Video
Jan Jones with JJ Birden
WINNING AS AN UNDERDOG
How Executive Assistants Can Go from “Underdog" to MVP (Most Valuable Player)
This is my conversation with JJ Birden, former wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons. JJ says being an underdog gives you a Stealth Opportunity to win. An opportunity that can make you a Secret Weapon. While reading JJ’s book, When Opportunity Knocks, 8 Surefire Ways to Take Advantage, I saw many topics that are particularly applicable to executive assistants. However, JJ’s formula for success is pertinent for everyone who is committed to succeeding, no matter the odds.
KEY POINTS:
- 06:08 Master the Underdog Mentality. Use It to Your Advantage
- 08:46 What is Your Competitive Advantage? Learn to Maximize It
- 09:57 JJ’s Formula for Discovering what Made Him Unique and Special
- 11:47 What is Opportunity? Seizing Your Opportunity in Life and Work
- 12:47 Opportunity Doesn’t Always Present Itself. You Have to Create it
- 13:05 How to Get Noticed. How to Get Your Foot in the Door
- 15:30 How to Anticipate and Create Opportunities
- 16:45 Anticipation Must be Backed by Preparation
- 17:15 Everyday is Game Day - Bring Your Best Every Day
- 18:43 Avoid Complacency and the Entitlement Mentality
- 19:10 Succeeding like Joe Montana
- 20:05 How to Remain the Best of the Best
- 20:33 Adopt a Positive Growth Mindset - Be in Control
- 24:21 Mentorship: Taking You to the Next Level with Honest Feedback
- 26:33 Lead from the Front
- 27:55 Understand Your “Why.” Why do You do What you Do?
- 30:52 Doing “Why" Checkups - Consistently Give Your Best
- 32:15 Be Willing to Do What It Takes
- 32:58 Making Daily Incremental Improvements
- 33:20 Continue Working on Your Fundamental Skillset
- 33:54 Mastery is About Practice. Willing to Put in the Work
- 35:43 The Sky is the Limit. You Control You Attitude, Effort, Commitment
If you would like to invite JJ Birden to speak at your company or association event, please contact Jan Jones Worldwide Speakers Bureau on +1-760-431-8692, jan@janjonesworldwide.com.
Visit JJ's website.
Video
In Conversation: Jan Jones with Chip Eichelberger
Former Tony Robbins International Point Man, Chip Eichelberger, catches up with Jan Jones, Tony Robbins’ Former Executive Assistant.
Practically Perfect PA Summit: “The EA As Business Partner”
Why You Need an Expert Assistant | Jan Jones
Does Donald Trump’s assistant make him a better leader?
Good Morning San Diego
Author's New Insight into Donald Trump Interview
Audio
The Four Agreements for Executive Assistants
I’m honored to present an exclusive conversation with don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. about The Four Agreements curated for Executive Assistants and their Executives.
The Four Agreements:
- Be Impeccable with Your Word
- Don’t Take Anything for Granted
- Don’t make Assumptions
- Always do Your Best
This conversation is about topics many executive assistants are grappling with. Our conversation is not about quick fixes. Miguel shares strategies for life mastery, guiding you to live life from a place of self-love and self-respect. He also speaks from the executive’s point of view to help assistants understand how to adapt to the executive's thinking and expectations.
Topics Include:
4:53: Confidence and Trust are earned
5:59: An Assumption is a projected reality we create
6:18: The boss-assistant relationship creates a meeting of two different worlds
9:22: The assistant’s job is to allow the executive to do their job
10:10: The assistant and executive’s mutual efforts create trust
11:30: Some executives need help letting go
17:30: You get hired by your reputation, not your resume
19:58: The boss and assistant become family; they take care of each other
21:00: Learn to listen - hold back ‘yes' or ‘no' and listen to what the boss is saying
21:25: Don’t be afraid to ask questions
21:53: Taking action gives us confidence
25:56: Be willing to create a whole new culture in a new role
33:15: Knowing your responsibility as an assistant
34:10: We own the consequences of our choices
37:52: Cultivate your reputation
40:49: Consensus thinking
45:44: When culture becomes toxic
47:50: Bringing too much emotion to the workplace
50:24: If we have a victim mentality, we project that image
57:40: Have confidence in yourself
58:10: The effort we put in comes back to us
Other books by don Miguel Ruiz:
Please visit don Miguel's website for more information.
THE GAME CHANGING ATTORNEY PODCAST: EPISODE 51 — with Jan Jones — The CEO’s Secret Weapon: How Great Leaders and Their Assistants Maximize Productivity and Effectiveness
As the executive assistant to titans like Tony Robbins, Jan Jones was bringing disruptive innovation to the role long before the term came into use. She championed the EA profession’s integrity with 20+ years of proven expertise and paved her way to success with her fearless writing, speaking, and consulting.
Now, renowned author of The CEO’s Secret Weapon, speaker, and President at Jan Jones Worldwide Speakers Bureau, Jan advocates for the key role a high performing executive assistant plays in the business world.
In this episode, she’ll share:
• How you can leverage an executive assistant to free up your time and operate at your highest level.
• The essential traits of a great executive assistant and the key to finding the best one for you.
• What it takes to empower your EA to overcome any barrier that stands in your way.
A Masterclass on the Authentic Role of the Executive Assistant
This interview delivers the fearless, candid passion for the executive assistant role that we have come to expect from Jan Jones.
In this rare interview, we hear the passionate voice of a trailblazer. Jan Jones shares with The EA Faction™ a detailed look into the essential traits, habits and practices that helped her evolve into a respected international executive assistant. Jan delivers a treasure trove of timeless wisdom and practical, relevant how-to’s that is sure to inspire and resonate with today’s executive assistants who also wish to become masters of the EA role.
Jan speaks with the authority and passion that comes from years of experience, expertise and dedication to a craft that has been honed at the highest levels, leaving a legacy for the generations of exceptional executive assistants to come.
©Jan Jones 2020. Jan Jones retains all rights to her intellectual property expressed in this podcast.
No unauthorized use or dissemination permitted.
Topics Include:
01:36 How did you start your assistant career?
05:00 Why did you write your book?
10:15 How to develop maturity as an assistant.
14:00 Learning what the EA role requires.
14:41 How can the EA learn to handle pressure?
20:00 How the EA can become a decision maker.
22:38 How to build trust with your executive.
25:49 Building excellence in the EA role.
27:27 Adapting into a new job environment.
30:20 Keeping on top of workload; Understanding priorities.
35:02 Building the relationship with your executive.
37:20 The assistant is a “Gateway” to the executive.
39:16 How to avoid going into panic mode.
42:00 How to utilize time effectively.
43:37 Practice building your confidence.
45:47 Are assistants too dependent on technology?
47:48 What does “assisting” in the EA title mean?
50:02 The caliber of training for EAs today.
52:40 EAs starting a business.
56:08 The legacy of the EA profession.
The School for Good Living Podcast
Jan joins The School for Good Living's Founder, Brilliant Miller to discuss what it takes to be an extraordinary executive assistant. She shares ideas she learned from renowned leaders such as Elon Musk on finding, interviewing, and hiring the right executive assistant.
She underscores the monumental role executive assistants play in supporting executives, leaders, and businesses and explains why the job is widely misunderstood. She also illustrates what it’s like to work for author and coach Tony Robbins and explains why she believes everyone should write a book.
For more information on the podcast, show notes and links from the interview, click here.
What Crucial Skills Does an Assistant Need to Support Someone Like Tony Robbins?
This is a frank, spontaneous, unedited, late-night interview response to a question I was asked by Secretary.it magazine about “How does an assistant even begin to support someone like Tony Robbins. What does it take?”
My response is about the role of the executive assistant supporting Tony Robbins. It is NOT about Tony Robbins per se.
Beyond skills, it takes an enterprising mindset and a passionate heart to support someone like Tony Robbins. If you are an executive assistant looking to raise the bar on your performance or if you are an executive who knows intrinsically that you can be getting much higher levels of support from your assistant, this is for you.
The powerful and evolving job of the executive assistant to the CEO
Jan Jones joins Jim Blasingame to talk about what she has learned about the powerful and evolving job of the executive assistant to the CEO.
What does it take for an executive assistant to do their job in the 21st century marketplace
Jan Jones joins Jim Blasingame to reveal what several professional executive assistants said about what it takes to do their job in the 21st century marketplace.
Jan Jones on Your Working Life
Listen to Jan on the Your Working Life Podcast with Author Caroline Dowd-Higgins.
How The Best Business Leaders Maximize Their Productivity and Effectiveness
Jan interviews with host Eric Dye of Enterprise Radio/Entrepreneur Podcast Network.
Doing What Works Podcast with Maureen Anderson
Want to be an Executive Assistant? Jan talks with Maureen Anderson.
Jan Jones on Women Worldwide
Jan joins Host Deirdre Breakenridge on Women Worldwide.
America Tonight Radio Show with Kate Delaney
Interview with Kate Delaney.
John Gormley Show
Interview with John Gormely.
The Bill Martinez Show
Interview with Bill Martinez.
Articles
How Exceptional Executive Assistants Are Keeping CEOs Thriving In This Crisis
On the best of days, many CEOs would be lost without their EAs. In the chaos of the pandemic, exemplary assistance is not a luxury, but a requirement.
With the world on Covid-19 lockdown and businesses striving to function amid unprecedented disruption, I’ve heard from numerous executives about how grateful they are for the services of their unwavering assistants. Assistants are being counted on not only to keep their executives on track, but to put into daily practice a role at which they are adept—serving as their executive’s ambassador, their “face” and “voice” to the world.
The CEO’s Secret Weapon: A Second Self
In The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker wrote “The executive is, first of all, expected to get the right things done”. Long before Drucker uttered those famous words, generations of astute executives were working in trusted partnerships with assistants who constantly asked “What needs to be done and how do I make it happen?”
HR needs transformational thinking when recruiting exec assistants
HR recruiters have not educated themselves about this special category of assistants.
In the foreword to my book Cisco’s then-CEO John Chambers wrote that he interviewed 17 assistants before finally settling on the candidate who remained his assistant for more than 25 years. It got me wondering why HR placed 17 apparently unsuitable candidates in front of him.
Robust Communication: The Key to a Dynamic Executive-Assistant Partnership
The idea of the assistant being an executive’s "business partner" is quite in vogue today. Add in EA coach Adam Fidler’s insightful marriage of the HR concept of “strategic business partner” to the executive assistant role, and you’ve got a potential game plan for dynamic partnership success.
How Executive Assistants Can Develop Their Competitive Advantage
Assistants frequently ask me “How can I get really great at this job?” “How did you do it?” “How can I become a valuable assistant supporting high level executives?” “How can I differentiate myself from other assistants?” “How can I get noticed at work?”
Why Are Assistants Always "Putting Out Fires"?
An utterly frustrated assistant recently asked me “Why is everything last minute? Why am I always putting out fires?”
The nature of business is that situations change constantly and rapidly. Things happen and they have to be dealt with, whether it’s clients who have last-minute issues, a boss who is stranded en route, or technology that is malfunctioning. The executive assistant is the “go to” person, so that’s who people go to. On a daily basis you “wear” many “hats” and you will be asked to put on any number of those “hats” at a moment’s notice. Knowing this, realize that flexibility is key. To quote management guru, Gary Hamel, you must be “as nimble as change itself”.
Fundamental to the Assistant Tool Box: Good Grammar
Does it drive you nuts when you see assistants writing CEO's or EA's, when it is not a possessive noun? For example, someone wrote to me "I mentor junior assistants and EA's". I certainly hope she doesn't mentor them in grammar. One assistant wrote that she is "highly experienced in working with top CEO's". Top CEO's what? She didn't say. A training event for assistants says "the need for skilled EA's has never been greater". You're telling me! Particularly the need for EAs skilled in the basics of correct grammar.
Collaboration: How Executive Assistants Help Build A Strong Company Culture
Jan has written extensively on what it takes to be an exceptional Executive Assistant, featuring an exclusive 9-part Q&A series.
Do Donald Trump’s assistants make him a great leader?
Celebrating the glue that binds the business
Crucial Characteristics of an Exceptional Executive Assistant (and Why These Matter to You)
What's holding you back? Ten habits that highly successful people use to overcome self-doubt – and how you can apply them to your life
The Secret Key to Maximizing Your Productivity
How the World’s Best Leaders Enhance Their Productivity and Effectiveness
How to Become Your Boss’ Secret Weapon
The CEO’s Secret Weapon: A Strong Executive Assistant
The Tangible & Intangible Characteristics of An Exceptional Executive Assistant
> Read More on American Society of Adminstrative Professionals
Why Do Successful Executives Settle for Lousy Assistants?
