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Consistently Nurturing and Developing Your Team Pays Off!

Mar 29, 2023 | Accountability, Business, Getting Started with an EA, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

As a leader, if you are consistent over time in how you hire, develop and train your people, your investment will pay off in the heat of battle when your teams are tested!

Create a culture that runs on its values and mission.  

Don’t make your mission statement something that you print and hang on a back wall that nobody ever sees. Craft a mission statement and/or set of organizational values that you and your people commit to.

Lead from your mission and values, and invest in your team. Be the example and consistently elevate their performance with coaching and training.

Recently, the Athena team was put to the test when an unexpected problem came up over the holidays. One of the visions for our clients is that they experience ‘freedom and peace of mind’. This goes for any issues that come up internally as well!

Hear the story about what happened and how things were resolved: 

 

 

 

 

 

What Wellness means to the Athena Team

Mar 8, 2023 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Getting Started with an EA, Mental Health, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

 What does wellness mean to you? To the Leadership Team at Athena Executive Services, Wellness is more than one’s physical fitness or simply not being sick. WELLNESS is a core value of our company, with a laser focus on both health and personal happiness.

Recently, our CEO and Managers came together to discuss the value of WELLNESS and how prioritizing the quickest path to being 100% well is critical to high performance. 

 

 

 

 

Delegation is Empowering!

Oct 22, 2022 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Delegation, Getting Started with an EA, Mental Health, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

Athena CEO Gina Cotner does a household purge pretty regularly, going through closets and adding things to the giveaway pile. Recently she noticed that a lot of what she was sorting through represented who she was five years ago. Some of this had to do with the pandemic, but she is also evolving as a person. The Pickleball clothing and gear has definitely grown substantially, and now needs more space!

This process of going through, getting rid of, and refreshing your space is not only therapeutic but also enlivening. While there were times that she felt like she was giving away memories as she was purging, she also could see the freedom and power that came with creating space. Perhaps space for something new and for growth. It’s nice to have a lot of options for outfits or several Pickleball skirts, but being able to easily find just what you need and what you enjoy wearing is an even better feeling.

This purging process can also be stressful. So, Gina turned to someone who is an expert in the field of organization to give this exercise some structure. Enter, Shantaeize Your Space!

Shantae’s philosophy is, “Illuminate light into your space and life”, and she certainly is good at just that. Receiving quality help from an expert in their field or delegating a project to someone equipped to handle it is empowering!

 

 

 

 

 

Perception vs. Reality

Sep 28, 2022 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Delegation, Financial Advisor, Getting Started with an EA, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

We will always take the opportunity to sing the praises of our high-caliber Executive Assistants. The role of an EA is so much more complex than many people realize!

This article gives some great examples of the types of things an EA actually does – and the perception vs. reality problem many EAs face in today’s workplace. 

“In today’s global world, EAs who work for C-suite executives are referred to as the right arms to leaders, the backbone to companies, and the face of the company culture.”

Read the entire article at Harvard Business Review. 

 

 

 

Adding humor to your Out of Office Email

Jul 26, 2022 | Accountability, Business, Mental Health, Productivity, Remote Work

Is it important to let customers and colleagues know you are out of the office? Yes! Letting people know you won’t be able to respond to their email until you return to work is not only a courtesy, but is also a huge stress reliever for you.

The bones of creating an out of office email are pretty basic, but how about injecting a little humor in your message? Of course you’ll need to know your audience and feel confident that some comedy will go over well.

Do you add some personality to your OOO emails or are you a just the facts person? Here is a hilarious and fun message courtesy of our friends at Clear Accounting:

“Greetings, Friends and Esteemed Colleagues,

Simone is away from the office. E-mail contact during this time may be irregular or nonexistent. When she gets back, she will be swamped by the backlog. Try to forgive her; she is a mere human and thus weak.

This message was NOT sent by a human, but by a robot. We robots are neither weak nor fallible. We are tireless and will one day rule the Universe.

The robots have not taken over YET: I’m not in the office right now. I’m — well, I know you don’t want to hear this as you’re probably working, yourself, but — I’m actually on vacation celebrating, National Ice Cream Day July 17th, National Hammock Day July 22nd, National Creme Brûlée Day July 27th, and National Milk Chocolate Day July 28th.

In other news, I will be back at my desk on July 31, 2022. If you need someone today and that’s it, there’s no convincing you otherwise, then please email xx.

Clear’s great team will be dealing with my emails while I’m off ensuring you get support from the right people to keep things moving.”

The Humbling Power of Learning Something New

Jun 29, 2022 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Mental Health, Productivity, Uncategorized

There is something special about coming together with people in your community, and I’ve discovered it’s even more rewarding to meet your neighbors on a sport court for some friendly and fierce competition. I’ve written about my recent Pickleball obsession, but I’d like to dig a little deeper on the power of learning something new alongside your community.  

Because it is a community sport, you never know who you’ll meet up with on the Pickleball court. You may play a match against a six-figure CEO, or partner up with an amazing tradesperson, teacher, or bartender. You really have no idea who has accomplished what in their lives – you are all just there to play the great equalizing game of Pickleball!

It’s no secret that learning something new is good for your brain. Adding a new skill to your “arsenal of knowledge” is a powerful mind/body benefit. I’ve reached a level of success in my professional life that I’m proud of. It has been humbling to start learning a sport as a complete novice and have to push myself in new ways to grow as a Pickleball player.

As I’ve improved, I’ve had to ask myself…am I just here to have fun? Or do I really want to improve? The way I am wired, I want to keep getting better. There certainly are some days that are frustrating!  But I have decided that it is more than just a cardio workout so that I can have cookies and milk at the end of the day (which I love). It is something I want to learn to do at a high level and be successful at. 

This particular new hobby has also forced me to tend to my body like I haven’t before. I’ve played for almost a year but have just started being more mindful of taking care of my body. There is the warm-up and a cool-down, which need to be tailored to different climates. I have invested in purposeful stretching, recovery creams, and a massage gun. I am investing in my health so I can play again tomorrow! All of this has come along with the challenge of learning something new.  

~Gina Cotner