Janet-ism #3: You need to care
Through caring is where everything stems
It seems so trivial to tell someone to care about their job. Like why is that important at all. A job is a job is a job. And we’re all here to make money, no?
Yes. But also no. Especially, and maybe specifically, when it comes to being an Executive Assistant, or at least that’s all I can speak on given my experience. This role is hard and demanding. It can be draining. It can be emotionally exhausting. It can be lonely. So if you don’t really care about the role, and you’re just here to do what you need to do, and get your paycheck, then you will limit your growth and what this role could be for you. You will miss the excitement, the challenges, and the spark and joys this job can bring.
Being an Executive Assistant can be a long term gig for people who really, truly enjoy the job. And caring about the role, the work, the executive(s) you support, the team you work with, will help you naturally become better at the job.
If you care about doing a good job, you’ll want to do a good job, you’ll want to learn from mistakes, and you’ll want to grow and be better. If you care about the executive you support, you’ll do what you can to help make them look good and make their work lives easier. If you care about the team, you’ll grow your network and build relationships and become a great representative of your exec and the company.
Caring will also make you stand out. Your efforts will show through your work and relationships. When EAs ask me how they could be better, how they could get that promotion, how they could level up, I sometimes want to say “you just have to care deeply and that’s it” because I truly believe that through caring stems everything else that I talk about - ie building relationships, adapting, being resourceful, being strategic, etc.
Here’s a simple example:
I once worked for a great executive I respected. I enjoyed the work, the team, and the company, and I cared deeply about doing the best job I possibly could.
One day, he asked me to help find a gift for a high profile founder and investor in Silicon Valley whom we wanted to impress and thank. I took it upon myself to make sure that I got him what I thought would be the absolute best and most memorable gift he would receive, simply because I wanted my executive to look good. I researched, I reached out to my network, I dug and dug and dug, and finally found this investor’s favorite winery. I reached out to that winery, they had his sales records, and they recommended a brand new bottle of one of the best wines they had that he hadn’t yet purchased and they only had a few dozen bottles of.
Long story short, I drove 1.5 hours to this winery to pick up the wine, and gave it to my executive to hand deliver to the investor at their next meeting. He received the wine and was blown away, mentioning that this winery was his favorite, and that he was waiting for the release of this bottle. He was extremely grateful, and I know it made a lasting impression on him.
On the flip side, I worked for someone who asked me to get a gift for someone. Because I was so busy with my clients, I couldn’t “care” fully and deeply. Not because I didn’t want to, but simply because I didn’t have time. And because of this, I didn’t spend the time to research and dig in to what this person liked, and instead just got them something generic and sent it on its merry way.
That’s the difference between caring and not caring. When you care, you do everything in your power to do a good, impressionable job. When you don’t care (or can’t care), you’re no different than anyone else who does your job. Anyone can just send any bottle of wine to someone. But not anyone can send the recipient their favorite winery’s wine, and a special, unique bottle at that. In one instance, the recipient will be appreciative, in the other, the recipient will be grateful and touched and remember you/your exec for being different.
Yes, my example is about wine and gifting, and that’s only a small part of what we do regularly, but this concept of “caring” applies to everything we do. I could go on with a list of examples, but you get the point.
You want to do a good job? You want to be a better EA? You want to stand out from others?
Then I have the answer for you: CARE.