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Jodie Mears’ EA Cheat Code: Be Professionally Unpopular · CCing my EA Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the CC My EA podcast, where we interview executive assistants about the tactics they learn, and the stories from supporting busy executives.
• 0:06
  This episode is presented by Vimcal EA, the first calendar built specifically for executive assistants. And today I'm here with Jodi Mears.
• 0:14
  She's a C-suite executive assistant at Bentley Systems, who somehow also finds time to be a speaker, mentor, and writer for the EA profession. Jodi, thank you for joining us. Hi. Thanks for having me.
• 0:24
  For people who don't know you, um, could you just share a little bit about how you became an EA? I think I read something about you starting with hairdressing? Yes.
• 0:32
  [laughs] It's so random, and like many assistants I speak to, most of us, quote unquote, do not actually choose this path. It's something that we get handed to on a bit of a, a life plate, if, if you, if you like.
• 0:48
  So yes, I was one of those kids in high school that didn't really know what she wanted to do and had some really poor careers advice and a really bad careers advisor.
• 0:58
  So they came into the school at around 15 or 16 years old. And looking back on it, it's nuts. You know, deciding at 15 years old what you wanna do with the rest of your life is a ton of pressure. I had no i- idea.
• 1:13
  I didn't want to be a specific something, you know, like a doctor or a dentist. But my family, especially the... well, the, the women in my family were hairdressers.
• 1:24
  So I got pigeonholed into going to a technical college, and I spent three years full time in the mid to late '90s learning hairdressing and beauty therapy. But, um, didn't like the hairdressing so much.
• 1:38
  Ended up going more down the beauty route, managed a spa in central London, and life took its turn, and the quickest, easiest work I could come across was what we call in the UK temping or temporary work, agency work.
• 1:52
  They always had office work. And it was from there like a domino effect.
• 1:58
  I was placed and put on different assignments all over the city, and one thing led to the next, and I actually thought, "I actually quite like this." Mm-hmm. I love going in, solving a problem.
• 2:07
  Perhaps it was over Christmas. Going in and being very tactical for a specific amount of time, whether that was, like, two weeks or two months. Some were a bit longer. And it just snowballed, snowballed from there.
• 2:19
  So I would say I accidentally found the profession, but very intentionally stayed in it. Before we jump into the meat of this, I do want to share, I want to share my screen. I have to say, this photo is incredible.
• 2:33
  Um, curious where you took this. It's like, the colors are so great. Well, well, first of all, it was not planned. It was done on a phone, and- No way... it was taken by my lovely fiance, partner,
• 2:49
  uh, life partner, Darren. He used to be a photographer. And that day, I think we were having drinks or afternoon tea. We were just trying to get some time together before going back to do the school run for our son.
• 3:02
  Mm-hmm. And he said, "Should we, should we just take some pictures before we get in the car?" I said, "Oh, yeah, I need to do this personal brand thing," and- Mm-hmm... you know, it's always a bit of a chore.
• 3:12
  He said, "Just stand over there." And what you can't see is below [laughs] is how I've made that shirt into a shirt. I actually was wearing a dress, and I just happened to have this- [laughs]... shirt. And I, I...
• 3:27
  it was, the dress is rolled down past my hips, so if it was a full shot, it would look so weird. Um, but yeah, I wanted to keep it, 'cause I thought he did a really good job.
• 3:37
  Uh, the big reason I wanted to show this, too, is I think the phrase about transforming administrative careers through strategy, and specifically visibility, is really important- Mm-hmm...
• 3:47
  uh, especially just because, you know, showing the impact is, like, a really tough part about the role. I'm curious, what is something, you know, you wish you maybe documented earlier in your career that took you well?
• 4:00
  Mm-hmm. Definitely that. I mean, yeah, this evidence of impact, it's become a bit of a trend within the EA realm, if you like, over the past couple of years. Or it's become more and more obvious.
• 4:11
  It's something that I talk about a lot through my LinkedIn content, through my Substack publication, and at conferences and keynotes that I do. I think it just wasn't so much of a thing even five years ago.
• 4:26
  Well, it certainly wasn't for me. I wish I recorded those moments and those pockets of impact, and really understood that my role did create impact. I think that's the biggest thing.
• 4:38
  Because it's things like, you know, did I save a project? Did I avoid costs? Did I avoid unnecessary costs somewhere along the line? Did I save, save money? Did I repair relationships?
• 4:48
  I think that's a big missed impactful opportunity to document. Mm-hmm. You know, we're always, uh, problem-solving, but do we document it? Because I talk about this with my mentoring and coaching clients a lot.
• 5:01
  If I was to say to one of my clients or any EA I'm talking to, "How was your week? What did you get up to?" So much happens in the week of an EA or PA or VA that we often resort to, you know, "Yeah.
• 5:17
  Whew, it was quite a week," you know? Mm-hmm. "It's been the week," or, "A lot," you know. "I've gone through a lot." But most of us keep very little evidence of what we actually bring into the role.
• 5:29
  Or if we do, we'll often just get active and bring it out near goal-setting time or near appraisal time or mid-year reviews, et cetera. But the problem with that is you're relying on memory and not facts. So- Mm-hmm...
• 5:44
  evidence, I wish I had more. I think I would have- Is there something specific?... books and books and books full of it. Is there something specific you currently track?
• 5:52
  Like- Every Friday- How do you, how do you- Yeah... track your impact right now?
• 5:55
  Yeah, and it's something I've passed on, and this has become the fuel and the main thing I teach- In Aspire and Achieve, my coaching program- Uh-huh... is how to track and why to track.
• 6:06
  Every Friday, do an, a Friday win-wins tracker. I know it needs a better name, but we're just going with that one at the moment. Evidence of impact. But Friday wins.
• 6:16
  Documenting daily the, the small wins that you made during the day, because in the moment you think, "Well, I just moved a few meetings," or, you know, "That was nothing, I just rearranged a complete offsite," onto the next thing.
• 6:30
  Mm-hmm. But without documenting it as you go, you lose the enthusiasm in the language, and it becomes diluted as the week goes on. So I do it, my clients do it. Document everything that happens during the day.
• 6:43
  You can do it as you go, or just once on a Friday, and it literally takes five minutes. And even better if you can use your calendar as a personal work diary.
• 6:54
  And then, of course, we know we can quickly slap on a, a great AI prompt, and it can just do it for us.
• 7:01
  Turning those task-based things, if you like, throughout the week into a one-line impact update then starts to build a bigger picture. So- Mm-hmm...
• 7:14
  you've got fi- you've got four or five weekly impactful statements across the month. Times that by the quarter. You know, by the end of the year, you've got this huge, hopefully, this huge list- Mm-hmm...
• 7:26
  of impactful statements that represent your entire year or your quarter, whatever it is that may be. But doing it is the hardest part. It's not what we do, it's what we don't do.
• 7:37
  And a lot of people get put off because they can't think about that one big, juicy, impactful thing they did all week.
• 7:45
  So they discount it, and they forget about all of the smaller stuff that builds up into a weekly impactful time at work. It doesn't have to be impressive. It doesn't have to be huge.
• 7:59
  It doesn't have to be completed a project, and I, you know, I was part of a, an 80 million winning project. It doesn't have to be huge.
• 8:07
  The problem is starting and recognizing that all of the small things get bigger as time goes on, especially if you can relate it back to the business impact. Yeah. That's the thing.
• 8:18
  The other thing about EA work is trying to move projects forward or making things happen when you don't technically have any authority, right? Mm-hmm.
• 8:28
  And so I'm wondering, h- is there, like, a small tactic you use in your day-to-day, uh, basically your, like, EA cheat code that you use to kinda just make things happen? I don't think there is a one cheat code, but
• 8:41
  the tactic, I guess, one I can put my finger on, let's just- Mm-hmm... you know, there's many. There's many- Yes, there is...
• 8:46
  that you kind of collect over time, is executives do need someone to protect their time, right? We all know that. So I'm okay with becoming the bad guy. So be the bad guy is my tactic.
• 8:59
  So I will happily allow my executive or whoever it is I'm supporting to say, "Oh, Jodie won't let me do that," or, "Jodie has protected that time- [laughs]... for project work."
• 9:10
  So removing yourself from the equation emotionally and not being worried about being blamed. I kind of apply the Mel Robbins let them theory to that as well, 'cause I think, "Pff, whatever. Just let them."
• 9:23
  Let them- Mm-hmm... say that, "Jodie won't let me do that," because the bigger p-picture will kind of, uh, have more goals fulfilled, if you like, because it, that has a huge knock-on effect.
• 9:33
  So I find that the leaders, generally speaking, they often struggle, if you like, to create boundaries for themselves. So in my experience, they're much happier allowing their EA to create those boundaries for them.
• 9:46
  So sometimes, you know, part of the job is being professionally unpopular, all for the right reasons.
• 9:53
  That's really funny, 'cause I feel like I hear a lot about folks doing it in the opposite direction, where it's like- Mm...
• 9:59
  oh, it's like my boss can't approve this, so therefore we can't get it done, which is equally understandable. Do you, do you find yourself not doing that? Yeah. Now, back in the day, yes, I used to do that.
• 10:10
  I always used to blame the middle person so that it wouldn't sound like it's coming from me. Mm-hmm. Because you don't wanna upset people.
• 10:19
  You don't wanna be putting yourself in that position of confrontation or perhaps retaliation, and even conversation.
• 10:26
  [laughs] I know for me, earlier on in my career, if anyone was to try and have a conversation with me, you know, my redness levels would just get darker and darker.
• 10:35
  I would go strawberry red and think, "Do not ask me anything. Um, don't talk to me. I don't want a conversation. I'm so shy." But fast-forward now, I'm happily setting those boundaries to say, "This is what works.
• 10:49
  You're gonna have people come to you, circumnavigate me." Mm-hmm. "And I'm okay with that. Let me be the bad guy, but bat them back. You know, bat it back to me and say, 'You really need to, to ask Jodie.'"
• 11:02
  So that's the cheat code for me, is being unprofessionally unpopular [laughs] for the right reasons. Don't get in your head too much.
• 11:10
  Quick pivot, but is there a moment where, in your role, where something almost went very, very wrong, but you caught it just in time? So many things. Um, I'll give you the example that I actually used once- Mm-hmm...
• 11:26
  in an interview, and then I'll tell you what the feedback was for that, because this is something I've really learned from. But it was a situation where something important had left the building. It had been sent out.
• 11:37
  It was collected by a UPS guy, and it had gone. And I got back to my desk, and I thought, I had that feeling, that sinking feeling of, "My God, I have left something out of that package."
• 11:50
  And I literally, in the moment, felt like I wanted to throw up, but also I wanted to fix it quickly. So I had picked up my keys, left the building, and I was chasing the UPS van down the road. I was tailing.
• 12:02
  I got in my car, and it was- It was like I was tailing him and I was beeping the horn. I had to stop this van. It was, it was hilarious. [laughs] You can just imagine, can't you? Straight out of a movie.
• 12:13
  I knew I had messed up. Yeah, I messed up monumentally, but I didn't escalate it in terms of, "Oh my God, I need help," you know.
• 12:22
  I thought, "I've gotta fix it," because if there's one thing I know now is I gotta own my mistakes. Own it immediately or sort it out. So tracked down the van. I intercepted [laughs]
• 12:33
  the shipment, if you like, which sounds even more dramatic. [laughs] Um, grabbed it back. I said, "You can't take this. I know you're on a schedule. I'm gonna take it back and then I'm gonna bring it back to you.
• 12:45
  I need to fix it." So that was, looking back, yeah, hilarious. Obviously you're laughing about it, but I was literally, [laughs] heart was racing. It was a hilarious moment now I think about it.
• 12:55
  But when I was asked in that interview, explain something that you regret or you, something that went wrong, I immediately thought of that scenario. Mm-hmm. So I gave them the story.
• 13:05
  Maybe not the, the same dramatic story, but I said that something had left the building. I'd made a mistake. I left something out of the package. It was on me.
• 13:15
  And interestingly enough, the recruiter who gave me feedback, 'cause I didn't get through- Oh... said
• 13:22
  that I didn't sound remorseful enough, which was interesting, because my focus during the storytelling or, you know, even in the professional story version of being in an interview, wasn't the mistake.
• 13:34
  My focus was ownership- Yes... and recovery, and look- Solving the problem... how I made it better. Yeah. Yeah, so, so yeah, mistakes happen every day, but panic is optional. I chose to panic- [laughs]...
• 13:46
  but also fix it. So I guess that good judgment is knowing when to escalate and when to sort it out yourself before anyone else understands the problem or before it becomes everyone else's problem. Mm-hmm.
• 14:01
  And I think that's sometimes the most valuable thing an EA, um, or an admin can do is absorb that wrong or absorb that, uh, disaster rather than redistribute it. Well, so how do you balance whether to escalate something?
• 14:17
  I'm sure you escalate some things. There are some things that you just have to bring up to the rest of the team- Absolutely... or to exec.
• 14:23
  I think, yeah, in that situation, knowing where you can physically or mentally with your EQ fix the problem, and then in which case I would say own the problem and get help quickly.
• 14:36
  But it all comes down to how you communicate that problem as well. You know, is it a phone call? Is it, um, an email? Is it a, a Slack message, a Teams message?
• 14:45
  And I would quickly go through the framework that, again, I teach and I use myself all the time is time and tone and turf, TTT. You know, is it the right time to mention this disaster or, um, whatever- Mm-hmm... it is?
• 14:58
  Is it a disaster? You do a really quick evaluation in your head. Is it the right time? Is it the right tone? Do I panic? Do...
• 15:06
  Is how I'm gonna say it right now, perhaps I've chosen a phone call, is it gonna come across to then panic the receiver, to panic the person I'm calling? And, you know, turf, the environment. Is this the right place?
• 15:19
  Would it be better if I go to someone's office and say this face to face, or is it gonna be okay as a Slack message? Is there a lesson that you've learned only by getting burned once? Just once? [laughs] There's...
• 15:33
  Yeah, I think i- in my career I've been burned many times, and I c- I c- Shall I give you two? I'll give you a quick one and then a... Yeah. C- the quick one was, um, knowing when to speak up when you need help.
• 15:45
  So I once got fired for making a spelling mistake. What? And it wasn't... Yeah. It wasn't just, like, one. It was continuous. But I hadn't said that I needed... I type so fast, my thoughts come out really fast.
• 15:59
  It was before Grammarly and all of those things. Yeah. Uh, and I hadn't said sometimes the dyslexia gets some words and, and, uh, letters round the wrong way. Mm-hmm. I know what it says, and sometimes that happens.
• 16:14
  Because there's a lot of pressure on EAs to be, you know, perfect and, you know, extreme attention to detail. But we're humans at the end of the day, you know. Things do slip through the net.
• 16:24
  So being burned in that scenario, I would say now just speak up and let people know what your, not weak points are, but your not so great points are.
• 16:34
  And I just wish the pressure wasn't on for us to be so perfect- Mm-hmm... and then we wouldn't feel like we need to hide those things. And the other one would be, uh, more of a general sense.
• 16:43
  So just because you can fix it doesn't mean you should own it. So again, earlier on in my career, I picked up every single ball that people would drop because I knew I could solve the problem- Mm-hmm...
• 16:56
  you know, whatever it was, really quickly, and I had quick solutions.
• 17:00
  Uh, but now fast-forward, I now know, sort of in this area- era of my, uh, career, is I'm actually back then training people that I would always rescue them, and that's just not sustainable for energy- Mm...
• 17:15
  or for business practice. So yeah, you can fix everything. Yes, you, you know everything. But it doesn't mean you should. And that retrain and helping people help themselves- Mm-hmm...
• 17:26
  doesn't mean you're gonna be, you know, out of a job or people think less than y- less than you, less of you. So yeah, I think be- being helpful and being responsible for everything are two very different jobs.
• 17:39
  I definitely see that. If you're solving everyone's problems, then naturally people will want to default to you because you're so helpful. And then that can distract from the main work too.
• 17:51
  I think that's why we go around and around in the role not expanding as fast as what we're capable of as well, because we can't get out of this loop of being admins and tactical, and why so many people report that even though they're capable of doing strategic work, they're not asked or they're not required to do strategic work because we keep that tactical work going in a loop because we can fix things all of the time.
• 18:19
  Mm-hmm. Cool. Yeah. We're, um, close to the end. Uh, right now I wanna just zoom out a little bit and get a sense of if you look back on your career, 20-plus years being an EA? Mm-hmm. 25, yeah.
• 18:30
  What is the most fulfilling part of the job for you?
• 18:34
  I think outside of the organization, how I help assistants perform better and just feel more confident, and that's h- been a bit of a, a knock-on effect from really owning my role first as an EA, and then being able to do all of the things that I do outside of the role.
• 18:51
  But ultimately, perhaps connecting those dots for people that they can't see yet- Mm-hmm...
• 18:57
  and spotting risks early and bringing the right people together and giving, you know, the SLT and your executives space to just think and then being told just by doing that has made my life and my week so much better.
• 19:13
  So connecting those dots and, and helping people see through their own fog, and just helping people have their, um, their moments of, you know, epiphany moments and yeah, helping people towards what, what they can't see yet.
• 19:27
  And that's fulfilling r- for me. Amazing. Well, that's it for this episode of CC My EA podcast. Thank you, Jodi, for coming on and sharing your tactics and stories.
• 19:37
  If you liked this episode, subscribe to CC My EA for more practical EA stories and tech tips.
• 19:42
  And if heavy calendaring is a part of your role, check out Vimcal EA, the first calendar built specifically for executive assistants. See you next time.