous pressure you’re under to deliver outstanding results.