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Questions Executive Assistants and Executives Should Ask Each Other

Sep 15, 2020 | About Athena, Business, Delegation, Getting Started with an EA

Great stuff again from Jeremy Burrows! Jeremy is an Executive Assistant, Author and Podcast host.

In this Op-Ed for Base, Jeremy discusses effective Communication, and outlines specific questions Executives and their Assistants should be asking each other.

“Think back to some of the best conversations you’ve ever had. Or, the best podcast interviews you’ve ever listened to. Or, the best counseling or therapy session you were a part of. What was the common thread in all of these? They were full of good questions!”

Open and frequent communication is vital to cultivating the CEO/Executive Assistant relationship. We mentor Athena EAs in being effective with our clients, ensuring the lines of communication are open and honest so clients are left spending their time on what they are most uniquely equipped to handle.

Honest conversations can sometimes be humbling or even uncomfortable, but the ultimate reward that comes from having them is certainly worth it! 

Would I have done anything differently?

Jun 30, 2020 | About Athena, Business

Recently I was interviewed by a couple of students from the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Washington. One of our current clients asked me if I would be willing to speak with them. When she introduced me via email, she said, “I believe that the training Gina does with her team is one of the key things that makes Athena different from the other VA firms out there.”

I had so much fun sharing with them about the industry. I had to make myself get off the call eventually, because apparently, I can go on and on about what we are doing here at Athena that is unique. They sat on the Zoom call with me like sponges, really listening and soaking it all up. You know how when somebody is truly, keenly listening to you and they are really interested, so you just keep talking? “Oh, and one other thing about that I want to share with you . . .”

After about an hour I knew I needed to wrap it up and move on to the real business of the day. Then one person added, “Just one more thing. What would you have done differently, looking back on the building and growth of Athena?”

That was a smart question, of course. I paused and looked for the answer. As I was pondering, the replay of key events over the last four years zipped through my mind. Of course, the most painful or lowest points were right there, easy to recall as if just yesterday. Then the replay of some of the high points and proudest moments crossed my mind.

I said, “Hmmmm. That’s tricky.” Then I was very surprised when I heard myself say, “I don’t think there is anything. I don’t think there is anything I would have changed. I mean, I hate that I had some of those really tough times. But from every tough moment came a piece of gold that I mined and then later, I often attributed that golden nugget to a big piece of future success.”

Many processes and systems have changed and improved at our firm over the years, not because I was sitting around looking to have “better processes”, but because I screwed something up! There was some ugly issue that showed up. Or I got blindsided by a smart question someone asked me that I had never thought of. 

The journey in life or business is the best part, isn’t it? 

Gina Cotner, CEO

Athena Executive Services 

 

The Leader Assistant

Jun 24, 2020 | About Athena, Business, Delegation

We’ve been looking forward to the launch of this book! Our CEO, Gina Cotner, had the honor of writing a recommendation for The Leader Assistant, that is included on the inside pages. She was also interviewed by author Jeremy Burrows on his podcast last year, The Leader Assistant Podcast.

Gina and Jeremy discussed what it takes to be a virtual vs. on-site Executive Assistant, leadership, time management and other tips, as well as how to set yourself apart as a high-performing EA.

Jeremy is someone who stands for Executive Assistants being Leaders, not just task do-ers. Something we coach and live with our team at Athena Executive Services each day! The reason for the carabiner on the front cover? To paraphrase Jeremy, “An EA is someone who is surrounded by tension, but always holds things together for their executives who are up on the big rock wall.”

Congratulations to Jeremy on the launch of this awesome read and valuable resource on leadership and being a game-changer in our industry.

Buy The Leader Assistant on Amazon.

 

WFH Perils and Predicaments – Part 3

May 26, 2020 | About Athena, Business, Productivity

Turning distractions and disruption into value!

The distractions and disruptions that happen working from home, can be turned on their head into something valuable. The annoyance or burden of laundry or dishes can be turned into a “brain break” or a break in the action of a stressful day. Maybe it’s time to get up from your desk and shake off that last phone call. Maybe last night’s dishes sitting in the sink, or drying on the counter, are now an opportunity to do something brainless for 10 minutes.

Do you have a morning ritual? The other day during our “morning ritual” time we decided to purge a closet. We emptied it; decided what to give away; re-organized and consolidated what was left; and put it neatly back in the closet. That was a very satisfying way to start a day! What was a pending, annoying house project that had been on our mind became something that gave us value and satisfaction at the start of our day.

One thing John and I particularly like about working at home together is that it combats the loneliness that can be there sometimes for an entrepreneur. We use each other to celebrate the big and small wins that happened throughout the week. We also use each other to bounce ideas off of. We often say, “Hey, when you have a minute could you look this over for me?” Or, “Hey, how would you deal with this situation?”

John is the chef in the house and while he’s not a formally trained chef, he is a really great cook and I’m so fortunate in these days of not going out to eat that we have healthy, creative and such flavorful meals. (We’re not above ordering pizza however!) My part of the bargain is that I do dishes, and make sure the kitchen is ready by the time he starts preparing dinner. So my breaks throughout the day may include pulling the Instant Pot or the sous-vide out of the pantry and setting it up some time in the afternoon.

John’s brain breaks include watering the plants or doing laundry. When I want some fresh air, I take out trash or recycle to the dumpster.

So, at the end of the day in the home and offices of Apollo and Athena, great work gets done, partnership abounds, and lo and behold a bunch of little things around the house get done. Like I said in my first blog . . . keeping the house neat is important when you live and work in 1100 square feet!

 

Gina Cotner

(Pictured: Delicious Ahi Poke Bowl, prepared by John!)

Communication Secrets of Remote Teams

May 12, 2020 | About Athena, Business, Productivity

“Working from home, we don’t have hallway conversations and office parties that strengthen relationships and build trust. Also absent are the contextual clues that help us interpret meaning: body language, facial expression, and tone of voice.

Without context, misunderstandings are more likely to occur. Without contact, trust can quickly dissolve into suspicion. The result, all too often, is a war of words carried out through electronic messages.”

Read More at MichaelHyatt.com

 

 

Co-viral Living: Sharing Your At-Home Workspace

Apr 21, 2020 | About Athena, Productivity, Remote Work

Are there now two of you working from home in some amount of shared space? Have you started working through the issues that have popped up?

Is this a cool new future emerging for you two, or a case for one of you moving to a tent in the backyard?

We’ve been there!

Apollo Coaching & Consulting and Athena Executive Services, Inc decided to jointly author a few blogs on this topic. WHY? The owners of each of them are us, John Barron and Gina Cotner. I’m Gina, the founder and CEO of Athena and I’m going to create and share this first blog with you.

We are two business owners who have worked from home for years running their firms, under one roof. And this little Mt. Olympus is not a big house. We live in a two-bedroom condo. When we moved in, we converted the dining room to one office and the second bedroom to the other office.

We can honestly say, we’ve been working together in close quarters for years and it has worked really well! For the most part, we have loved it.

John is a business coach walking around the condo talking to clients throughout the day. Easily 10,000 steps per day for him. I don’t know how he does it. But he’s a thinker who likes to walk and think, and walk and coach, and periodically stops back by his standing desk or his white board to capture a few notes and keeps walking.

I usually only have one or two calls or video conferences each day. We’ve never coordinated our schedules to make sure that we don’t both schedule calls at the same time. Sometimes his voice just fades into the background for me, sometimes, I say to myself, “Get your voice out of my head already!” When those moments come or when I need to be alone in quiet, I go into our bedroom. Under the window we installed a small pop-up platform that I can raise up and work from for a few hours if I want to. While many would say to NEVER work in the bedroom, it really works for me and the view is terrific. Then when I’m done working, I make sure to move any “office” items back to my office space (laptop, phone, coffee) so that there’s no signs of “work” in the bedroom.

 

Pro Tips:

  • We have very little paper. We just need our laptop when we’re working or speaking with someone. We do have files, but rarely need to get into them.
  • We keep our environment (the whole condo) neat. When you don’t have a lot of space, a little mess can soon make 50% of your space annoying. We do our best to get everything back where it belongs when we’re done using it or dealing with it (slippers, scissors, the mail, my yoga mat)
  • We have a clear division of labor in our home. We’re clear who deals with trash, laundry, plant watering, bed making, cooking, dishes, morning coffee, etc. So, we’re never waiting around for the other one to “handle that”.
  • This one took us a while to learn – We ask each other if it’s ok to talk to them before we start talking to them. We are still practicing this. If John starts talking to me out of the blue and doesn’t know I’m deep in thought writing a blog, he doesn’t know I’m not listening, and I’m not interested in being interrupted. Truth is I’m worse than him about this! So, we say something to each other like, “Hey, can I share something with you now?” or “Can you tell me when you’re interruptible next?”

 

What are you discovering as new practices in working from home? What’s working? What’s not working as well as you had hoped?