Elizabeth Sutkowska: Jan, the business world has evolved dramatically since your early days supporting leaders like Tony Robbins. From your perspective, how has the essence of the Executive Assistant role changed, and where do you believe it must not change if we are to preserve the profession’s integrity?

Jan Jones: Essence means “essential to.” If the essence of the executive assistant role changes, it will no longer serve the original purpose, or intent of the role. This can cause confusion, and we are living through some of it right now. I agree that the perception of the role needs upgrading, but its essential purpose needs to remain intact. Business would struggle to get along without this role as it was conceived. That purpose is still relevant today. Execution of the role of necessity has to keep improving and changing, but not the essential nature of it. 

The executive assistant role exists to bring administrative infrastructure to business. That purpose is the foundation on which everything else rests and builds. No matter how basic or elevated the task, or the strategic intent or execution of it, the purpose of the role, its Why, is to provide executives with critically needed support, so they can deliver on their specific mandate. It’s incumbent on the assistant to go deep into what that mandate is, so they can meet the needs of the partnership, drawing on all the tactical and strategic resources the role has to offer. 

I’ve long maintained that assistants define the EA role too narrowly. The “strategic” talk we hear today, that’s about the other part of the role which has been underperformed, or outright ignored, but which has always been intrinsic to the role. It’s not some new-fangled concept particular to the role today. There are EAs who haven’t been implementing the role to its fullest potential. So it’s not the role that needs to change. It’s the execution of the role that needs to be more robust. 

I think there’s a misunderstanding by assistants and business in general about the true nature of the role, which has always delivered support beyond work done via a keyboard. That is, work that requires creative and critical thinking, initiative, vision, know-how, resourcefulness, and execution ability, for example. This is how assistants who are in alignment with their executives execute the role. They do the work their executives would do, if that work were a better use of the executive’s time. It’s tactical work and strategic work. The full expression of the assistant role always marries tactical with strategic. 

Disruption in the EA role is not a new thing. How the job is performed is constantly being disrupted. Fast-moving business, accelerated technology, will always be influencing factors. Every generation feels it and learns to adapt to shifting demands. We have assistants in the role today who started with the typewriter, and are now using AI. That’s some transition! Trends come and go, priorities change, fundamentals remain constant, preserving the integrity of the assistant role. 

Winners don’t just learn the fundamentals, they master them. Everything I did - everything I achieved, can be traced back to the way I approached the fundamentals. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.
- Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball Player. The GOAT

What disheartens me today, is that the role feels directionless for some assistants. They are searching for identity, clamoring for visibility and recognition from a role acknowledged as behind-the-scenes work. And well it may be, but that doesn’t mean insignificant, unnecessary or unskilled, so EAs must stop adopting that persona. Some EAs expect the job to give them more than they are willing to contribute to it. Consequently, it appears more transactional, less of a calling, or career, and less job satisfaction. I also notice diminished self-confidence in executive assistants. It’s attributed to a general lack of recognition and respect for the role, but I wonder what part assistants themselves play in that lack of recognition? For those who want a revolution in this profession, that’s where I suggest you start. Start with yourself. That’s within your control. It’s how you can effect change. If you want to see it, you need to be it. 

Yes, there’s a huge misperception about what the role does and is capable of doing. But EAs can correct that misperception through their performance. If you want more, you have to do more. Not by working harder, you already do that, but by exceeding all expectations through the caliber of your performance. Differentiating yourself through value creation will raise your visibility. It will create a positive perception of the role, and help preserve its integrity and longevity. 

The EA role enjoys a strategic vantage point and wide reach across the organization. It carries a hefty responsibility. Safeguard quintessential human traits like consideration, generosity, service-mindedness, and positive attitude. These perennials, along with other crucial traits discussed in my book, will be impervious to AI, and other foreseeable trends. They’ve kept the EA role a constant in business through booms and busts. Keep them inherent to the role and they’ll see this profession through to many more decades of irreplaceable contribution to business.

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