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The Accountable Leader

Nov 17, 2020 | Accountability, Business, Delegation

Our CEO Gina Cotner frequently speaks to other Admin and Executive organizations on successfully managing expectations what accountability really looks like. Our own team of high-performing Executive Assistants are continuously trained and mentored on setting and managing expectations.

We recently came across this excellent article on Inc.com that addressed what words really matter as an accountable leader:

“Leadership, after all, is primarily a function of determining a direction and influencing people to move in that direction. However, that makes it sound far too simple. Moving a group of people collectively in any direction is hard. One of the most challenging parts is that you are ultimately responsible for the way your team and organization performs. Not only that, but you’re also accountable.“

Full Article on Inc.com

 

How Athena Started

Oct 14, 2020 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Getting Started with an EA

Dorian – the first official employee of the Athena Executive Services Team

I left IBM in 2006 to “become an entrepreneur”. After going to motivational conferences and reading some Robert Kiyosaki, my 32-year-old self said to herself, “No need to be bound to a large corporation! I’m going to go be free! I’m going to be in control of my schedule and my earning power!” The 48-year-old version of herself today, chuckles. Good job 32-year-old-Gina for swinging out there, because otherwise we wouldn’t be here today, but of course, little did I know what all “being free” was going to take. As wise ones say, “Freedom ain’t free.”

Fast forward nearly 10 years to the beginning of Athena. My father passed away in the early summer of 2015. I got to spend the sacred last chapter of his life with him and then went home and floated through life for a few months until I felt ready to work again. I started getting the word out that I was looking for another business owner or C-suite executive who could use an Executive Assistant. I rustled the bushes of my community looking for a good opportunity.

One day my friend Tiffany said to me, “My boss could really use you.” She made the introduction and soon I was the EA for that CEO. I went to his office once a week to open mail and organize things, but other than that I managed many aspects of his life from my home office.

Some months later Tiffany said to me, “I’m going need you next quarter. I’ll need some EA support. Could you plan ahead for that?” I said,” I don’t really have any more bandwidth right now.” And she said, “Well, just find me someone like you.” Now, Tiffany was a friend of mine and we had a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances. So, I said, “Let’s put our heads together and see who we can think of.” We thought of Dorian. We knew she was unhappy in her current job, and we both knew we would really love working with her. Tiffany said, “Yah! Go talk to Dorian about it. See if she wants to come be my EA. Then we will pay you to be her ‘EA Coach’ and you can coach her to be as good as you while she’s working for me.”

I said, “Tiffany, if we do this, we cannot screw this up. We cannot mess with Dorian’s life. She’s been at her job for seven years. It’s her first real job as a young adult. We can’t mess with her life if she leaves a job and comes to work with us.”

After all the needed conversations, Dorian did leave her job and became Tiffany’s EA. Tiffany’s company paid me a little bit for every hour that Dorian worked, to coach her in becoming a great EA.”

A few months later Tiffany said to me, “There are two directors in the company, and they could really use an EA. It would make them so much more efficient and productive.” I said,” I keep thinking I should open this as a business, but I’m really not up for being an entrepreneur again.” Tiffany said, “Well that’s too bad! You just need to go open this as a business. Get over it and see who you can find who could be the EA for these two directors and start the business.”

I found an old friend of mine, Alison who was currently an EA for a property management company. She was someone I liked and more importantly, trusted. She had a young son and wanted to be home more with him. She shifted gears and said she would start working with us. So, in April of 2016 I opened an S-Corp in the state of Washington, and then took $5,000 to my local Wells Fargo and opened a business account in the name of Athena Executive Services, Inc. In May was our first payroll, and off we went into the future together.

While Dorian is no longer an official member of our team (her client loved her so much they hired her away as a full-time employee!) we still keep close tabs on her. She recently sent us this photo (above) and said, “When you are going for an ultrasound and want your little one to know Athena made her possible.” We know we are just one of many things that made her little one possible, and we are so happy to have been a contribution to Dorian and her family. Dorian wasn’t a business partner on paper, however she was the one who from before Day 1 of Athena opening said, “Ok Gina, you coach me. I want this kind of lifestyle. If you start this business, I’ll do it with you.” And she did. I attribute the four years of partnership with Dorian as one of the major reasons this little owl of a company took off!

Gina Cotner, CEO

 

The Building Blocks Of Success

Nov 19, 2019 | Accountability, Business, Productivity

Humility, clear communication, and a penchant for learning are all qualities that help define ‘success’. The earlier these kind of qualities are learned and implemented, the better!

We particularly appreciated this recent article highlighting 13 of the most difficult things highly successful people learn to do early on, and carry throughout their career.

Via Forbes:

“”Successful people,” as we’ll call them here, are defined largely by their willingness to lean into difficulty and transform it, rather than avoid it or cast blame. Some of their most consistent and outstanding traits involve being individuals who see opportunity in challenge, and who strategize in the face of crisis whereas others only react emotionally. They understand the value of being good over being “right,” and are always willing to grow.”

 

Read More at Forbes.com

 

Which overdraft fee are you paying on your life?

Feb 14, 2019 | About Athena, Accountability, Delegation

Money can be made. Time cannot. If you blow $5,000 in Vegas you can earn it back. If you had a day recently where you were overwhelmed and took on too much, and it left you tired and cranky and not great with your kids or your staff, and it gave you a migraine, you don’t get that day back. There is no “do-over” on that day. It’s gone.

You all have different amounts of money in your checking account right now. There is an exact amount of money in your checking account at this moment An exact amount, after which, if you keep spending, you will be overdrawn.

Unlike money, we are all given the same amount of time in a day. It’s 24 hours for us all. Yet, sometimes we relate to time like we have more than we really do, leaving us trying to fit a 36 hour day into a 24 hour day. Why do we do that?!?!

While we all woke up today with different amounts of money in our checking accounts, we all woke up with the exact same amount of time. It’s not like I get a 32 hours in a day and that lady gets 20 hours in a day, and that guy gets 35. You, like everybody else, get 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. That’s 168 hours a week. That is how much is in your Time Account.

We’re pretty conscientious about spending money.  But we’re weird when it comes to spending this asset we have called “time”. Budgeting money and budgeting time are the same, but people don’t deal with it in the same way. People will give away or throw their time away in a way that they would not do with their money. Then they wonder why they are so overwhelmed, and never get to Yoga, and don’t have date-night with their partner, and never have a vacation.

Do you think there are no overdraft fees when you overspend on your time account (a.k.a. try to get a 36 hour day to fit into a 24 hour day)? Of course there are overdraft fees! And they are expensive! Those overdraft fees are: stress, the impact of stress on your body, high blood pressure, achiness, being short or rude with people when you don’t want to be, frustration in those around you, or feeling out of control.

Isn’t it time you stop overspending your time account?

(Need support with that? Call us.)

Get your priorities straight!

Feb 9, 2018 | Accountability, Business, Mental Health, Productivity

We are thrilled to share this article. We agree! You do not have time management issues, you have priority management issues! When you are clear about your priorities, how your time gets managed gets simple and easy. There is no guilt in saying No to something. There is the opportunity to simply honor your priorities and have life work.  What are you top priorities?  Are those reflected in your calendar?
https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-if-you-think-you-have-time-management-i/f-9d5f98542f%2Fbusinessinsider.com

Ikigai: A Reason to Enjoy Life

Apr 12, 2017 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Productivity

One of our great executive assistants, Dorian Roohi who serves three of our clients, passed this on to us. Ikigai seems like perhaps a mountain with no top, perhaps something we may never perfectly achieve. However the pursuit, or the climb, is enlivening. We are doing what we love, what we are good at, what the world needs, and getting paid for it. We are fortunate to be of service to high-performing executives.
ikigai