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Andy Stanley - Unlocking Leadership Capacity_ The Power of a World-Class Assistant x Diane Grant · Andy Stanley Sermons

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, a
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Speaker 1: podcast designed to help leaders go further faster. I'm Andy,
0:09
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1:34
Speaker 1: jump into today's content. I've been looking forward to today's
1:38
Speaker 1: episode for quite some time. Today there are actually three
1:42
Speaker 1: of us in the studio to talk about well, honestly,
1:44
Speaker 1: I've never heard anyone else talk about this, so this
1:48
Speaker 1: may be the best conversation that's ever been had on
1:52
Speaker 1: this topic. We're talking about something most leaders depend on,
1:55
Speaker 1: but nobody ever really taught us how to do it well.
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Speaker 1: We're talking about leaders and their admins, their administrative assistance,
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Speaker 1: one of the most important relationships in any organization because
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Speaker 1: the ADMIN to the point leader is not just an admin.
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Speaker 1: He or she is a gatekeeper. They often have power
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Speaker 1: and influence that reaches far beyond the walls of the office.
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Speaker 1: And to help us explore this is someone you have
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Speaker 1: heard me talk about, but today you have an opportunity
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Speaker 1: to hear from my executive assistant. For nearly thirty years.
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Speaker 1: Diane Grant, Welcome to the podcast studio.
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Speaker 2: Thank you, Andy. I'm really honored to be here.
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Speaker 1: And a little nervous and a little nervous. Yes, yeah,
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Speaker 1: this is Diane's environment, but anyway, Diane has seen it all.
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Speaker 1: She's endured it all. She's endured me all these years
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Speaker 1: and survived it. So we're excited about this conversation. And
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Speaker 1: to help guide today's conversation is my co host, Susie Gray.
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Speaker 3: Thanks Andy, I am so excited about today as well.
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Speaker 4: I have worked with.
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Speaker 3: Diane for more than twenty years, and I can say
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Speaker 3: without hesitating, she is the real deal.
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Speaker 4: She is one of the highest capacity leaders I know.
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Speaker 3: She is exceptionally smart, very driven, but she's constantly focused
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Speaker 3: on what matters most and the people around her. I'm
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Speaker 3: not sure how she does it all. I tell her
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Speaker 3: all the time, I don't know how you do it all,
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Speaker 3: but I'm so grateful she does. So, Diane, let's get
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Speaker 3: started with you. I'd love you to introduce yourself to
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Speaker 3: the podcast audience, share a little bit with them about
3:26
Speaker 3: your marketplace background and how you came to be part.
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Speaker 4: Of the staff.
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Speaker 5: Thank you, Susie. Well, I started my career in the
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Speaker 5: medical industry. I'm a nurse and I worked in the
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Speaker 5: hospital for several years and then I left the bedside
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Speaker 5: nursing to take a role in medical sales. Spent a
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Speaker 5: few years with a couple of different medical sales companies.
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Speaker 5: I was first a sales rep and then a sales manager,
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Speaker 5: and the last company I worked for had a very
3:50
Speaker 5: unhealthy staff culture and it became increasingly difficult to deal with.
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Speaker 5: So I quit and it wasn't planned, and so I
3:58
Speaker 5: didn't have another.
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Speaker 2: Job to go to.
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Speaker 5: So I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs wondering
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Speaker 5: what was next. And during that time, north Point was
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Speaker 5: launched and my husband and I knew that that was
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Speaker 5: going to be our church home, so the offices were
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Speaker 5: near my home. So I started volunteering in the office
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Speaker 5: during the week and just did whatever needed to be done.
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Speaker 5: And over time, Andy and the very small staff north
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Speaker 5: Point had at the time started giving me more and
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Speaker 5: more responsibility and eventually hired me as for a part
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Speaker 5: time role.
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Speaker 2: I was the.
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Speaker 5: Director of Resources, which in those days was the tape ministry.
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Speaker 5: So you're older, that's right, And I still did other
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Speaker 5: things along with that.
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Speaker 2: Part time role.
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Speaker 5: And then one day Andy asked if I had thought
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Speaker 5: about working full time for north Point and if I
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Speaker 5: was interested in coming to work for him.
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Speaker 2: So this was really out of the blue.
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Speaker 5: Assisting someone would be a hard right turn for my career.
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Speaker 5: So you know, I knew I needed to think about it,
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Speaker 5: but I realized I was doing contract work in the
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Speaker 5: medical industry to port my volunteer habit at north Point.
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Speaker 5: So my husband and I talked about it, and we
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Speaker 5: decided to give it a try.
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Speaker 1: And here we are all these years, all these years later,
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Speaker 1: and one little funny story of a little caveat about
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Speaker 1: that is I when we first started, Rick Holliday our
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Speaker 1: business administrator, and I shared an admin and so as
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Speaker 1: the organization grew, it was too much for her to
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Speaker 1: support both of us. So I went to Lisa and
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Speaker 1: gave her the option, you can either go full time
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Speaker 1: to work for me or full time to work for Rick.
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Speaker 1: And I just assumed she'd want to work for me,
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Speaker 1: and she did not. She told me, well, thank you.
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Speaker 1: She was a very matter of fact, and she said,
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Speaker 1: I think I choose Rick, and it hurt my feelings.
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Speaker 3: Wow, okay, I have never heard these stories.
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Speaker 1: Well, but knowing her personality, that really was a better fit.
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Speaker 1: And for years I complimented her on that publicly and
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Speaker 1: privately to say, you know what that was. That was
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Speaker 1: a bold decision and it was the right decision. And
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Speaker 1: if she had not made that decision, I don't know
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Speaker 1: that we sitting here today talking to Diane. So it all,
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Speaker 1: it all worked out.
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Speaker 2: It all did work out.
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Speaker 5: I knew that story, and over time, I, as I,
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Speaker 5: you know, figure out what I was doing in the job,
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Speaker 5: I kept thinking, I can't imagine Lisa enjoying anything that
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Speaker 5: I do.
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Speaker 1: It was just not she could do it, but she
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Speaker 1: would not enjoy it. And this is you know, it's
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Speaker 1: kind of another talk for another day. But Lisa was
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Speaker 1: self aware enough to know, regardless of what this looks
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Speaker 1: like on the ORG chart, the better fit for me
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Speaker 1: is to work with our business administrator. So again, so
6:32
Speaker 1: you know, that says so much for her and obviously
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Speaker 1: so much for Diane as well. So that's amazing.
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Speaker 3: So speaking of roles, Diane, let's start with you. I've
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Speaker 3: heard you say that one of the first things the
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Speaker 3: leader has to do is decide which of the two
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Speaker 3: types of assistants they need. Can you unpack what those
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Speaker 3: two types are, which one you are, and why that
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Speaker 3: matters to Andy?
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Speaker 5: I think it all begins with a leader determining what
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Speaker 5: he or she needs. I'm going through a process of
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Speaker 5: figuring out what your priorities are, what your highest and
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Speaker 5: best use for the organization is, and how an assistant
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Speaker 5: could make it easier for you to focus on your responsibilities.
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Speaker 2: What are you willing to hand off.
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Speaker 5: Do you want someone just to manage the routine and
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Speaker 5: the details for you in your office, like scheduling appointments,
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Speaker 5: building phone calls and emails, providing logistical and administrative support,
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Speaker 5: coordinating meetings and office management and those types of things.
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Speaker 5: If so, you're probably looking for what I'll call an
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Speaker 5: administrative assistant. On the other hand, if you want someone
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Speaker 5: who can take things off your plate, more like a
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Speaker 5: strategic partner, someone to help protect your time and your energy.
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Speaker 5: Someone good at project management, even project ownership, someone who
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Speaker 5: is good at relationship management, someone who can lead alongside you,
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Speaker 5: has the ability to make decisions on your behalf, then
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Speaker 5: you're probably looking for an executive assistant, a responder versus
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Speaker 5: an anticipator, a task executor versus a strategic partner. Neither
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Speaker 5: is right or wrong, but the more clarity you have
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Speaker 5: around what you want and need, the more successful you're
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Speaker 5: going to be at hiring that person. If you want
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Speaker 5: an administrative assistant and hire an executive assistant, they'll be
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Speaker 5: able to do the task, but they'll likely get bored quickly,
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Speaker 5: and they may seem to get involved where you don't
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Speaker 5: want them because they're looking for more responsibility. You'll think
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Speaker 5: they're being pushy or meddlesome, when in reality, you just
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Speaker 5: hired the wrong skill set. And then, on the other hand,
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Speaker 5: if you want an executive assistant a partner and you
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Speaker 5: hire an administrative assistant, you may have to constantly push
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Speaker 5: them to step out. They may seem unable to do
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Speaker 5: the job, but it's not really his or her fault.
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Speaker 2: You just hired the wrong person.
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Speaker 5: Ye.
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Speaker 1: And you know what, I think that was one of
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Speaker 1: the things, even though she didn't have that language that Lisa, Yeah,
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Speaker 1: she sensed that. Yeah, she wanted to give me the
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Speaker 1: task to do and then leave me alone.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I mean that was just let me check exactly, yes,
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Speaker 1: And she had worked with Rick and I long enough
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Speaker 1: to know exactly what Diane's talking about. Okay, these are
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Speaker 1: two different people that are looking for two different things,
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Speaker 1: and I'm one, but I'm not the other, So this
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Speaker 1: is super important.
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Speaker 5: I have another example of that. One of our staff members,
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Speaker 5: one of our coworkers, hired someone. She was amazing, She
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Speaker 5: was a great culture fit. Everybody liked her, and over
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Speaker 5: time he realized he was getting more and more frustrated.
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Speaker 5: They would come out of their meetings and he would
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Speaker 5: have a to do list, and he realized that she
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Speaker 5: was organized and everything she gave him was perfect. He
9:30
Speaker 5: had a list of all the phone calls and all
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Speaker 5: the emails and all the tasks and all the projects.
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Speaker 5: But she was organizing it to present it to him
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Speaker 5: to do. And that's not what he wanted. He wanted
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Speaker 5: somebody to come in and tell him what she had
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Speaker 5: done done.
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Speaker 1: Don't give me a homework of science.
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Speaker 2: Ye, that's what he felt like.
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Speaker 5: She eventually left and it was all amicable because they
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Speaker 5: realized that it was just the wrong.
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Speaker 2: Fit for the job.
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Speaker 3: And you realized that for Andy, the executive assistant role
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Speaker 3: is really what he needed.
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Speaker 2: Yes, I did.
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Speaker 5: Although we didn't think about it in those troops in
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Speaker 5: the beginning. We didn't have that language I just had
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Speaker 5: already been doing project management, you know, creating systems for
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Speaker 5: the organization as a volunteer and a part time staff.
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Speaker 5: It never dawned on me that I would do anything
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Speaker 5: different from when I worked for Andy. It was just
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Speaker 5: from the perspective of the pastor's office, from his office,
10:22
Speaker 5: so we just looked into it.
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Speaker 1: I guess we did. I was certainly not smart enough
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Speaker 1: to know what I needed. Yeah, I don't think I
10:31
Speaker 1: could have verbalized it. And when Diane and I started
10:34
Speaker 1: working together, I was not aware of her capability. I mean,
10:38
Speaker 1: just to you know, date myself. You know, this was
10:41
Speaker 1: back in the day where people still had secretaries. I
10:43
Speaker 1: mean that was still kind of the language. And Diane
10:46
Speaker 1: certainly did not want to be my secretary. And we
10:49
Speaker 1: didn't use we didn't use that language. But the idea was,
10:53
Speaker 1: you know, I'm doing a bunch of stuff, and I'll
10:54
Speaker 1: hand stuff off to her to hand back to me.
10:57
Speaker 1: I mean, that's really was my mindset. Fortunately she didn't quit,
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Speaker 1: and fortunately she helped me understand how to have a
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Speaker 1: partner in our office as opposed to somebody that was
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Speaker 1: just waiting for me to give her things to do.
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Speaker 3: Big difference but I actually think this is fascinating because
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Speaker 3: you say, in some ways you lucked into it, but
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Speaker 3: some of it was a combination of Diane, your skill set,
11:21
Speaker 3: and then Andy over time, as your organization got larger,
11:23
Speaker 3: just what you needed that you probably couldn't have verberalized.
11:27
Speaker 3: How do you think you started figuring that out? Was
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Speaker 3: it just the job necessitated that or Diane started asking
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Speaker 3: for more and more and then she did it with
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Speaker 3: excellence And you're like, oh, then take this.
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Speaker 4: Like, how did that happen?
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Speaker 1: Now? I think it happened over time, And I know
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Speaker 1: there's several questions coming up where we'll get into the
11:44
Speaker 1: details the details of that, but I had to learn
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Speaker 1: how to leverage her strengths and she was so patient
11:53
Speaker 1: and in fact, we can just talk about this now.
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Speaker 1: Years ago when we first started using the Right Path
11:59
Speaker 1: as an assessment tool, we both took it and Jerry
12:03
Speaker 1: Mabe was our consultant at the time, and he told
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Speaker 1: us that we should not be able to work together. Wow,
12:11
Speaker 1: because we were so alike, and he was kind of
12:15
Speaker 1: and you can jump in, Diane, he was a little
12:17
Speaker 1: bit dumbfound that it had worked as long as it
12:19
Speaker 1: had and what I told him, was, well, I think
12:23
Speaker 1: it's because we're mature and Diane's very patient. You know,
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Speaker 1: we're not you know, we're we're mature enough to navigate
12:31
Speaker 1: some of that. What he anticipated is built in conflict
12:34
Speaker 1: because we're so alike. But honestly, it really is Diane,
12:38
Speaker 1: I think gearing down at times to allow me to lead,
12:42
Speaker 1: because she's so quick and she anticipates thing that things
12:45
Speaker 1: that I don't. You can weigh in on that.
12:47
Speaker 2: Well.
12:48
Speaker 5: The conversation we had when Jerry came to the office
12:50
Speaker 5: was I was so looking forward to meeting you, And
12:52
Speaker 5: of course I said why and he said, well, because
12:54
Speaker 5: you're both drivers. And I said what does that mean?
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Speaker 5: And he said, well, you're you're very much alike.
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Speaker 2: And I said is that good? He said, well, in most.
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Speaker 5: Cases, people really can't work together when they're so alike,
13:09
Speaker 5: but sometimes it's good. And I said, well, when is
13:11
Speaker 5: it good? And he said when when the two of
13:16
Speaker 5: you have decided who controls what?
13:19
Speaker 4: Oh?
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Speaker 5: And I thought, okay, I mean that yeah, because by
13:23
Speaker 5: that time we had figured out that I knew what
13:26
Speaker 5: was on my plate and I'm and he knew what
13:28
Speaker 5: was on his plate.
13:29
Speaker 2: And so it is your right path.
13:32
Speaker 4: We're both drivers, both drivers, and I know you're both
13:34
Speaker 4: any gram ones.
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Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, it's it's interesting. But honestly, I'm not
13:40
Speaker 1: just being kind. Diane was just patient with me, and
13:45
Speaker 1: again as the organization grew, I was having to grow.
13:48
Speaker 1: I mean I never let anything except the student ministry
13:51
Speaker 1: right before all of this started. So it worked out.
13:55
Speaker 1: And I really do think it's maturity, patients learning, and
13:59
Speaker 1: for me to be willing to hand things off. And
14:04
Speaker 1: this was one of my early struggles was I didn't
14:06
Speaker 1: want to hand things off, and the togal War at
14:10
Speaker 1: one point became the calendar.
14:12
Speaker 4: Is that the hardest thing to give up?
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Speaker 1: Well, it was for me, and in talking to other
14:16
Speaker 1: leaders oftentimes that's that's the thing they want to hold
14:19
Speaker 1: on to. I want to put stuff on the calendar.
14:21
Speaker 1: Don't you put stuff on the calendar. And I don't
14:24
Speaker 1: know how many years ago it was Diane that you
14:26
Speaker 1: finally pride it out of my hands. Of course there
14:28
Speaker 1: wasn't even a physical calendar, right, but you know, I
14:30
Speaker 1: was to where she controlled that and it wasn't a
14:35
Speaker 1: matter of not trusting. It just felt like a loss
14:39
Speaker 1: of control. But to her point, as we've been able
14:41
Speaker 1: to figure out what needs to sit where it's worked out.
14:45
Speaker 1: But again she's just been very patient.
14:47
Speaker 3: How many years in do you think it was before
14:48
Speaker 3: Andy turned over his calendar to you.
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Speaker 2: Well, it was faster than he thinks it was.
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Speaker 1: She was slowly taking control and I didn't know it.
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Speaker 4: She was working your fingers off wanted to do.
15:01
Speaker 1: But this is an important point too. She and Sander
15:03
Speaker 1: and my wife would work together with calendar things, which
15:07
Speaker 1: was so important because what's going on at home, what's
15:09
Speaker 1: coming up, you know, all those sorts of things. So
15:12
Speaker 1: it did kind of happen over time. But everything started
15:15
Speaker 1: working better when I finally said, okay, you control the calendar.
15:19
Speaker 5: Part of it was our meetings to talk about the
15:22
Speaker 5: calendar became more and more cumbersome because I would take
15:25
Speaker 5: the phone calls or the emails. I would come to
15:28
Speaker 5: him and say, here's what's happening. Well, the decision was made,
15:32
Speaker 5: he needs to meet with somebody or he needs to
15:34
Speaker 5: do this thing that needs to go on the calendar.
15:36
Speaker 5: He would give me some dates. I would go back
15:38
Speaker 5: and respond to the person. Those dates didn't work, So
15:42
Speaker 5: the next meeting I would sit down with Andy and
15:44
Speaker 5: we'd have to come up with other.
15:45
Speaker 2: Dates, and it just efficient.
15:47
Speaker 5: It was very inefficient, and so over time it just
15:50
Speaker 5: became easier.
15:51
Speaker 2: I don't think it ever was a decision. Maybe, No,
15:54
Speaker 2: it was a decision Okay.
15:56
Speaker 1: I just had to decide, Okay, you can do it. Yeah,
16:00
Speaker 1: and we've never gone back. Yeah. Better.
16:02
Speaker 5: And of course over time I learned what my decision
16:05
Speaker 5: tree was. I learned what I could say no to,
16:08
Speaker 5: I learned what I could say yes to, and I
16:10
Speaker 5: learned what was in the middle that I needed to
16:13
Speaker 5: bring to the meeting to talk to him about and
16:15
Speaker 5: get his input on whether we should or shouldn't do
16:17
Speaker 5: it or how we should handle it.
16:18
Speaker 3: Which probably just built more trust than you felt, like, Wow,
16:20
Speaker 3: this was a good decision.
16:21
Speaker 1: Yeah. And the other thing too, And this is so
16:23
Speaker 1: important for somebody in Diane's role, and because of what
16:26
Speaker 1: I do. The two big pieces in my life is
16:30
Speaker 1: I present things, and I have to prepare to present things.
16:34
Speaker 1: And finding a time to present is one thing. Carving
16:37
Speaker 1: out enough time to prepare is something else. So she
16:41
Speaker 1: has learned how much time I need and how much
16:44
Speaker 1: time in advance. So the fact that she controls the
16:47
Speaker 1: calendar ensures that I don't load up two or three
16:51
Speaker 1: days because there's nothing in those slots, and forget the
16:55
Speaker 1: fact that on day four I have to make a
16:57
Speaker 1: presentation that I've not carved out time or prepare for,
17:00
Speaker 1: and then I'm at home, you know, working all the time.
17:03
Speaker 1: So again, there were so many advantages to that, especially
17:06
Speaker 1: as it relates to you know, what I do and
17:08
Speaker 1: the rhythm of our organization.
17:10
Speaker 4: Wow, that's really great, Diane.
17:12
Speaker 3: From your perspective, what do you think leaders most misunderstand
17:15
Speaker 3: about what a strong partnership actually makes possible?
17:19
Speaker 1: Because we've touched on it a.
17:20
Speaker 3: Little bit with letting the calendar go and Andy having
17:23
Speaker 3: more time to prepare for presentations. But what do you think,
17:27
Speaker 3: as you think of leaders, what do they most misunderstand
17:30
Speaker 3: about that?
17:31
Speaker 5: I think many leaders don't realize it's really okay to
17:35
Speaker 5: hand things off. They're the leader, it's their responsibility, so therefore.
17:39
Speaker 2: They need to do it.
17:41
Speaker 5: But in reality, it's their responsibility, so they need to
17:44
Speaker 5: make sure it gets done that they don't necessarily have
17:47
Speaker 5: to be the one to do it.
17:48
Speaker 2: So deciding or realizing that.
17:50
Speaker 5: It's really okay to hand things off is one many
17:53
Speaker 5: leaders don't take time to figure out what their highest
17:56
Speaker 5: and best use is. I think that's really important. And
18:00
Speaker 5: then if it's not on your list of highest and
18:02
Speaker 5: best use, is it something that someone else can do
18:05
Speaker 5: for me. Sometimes leaders don't want to hand things off
18:08
Speaker 5: because they enjoy doing it, but even though they enjoy
18:12
Speaker 5: doing it, it's really a distraction from what they should
18:15
Speaker 5: be doing.
18:16
Speaker 1: Part of that, and Diane referenced that earlier, is if
18:19
Speaker 1: the leader will help the assistant understand what is actually
18:25
Speaker 1: most important to him or her, then an admin assistant
18:29
Speaker 1: or an executive assistant can ensure that their time and
18:33
Speaker 1: the calendar is calendared to what is most important. A
18:37
Speaker 1: highly relational leader is going to intuitively put people on
18:41
Speaker 1: the calendar. Oh, let's meet for coffee, listen, meet for lunch.
18:44
Speaker 1: And so a good executive assistant is like, hey, that's great,
18:49
Speaker 1: but you've told me that's not what your highest and
18:51
Speaker 1: best use is. And we both know that's not really
18:53
Speaker 1: the priority based on what you're here to do. And
18:56
Speaker 1: again we don't have to use that language, but Diane
18:59
Speaker 1: has helped me the way she says that, let's make
19:01
Speaker 1: sure we put the big rocks in first. And you know,
19:04
Speaker 1: a lot of people have seen the illustration with the
19:06
Speaker 1: big jars, and if you have a lot of things
19:08
Speaker 1: to put in there, you have to start with the
19:09
Speaker 1: big things before we put the small things. And that's
19:11
Speaker 1: the language she uses. You know, what are the big rocks.
19:14
Speaker 1: I know you want to do these things. I know
19:16
Speaker 1: you enjoy these things. But in terms of time management,
19:20
Speaker 1: let me help you make sure the big rocks are
19:23
Speaker 1: on the calendar and then you can fill in, you know,
19:26
Speaker 1: the small the pebbles, yeah, and the sand on top
19:28
Speaker 1: of the pebbles. You know, to go to that illustration.
19:31
Speaker 1: And because she still get it what she does, she
19:33
Speaker 1: anticipates that because you know, time just just keeps clicking
19:37
Speaker 1: on by. I don't know if you want to add
19:38
Speaker 1: to that.
19:39
Speaker 5: Well, I was just going to say for the leader
19:41
Speaker 5: that who feels uncomfortable with that whole concept of giving
19:45
Speaker 5: up things, it's okay to not give one hundred percent
19:49
Speaker 5: of it up, give ninety percent of it up, so
19:52
Speaker 5: you still have ten percent because you enjoy it, yep.
19:56
Speaker 5: But you have to be willing to say, okay, what
19:59
Speaker 5: is my highest and use and the calendar needs to
20:01
Speaker 5: reflect that.
20:02
Speaker 1: And the admin assistant or executive assistant can be your
20:06
Speaker 1: best friend in that regard. And so many times we're
20:10
Speaker 1: having our calendar meeting and she can see me wanting
20:14
Speaker 1: to move in a direction and she'll be like, but remember,
20:18
Speaker 1: think about now, you know the following Thursday, and again,
20:21
Speaker 1: without that guardrail, I would be in trouble.
20:25
Speaker 4: You would fill it up.
20:26
Speaker 2: Here's the calendar.
20:27
Speaker 5: Let's make that decision in the context of the entire calendar,
20:30
Speaker 5: not just the next two days.
20:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh that's so good. Well, Diane, what do you
20:34
Speaker 4: think are the emotional.
20:35
Speaker 3: Skills that assistants need to develop if they want to
20:39
Speaker 3: elevate themselves from a task manager to a world class assistant.
20:45
Speaker 5: I think that first and foremost, they need to really
20:48
Speaker 5: know themselves and know how they're wired, and know what
20:52
Speaker 5: their skill set is and know what their.
20:55
Speaker 2: Best use is.
20:56
Speaker 5: They need to be emotionally intelligent. They need to be
20:59
Speaker 5: self a way. They need to be able to manage their
21:01
Speaker 5: own emotions. They need to be socially aware. You know,
21:04
Speaker 5: you're representing the leader's office, so you need to be
21:08
Speaker 5: able to recognize what's going on and influence what's going on.
21:11
Speaker 5: They need to be a student of their boss so
21:14
Speaker 5: they can learn how she or he is likely to respond,
21:17
Speaker 5: so they can respond on their behalf. I think they
21:20
Speaker 5: need to be able to anticipate. They need to have
21:24
Speaker 5: good judgment. There's a long list. They need to be
21:27
Speaker 5: a good communicator. They're representing the leader's office.
21:30
Speaker 1: And a whole organization in some cases, yes, the whole organization.
21:33
Speaker 2: They need to be proactive. They need to have initiative.
21:36
Speaker 5: They need to be able to discern what matters most,
21:39
Speaker 5: because there's a lot as we've talked about, they need
21:43
Speaker 5: to be discreet and trustworthy. They're probably going to know
21:46
Speaker 5: things that other people won't know or won't know yet,
21:50
Speaker 5: or shouldn't know or shouldn't know, and they need to
21:52
Speaker 5: be able to determine what those things are and be
21:56
Speaker 5: able to hold that. They need to be willing to
21:59
Speaker 5: speak up. They need to be willing to lead up,
22:02
Speaker 5: to learn how to lead up. They need to have
22:04
Speaker 5: thick skin.
22:08
Speaker 1: I think I think I might have thickened die.
22:10
Speaker 2: In well, but that's part of it.
22:15
Speaker 5: If I'm representing, you know, Andy in our organization, then
22:18
Speaker 5: I need to be able to take the hits and
22:21
Speaker 5: so if it's okay.
22:23
Speaker 2: And there's all. They also need to be able to
22:25
Speaker 2: be content being.
22:26
Speaker 5: A team of one, because even though I have coworkers,
22:30
Speaker 5: it's just a different relationship. Our office. We don't do
22:34
Speaker 5: staff retreats. We don't do you know, we don't do
22:36
Speaker 5: the things bigger departments do. We don't do staff development things.
22:40
Speaker 5: And so they need to be content being a team
22:42
Speaker 5: of one and figuring out how to meet the relational
22:45
Speaker 5: needs in ways other than sitting around the table with
22:47
Speaker 5: their peers.
22:48
Speaker 1: Can I comment on that, because you know, when I
22:51
Speaker 1: interviewed Carol Tomey with the CEO of UPS, and she
22:55
Speaker 1: made the comment she said, you know, I've always she'd
22:58
Speaker 1: never been a point leader for organizations. She been at
23:00
Speaker 1: home depot for years in the C suite, so she's
23:02
Speaker 1: been in a large organization, but UPS this first time
23:05
Speaker 1: she's you know, at the top. And she said, you know,
23:08
Speaker 1: I'd always heard that it's lonely at the top and
23:11
Speaker 1: I remember you and I think and she was going
23:13
Speaker 1: to say, but that's not true, and she said it is.
23:16
Speaker 1: It is. And that dynamic for the point leader who
23:20
Speaker 1: there's never equity with the relationships because you're friendly, but
23:24
Speaker 1: you're not actual friends, because you know, there's just an
23:27
Speaker 1: inequity because of the position of the relation in the organization.
23:32
Speaker 1: That same dynamic holds true for the executive assistant. And
23:36
Speaker 1: this is the point Diane's making about being content with
23:39
Speaker 1: a team of one that she's treated different, like I'm
23:43
Speaker 1: treated different, and our relationship sets her up to be
23:48
Speaker 1: more isolated from some of the staff than would normally
23:52
Speaker 1: be the case, because even though there are other executive
23:55
Speaker 1: assistants and other admin assistants, and even though to some
23:58
Speaker 1: extent their peers, it's a little bit it's different, like,
24:02
Speaker 1: you know, I don't actually have peers in the organization.
24:06
Speaker 1: And so the person in this role does have to
24:09
Speaker 1: be very secure and needs to know that going in
24:13
Speaker 1: that they're going to be treated a little bit differently
24:15
Speaker 1: because of their relationship to the rest of the organization.
24:19
Speaker 2: That's so true.
24:19
Speaker 5: I have a candy bowl in my office, so people
24:21
Speaker 5: will come in and get candy because they're sometimes they're
24:24
Speaker 5: afraid to come into the principal's office. And I'm content
24:30
Speaker 5: eating lunch at my desk because there's you know, work
24:32
Speaker 5: to do, but I have to make the decision occasionally
24:36
Speaker 5: to go eat in the break room, yep, so that
24:37
Speaker 5: I'm you know, interacting, and so people see me.
24:40
Speaker 2: Access well know that I'm accessible.
24:42
Speaker 1: And when we redid our offices a few years ago,
24:45
Speaker 1: we have basically a double wide opening to our little
24:49
Speaker 1: office suite. There's no door. And this was intentional. It's like,
24:53
Speaker 1: we need to create a space visually that communicates what
24:56
Speaker 1: we want communicated, so there's there's no door.
24:58
Speaker 3: Well, and the other thing, it's beautiful, like the space
25:01
Speaker 3: with that double door is it's so pretty and inviting.
25:04
Speaker 4: I feel like that probably helps.
25:05
Speaker 3: It's not behind the door, it's not you have to
25:07
Speaker 3: feel like you're interrupting.
25:09
Speaker 4: It's very inviting. Dan.
25:11
Speaker 3: I also just wanted to say one thing that I
25:13
Speaker 3: think you're really good at.
25:14
Speaker 4: In the list of like.
25:15
Speaker 3: What are some things assistants need to do to kind
25:18
Speaker 3: of elevate, I think you are really really good at
25:21
Speaker 3: saying no. And I mean that in a kind way,
25:24
Speaker 3: because you have to say no a lot, and you
25:27
Speaker 3: are very good at saying no in a kind way
25:31
Speaker 3: but being clear.
25:32
Speaker 1: And you've experienced this is.
25:33
Speaker 3: He really I haven't personally, but I've heard you good
25:37
Speaker 3: at it, experience experienced it. Yeah, like I have died
25:41
Speaker 3: and I've worked together for twenty years.
25:44
Speaker 2: I mean once or twice, but those.
25:46
Speaker 4: You're very good at it.
25:47
Speaker 5: It goes back to knowing what Andy's priorities are and
25:50
Speaker 5: therefore what is important to have on the calendar. And
25:54
Speaker 5: I've just have learned that if I say yes to
25:58
Speaker 5: something we've already determined should be a no, that I'm
26:02
Speaker 5: eliminating something that's a priority on the calendar. So that
26:05
Speaker 5: gives me the confidence to be able to say no.
26:08
Speaker 5: It's the right thing to do. And I've just learned
26:11
Speaker 5: over time, or I hope I've learned over time, ways
26:14
Speaker 5: to say it kindly, you know.
26:15
Speaker 4: Say what the most model intelligence to say it, to say.
26:17
Speaker 5: It, as I tell people, say it with a smile
26:19
Speaker 5: on your face, you know, I mean, I really do
26:22
Speaker 5: think that sometimes when I'm writing an email or whatever. Okay,
26:25
Speaker 5: am I smiling in this email? Or I'll write it,
26:29
Speaker 5: then I'll go back and revise it to make sure I'm,
26:31
Speaker 5: you know, have been kind. And I also try to
26:33
Speaker 5: find ways to say no. But no, Andy can't help.
26:38
Speaker 5: You know, you can't meet with Andy, but here are
26:40
Speaker 5: other options. You know, someone else in the organization might
26:43
Speaker 5: be able to meet with you or can answer that
26:45
Speaker 5: question for you.
26:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, well you're very good at that, So I think
26:48
Speaker 3: that's another item. So let's shift a little bit and
26:51
Speaker 3: talk about maintaining healthy boundaries in terms of your own
26:54
Speaker 3: identity while being so deeply embedded in someone else's priorities.
26:58
Speaker 4: I imagine that's got to be really hard.
27:00
Speaker 2: You know.
27:00
Speaker 5: You sent that question to me to advance, and I
27:02
Speaker 5: thought about it, and I don't know that I have
27:04
Speaker 5: a good answer for it, because I really haven't found
27:07
Speaker 5: it to be hard, and I don't know what that
27:09
Speaker 5: says about me.
27:11
Speaker 2: I've always been able to compartmentalize.
27:14
Speaker 5: It's just something I can do, so, I mean, even
27:17
Speaker 5: when I worked as a nurse, you know, And so
27:19
Speaker 5: that has made it easy in the early days when
27:22
Speaker 5: Andy and Sandra and my husband Keith, and I would
27:25
Speaker 5: go to events as attendees, not as staff. I realized
27:30
Speaker 5: early on that I needed to be conscious about my
27:33
Speaker 5: husband and I'm not sitting with Andy and Sandra because
27:36
Speaker 5: I didn't want a conversation to suddenly transition to work,
27:41
Speaker 5: to drift to work. And then Sandra felt like the
27:43
Speaker 5: outsider because they were there as a couple. She didn't
27:47
Speaker 5: need me, you know, talking to Andy about work. Here's
27:50
Speaker 5: another example. When we're in certain scenarios and I'm serving
27:54
Speaker 5: or assisting him, for example, before he speaks in an
27:58
Speaker 5: event and I happen to be there, I try to
28:01
Speaker 5: be really conscious about how much is too little or
28:03
Speaker 5: too much for him. You know, I could take over,
28:07
Speaker 5: but he's one hundred percent. He's one hundred percent capable.
28:11
Speaker 2: I'm not his mother. I think that a lot of
28:14
Speaker 2: his mother, you know.
28:17
Speaker 5: But if I know things will make him more comfortable
28:19
Speaker 5: and prepared for what he's about to do, then I'm
28:22
Speaker 5: certainly willing to step in and do them. I mean
28:24
Speaker 5: even little things about like do you want a cup
28:26
Speaker 5: of tea?
28:26
Speaker 2: Do you want a snack? But I'm just conscious of.
28:30
Speaker 5: What those boundaries need to be, and I'm always willing
28:32
Speaker 5: for him to say, Okay, that's enough.
28:34
Speaker 1: I got it, you know, yeah, And we we've had
28:36
Speaker 1: to learn that. And again that's learning my personality. There
28:39
Speaker 1: are people who do what I do that want to
28:41
Speaker 1: travel with an entourage, you know. They want to show
28:44
Speaker 1: up with their assistant and their assistant's assistant and security
28:47
Speaker 1: and friends, and they travel as a pack. I do
28:50
Speaker 1: not like to travel that way. I want to be
28:53
Speaker 1: more approachable and so and this is not just Diane.
28:56
Speaker 1: Sometimes in people's efforts to I don't not protect me physically,
29:00
Speaker 1: but protect me from people who want to talk that
29:03
Speaker 1: protect your energy, yeah, the energy. Yeah, And so we've
29:06
Speaker 1: had to learn I would rather err on the side
29:08
Speaker 1: of being too accessible than you know, not accessible enough.
29:12
Speaker 1: And so she's she's learned that, she's learned how to
29:14
Speaker 1: be available and helpful and distant.
29:17
Speaker 2: But always within an eye shot. Yeah, so I can
29:20
Speaker 2: get the look.
29:23
Speaker 1: Yes. In fact, Sunday, this is interesting, Diane. I was
29:25
Speaker 1: going to tell you there was a couple sitting right
29:28
Speaker 1: behind me in the first service, and I've never seen
29:31
Speaker 1: him there before, and usually it's the kind of the
29:32
Speaker 1: same people. So I turned around to talk to him
29:35
Speaker 1: and they said they made this comment. They said, we're
29:38
Speaker 1: sort of shocked that we're able to talk to you.
29:42
Speaker 1: And I'm like, and I kind of knew what they meant,
29:45
Speaker 1: but I acted dumb. You're like, oh, yeah, they said,
29:47
Speaker 1: at our other church are our pastor, you can't really
29:50
Speaker 1: ever get to them, and you're just sitting here like
29:53
Speaker 1: a normal person. I'm like, well, I'm I'm a normal
29:56
Speaker 1: person person. I didn't say three rows back is a
29:59
Speaker 1: plane close Police officers watching our conversation.
30:04
Speaker 2: And my assistant is over there watching him, ready to
30:06
Speaker 2: step in, right.
30:07
Speaker 1: But the point was that that's very important to me
30:10
Speaker 1: that there's not a sense of he's being trailed by
30:13
Speaker 1: a posse. So again we had to figure that out
30:16
Speaker 1: because Diane is very attentive to those things that can
30:19
Speaker 1: get weird quick when you do what I do.
30:22
Speaker 3: So in and the intense seasons, like in seasons that
30:25
Speaker 3: are really busy or there's a lot of pressure, what
30:28
Speaker 3: have you had to learn about yourself in protecting the
30:31
Speaker 3: relationship with Diane.
30:33
Speaker 1: Well, let me answer that question in the context of
30:36
Speaker 1: just personality and temperament and in Graham, because people respond
30:39
Speaker 1: to pressure and stress differently, and my enneagram one inner
30:44
Speaker 1: critic that Ian crom reminded me of when I first
30:47
Speaker 1: met him. The way it works for me is I
30:51
Speaker 1: tend to blame myself pretty much for everything. But what
30:55
Speaker 1: happens is when I'm frustrated with myself, I know that
30:59
Speaker 1: can spill out on people around me, And even when
31:02
Speaker 1: it's happening, I know this is not them, this is me.
31:05
Speaker 1: So that's this internal cycle I have. And I know
31:09
Speaker 1: for a fact that Diane has felt that at times
31:14
Speaker 1: when I'm frustrated with myself when I didn't do a
31:16
Speaker 1: good job at something and I'm you know, kind of
31:18
Speaker 1: beating myself up or I'm not as prepared as I
31:22
Speaker 1: should be, and I'm carrying that internal frustration. And because
31:25
Speaker 1: she's so close and because she's so attentive, I know
31:28
Speaker 1: that spills out from time to time and she just
31:32
Speaker 1: deals with it so well, that's kind of a dynamic.
31:36
Speaker 1: And again I'm because of age, immaturity, you know, hopefully
31:40
Speaker 1: it's gotten better through the years, but that that's the
31:43
Speaker 1: thing that kind of sits there that we have to
31:45
Speaker 1: navigate sometimes, or she has to navigate. Maybe you should
31:50
Speaker 1: have Diane on the reverb yes, and you can talk
31:54
Speaker 1: about me instead of us talking about her.
31:57
Speaker 4: Well, Dane, what are your thoughts on that?
31:59
Speaker 3: Like when when in those moments that are tense or
32:01
Speaker 3: stressful or pressure, how do you navigate that? Knowing Andy
32:06
Speaker 3: is you know, an any gram one with the inner critic,
32:08
Speaker 3: and how do you being an anagram one yourself?
32:10
Speaker 5: Right? Well, I have decided that, having learned over time,
32:16
Speaker 5: you know, observing that in Andy overtime, I've decided that
32:19
Speaker 5: I'm going to assume it's not something I've done or
32:23
Speaker 5: it's not my fault. Yep, And that's just the posture
32:27
Speaker 5: I have, which may or may not be healthy.
32:29
Speaker 2: I don't know.
32:29
Speaker 1: No, it is because if either of us take things
32:33
Speaker 1: too personally. And I think this goes back to the
32:35
Speaker 1: boundaries question, that there's emotional boundaries. At some point we
32:40
Speaker 1: all have to decide this is a job. We're friendly
32:42
Speaker 1: and we're friends, but it's a job, and the job
32:46
Speaker 1: puts a layer of pressure and expectation on the relationship.
32:51
Speaker 1: And this is true for everybody listening. That's not unique.
32:54
Speaker 1: But we recognize that. And I think that's kind of
32:57
Speaker 1: what Diana saying. She's able to step back and go, Okay.
33:00
Speaker 5: What's going on, what's going on, and assume that if
33:05
Speaker 5: it is something related to me, that he'll speak up
33:09
Speaker 5: and say, hey, we need to talk about this.
33:12
Speaker 2: And one of the things I think.
33:14
Speaker 5: That has protected that over the years is we meet
33:16
Speaker 5: weekly and he is so generous in protecting that time
33:21
Speaker 5: and having that meeting with me, even though I know
33:24
Speaker 5: it is not his favorite meeting of mors.
33:27
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, No.
33:29
Speaker 2: It is mine.
33:30
Speaker 5: I get answers, I can keep moving, I'm you know,
33:34
Speaker 5: I'm motivated by progress, let's let's keep moving. So if
33:37
Speaker 5: there's anything that does need to be discussed, we're only
33:41
Speaker 5: seven days out at the most from having the conversation,
33:44
Speaker 5: and it's usually not a personal thing. It's usually something
33:49
Speaker 5: you know, external exactly.
33:51
Speaker 2: And I also know.
33:52
Speaker 5: I'm hopefully I'm self aware enough to know that if
33:55
Speaker 5: he's frustrated with me, it's generally because I went too
33:59
Speaker 5: fast or too far or the wrong direction. And so
34:03
Speaker 5: you know, in our meeting, he can say, oh no, no,
34:05
Speaker 5: let's back up, let's not.
34:06
Speaker 2: Do that yet, you know, recalibrate, recalibrate. I wish you'd
34:09
Speaker 2: handle that differently.
34:11
Speaker 4: So good.
34:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, this is something that I've had to learn
34:14
Speaker 1: working with both of you, with Diane and Susie, that
34:18
Speaker 1: my best gift to both of you is to make
34:20
Speaker 1: a decision, because you're both progress oriented, and when my
34:25
Speaker 1: hesitation to decide or I don't want to put enough
34:27
Speaker 1: thought into something to decide right now, I have learned
34:31
Speaker 1: it is almost better to make a bad decision and
34:34
Speaker 1: keep the two of you moving forward than to say,
34:36
Speaker 1: let me think about it. I got to think about that,
34:38
Speaker 1: I could consider it, and so through the years I
34:41
Speaker 1: have tried to be so much better at just decide
34:44
Speaker 1: so they can move forward. Decide so they can move forward,
34:47
Speaker 1: because again, putting myself in your place, that would be
34:50
Speaker 1: very frustrating, because both of you have things you want
34:53
Speaker 1: to get done and serving the organization. So I think,
34:57
Speaker 1: in fact, Diane, you and I have talked about this.
34:59
Speaker 1: From time to time. Pastors of large churches will either
35:03
Speaker 1: send their admin assistance to come meet with you, or
35:07
Speaker 1: they will call and say, can I talk to you
35:09
Speaker 1: about how you do this? Or I think in some
35:10
Speaker 1: cases it was people who were taking the job that
35:13
Speaker 1: roll on for the very first time. They thought, oh
35:15
Speaker 1: what can I learn? And I'll let you talk about this.
35:18
Speaker 1: But I think one of the things you've talked to
35:20
Speaker 1: them about, or one of the frustrations they've expressed, is
35:23
Speaker 1: I can't get the time I need and I can't
35:26
Speaker 1: get the decisions I need so I can move forward.
35:28
Speaker 1: Am I remembering that correct?
35:29
Speaker 2: Are totally correct?
35:31
Speaker 5: And it's a little frustrating sometimes for me to on
35:34
Speaker 5: figuring out how to advise them because my advice is
35:39
Speaker 5: I need to have a conversation with your boss, you know,
35:44
Speaker 5: and so figuring out with them how to go back
35:48
Speaker 5: and lead up basically how to have the conversation with
35:51
Speaker 5: their leader to say, here's what you can do to help.
35:56
Speaker 2: Me be in more effective in serving you.
35:57
Speaker 5: Wow. And it always goes back to, first of all,
36:00
Speaker 5: what are your priorities? So therefore, what do you want
36:03
Speaker 5: me to do? And then empowering me to do it.
36:06
Speaker 1: Yep, and empowering the assistant to ensure that the leader
36:11
Speaker 1: stays on track with what they have said. Is it's important?
36:15
Speaker 2: Yes?
36:15
Speaker 5: And that's that's important because there are times that we've
36:18
Speaker 5: talked about things and I'm thinking, oh, wait, that's not
36:20
Speaker 5: something that would be a priority based on what I
36:23
Speaker 5: know is going on.
36:24
Speaker 2: And so I've just learned to say that.
36:26
Speaker 5: And there are times you will say, oh, you're right,
36:29
Speaker 5: let's say no, or you will say I know it's
36:32
Speaker 5: not but in this instance, I want to do it anyway.
36:34
Speaker 1: This is somebody I need to meet with that I
36:37
Speaker 1: may not normally.
36:37
Speaker 2: Exactly something, but we've had the conversation.
36:39
Speaker 5: Yeah.
36:39
Speaker 1: Yeah.
36:40
Speaker 4: So any with that in mind, if a leader wants
36:42
Speaker 4: to attract and retain a world class executive assistant like Diane,
36:45
Speaker 4: what do they need to do?
36:46
Speaker 1: Yeah? Well, I don't know if this is great advice,
36:49
Speaker 1: but The first thing that came to mind when you
36:51
Speaker 1: sent me this question was don't interview people who have
36:54
Speaker 1: an admin assistant profile. Again, this isn't a secretary. This
36:59
Speaker 1: is somebody who's waiting to be handed a list of
37:02
Speaker 1: things to do, that's just going to report back. You
37:05
Speaker 1: want somebody who, again, is going to be more of
37:10
Speaker 1: a partner in helping you accomplish what you want accomplished.
37:13
Speaker 1: I think there's an educational factor. I think one of
37:16
Speaker 1: the greatest assets Diane brought to this job was her
37:19
Speaker 1: marketplace experience. She didn't come out of a ministry background,
37:23
Speaker 1: and she wasn't an admin assistant before. She was somebody
37:27
Speaker 1: who had real responsibility, whose income depended on her ability
37:31
Speaker 1: to do her job well. And so that kind of
37:34
Speaker 1: maturity and real world experience bringing that into our office.
37:38
Speaker 1: I don't know how to put a value on that.
37:40
Speaker 1: So when you think about who you want to bring in,
37:42
Speaker 1: if you're an executive, especially in a medium sized company
37:45
Speaker 1: or a large company, you need to be looking for
37:47
Speaker 1: somebody who could function in some ways as an executive
37:52
Speaker 1: in a company, because that's what they're going to do.
37:55
Speaker 1: They have executive level responsibility. The communication skills are important
38:00
Speaker 1: their attention to detail. They don't necessarily need to be
38:02
Speaker 1: a perfectionist, but if they're not a perfectionist, they need
38:06
Speaker 1: to be have the maturity to be able to hand
38:08
Speaker 1: things off for other people to look at before they
38:10
Speaker 1: go out of the office, to make sure they're representing well.
38:13
Speaker 1: So you're not looking for an assistant in a traditional way,
38:16
Speaker 1: You're looking for a partner. I think that's the language
38:19
Speaker 1: Diane used earlier. And that's just a special kind of person. Again,
38:23
Speaker 1: there are people who have done this in the past,
38:26
Speaker 1: and so if they've been successful in that role somewhere else,
38:28
Speaker 1: of course, you know that's an advantage. And the other
38:31
Speaker 1: thing I wrote in my notes to answer this question,
38:34
Speaker 1: you need someone who is so mature and so secure
38:37
Speaker 1: that they are, as Diane said, willing to speak up,
38:40
Speaker 1: willing to warn you. And you need somebody who is
38:43
Speaker 1: willing to quit rather than being mistreated. You need somebody
38:48
Speaker 1: who is so secured. That's like they would say to
38:50
Speaker 1: you know what, no one talks to me that way,
38:53
Speaker 1: no one treats me that way. This has to change
38:56
Speaker 1: or I'm out. And Diane would do that. Yeah, right,
39:00
Speaker 1: and so again, and because we've all seen that happen,
39:04
Speaker 1: and you know, in corporate space, you know, you just
39:07
Speaker 1: don't put up with that. And because Diane is that
39:10
Speaker 1: way and we haven't talked about this, Diane is also
39:14
Speaker 1: sensitive to how other people in her position are treated
39:19
Speaker 1: in this organization and she is willing to speak up
39:22
Speaker 1: because she won't put up with it and she doesn't
39:25
Speaker 1: want them to feel like they need to put up
39:27
Speaker 1: with it. And we've not had much of that fortunately,
39:29
Speaker 1: but over the course of thirty years she's had to
39:32
Speaker 1: have some conversations with some executive level people in an
39:37
Speaker 1: organization to say, I need to talk to you about
39:40
Speaker 1: the way you talk to or treat so again, she
39:44
Speaker 1: would call me on it, and she has the security
39:47
Speaker 1: to call others on it. And I think if we
39:49
Speaker 1: became an organization that devolved into that kind of mistreatment,
39:53
Speaker 1: she would quit in a heartbeat. She would not put
39:55
Speaker 1: up with it. And so that's the strength of character
39:58
Speaker 1: that she brings it and it makes our whole organization better.
40:01
Speaker 3: So really, the key for a leader is to think
40:03
Speaker 3: about those things on the front end, about hiring, to
40:06
Speaker 3: make sure they're hiring for that type.
40:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, a partnership. Yeah, it's not just a skill set. Yeah. Again,
40:11
Speaker 1: at the executive level, it's not just a skill set.
40:14
Speaker 1: It is holistic, the whole package. Yeah, the whole package.
40:17
Speaker 5: Yeah.
40:17
Speaker 2: Sure.
40:18
Speaker 3: So as we wrap up today's podcast, Andy, you and
40:20
Speaker 3: I've talked before about one sentence job descriptions and the
40:23
Speaker 3: importance of those in the organization. I would love to
40:26
Speaker 3: wrap our time talking about Diane's one sentence job description
40:29
Speaker 3: and how you guys developed that together.
40:33
Speaker 1: Well, I'll start, but i'll let you give your version.
40:36
Speaker 1: So years ago, at first we called them one sentence
40:39
Speaker 1: job descriptions, but I didn't like jobs, so it's one
40:41
Speaker 1: sentence responsibility descriptions. We want to hire people that carry responsibility,
40:45
Speaker 1: not just do a job. So she was helping me
40:48
Speaker 1: think through at every level in the organization what these
40:52
Speaker 1: would look like for the different positions, and instead of
40:56
Speaker 1: waiting for me to write hers, she went ahead and
40:59
Speaker 1: wrote hers herself and that checks out.
41:02
Speaker 3: No.
41:03
Speaker 1: Well, see that's a good example of what we're talking about,
41:06
Speaker 1: and it was so good. So I'll let you talk
41:09
Speaker 1: about your one sentence responsibility description and then I'll tell
41:13
Speaker 1: the story about the gift that I was asked to
41:17
Speaker 1: give you.
41:17
Speaker 5: As we were thinking through one sentence responsibility descriptions for
41:21
Speaker 5: the organization. I of course started thinking about my role
41:24
Speaker 5: and I just started pondering, Okay, what is it really
41:27
Speaker 5: that I do that I think adds the most value
41:30
Speaker 5: to Andy? And so I wrote down what I think
41:33
Speaker 5: I did, and then I gave it to Andy and said, Okay,
41:35
Speaker 5: here's what I think I do.
41:36
Speaker 2: Is this what you want me to be doing?
41:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, because the idea of a one sidence responsibility description
41:42
Speaker 1: is if all else fails or if you get confused,
41:44
Speaker 1: you go back to.
41:45
Speaker 4: This in case some origency break laws.
41:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you're doing ten things, but there's one thing
41:50
Speaker 1: that's the thing, so go ahead. Yes.
41:53
Speaker 5: So what I realized and wrote down that I thought
41:55
Speaker 5: my one sentence responsibility description was is I keep Andy's
41:58
Speaker 5: path clear of non essential tasks and decisions so that
42:03
Speaker 5: he can focus on doing what only he can do.
42:06
Speaker 1: Isn't that good? Say it one more time? It's so good.
42:08
Speaker 5: I keep Andy's path clear of non essential tasks and
42:13
Speaker 5: decisions so that he can do what only he can do.
42:16
Speaker 1: Yep. So when I read that, I'm like, that's it. Yeah,
42:20
Speaker 1: you know, the only do what only can do?
42:21
Speaker 2: Or things we talk about, you know, there's always so
42:24
Speaker 2: much to do. There's always more to do than there's
42:27
Speaker 2: time to do.
42:27
Speaker 5: And in our organization, I've always had things to do
42:32
Speaker 5: outside of the pastor's office or outside of directly assisting Andy.
42:37
Speaker 5: But the one sentence job description helps me know what
42:39
Speaker 5: my priority is when there's too much to do.
42:42
Speaker 2: My priority is.
42:44
Speaker 5: Am I assisting Andy? Am I keeping his path clear?
42:47
Speaker 5: And that gives me permission to say no to other things,
42:50
Speaker 5: or that gives me permission to say not.
42:52
Speaker 2: Now to other things.
42:54
Speaker 5: And it is also a filter for me to evaluate
42:57
Speaker 5: what comes across our desk for him. Is this an
43:00
Speaker 5: essential task or decision for him?
43:02
Speaker 1: Yep?
43:02
Speaker 5: And if it's not an essential task or decision for
43:05
Speaker 5: him based on what he's already decided his priorities are,
43:08
Speaker 5: then it's mine to handle yep.
43:09
Speaker 1: And from time to time she will sense me reaching
43:12
Speaker 1: out to take something and she'll say, no, no, no, no,
43:14
Speaker 1: let me.
43:15
Speaker 2: I got that. I got that. You can have it
43:17
Speaker 2: if you want it. I mean it's your mail, yeah,
43:21
Speaker 2: became addressed to you. Yeah, but I can handle it.
43:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. And again, And I've talked about this before years ago,
43:28
Speaker 1: when we first started with this. My tendency is to
43:32
Speaker 1: not ask anyone to do for me something that I
43:35
Speaker 1: don't want to do, because I assume if I don't
43:37
Speaker 1: want to do it, you don't want to do it.
43:38
Speaker 4: Nobody wants.
43:39
Speaker 1: I want to be the nice guy, so I'll do
43:41
Speaker 1: this awful thing. And I realized Diane doesn't mind doing
43:45
Speaker 1: the things that I don't want to do, and she's
43:46
Speaker 1: better at them anyway. And every once in a while
43:49
Speaker 1: we'll be going through all the stuff and I'll just say, Diane,
43:54
Speaker 1: I would hate your job, and she says, and I
43:57
Speaker 1: would hate yours. Yes, okay, so real quick, So I
44:03
Speaker 1: don't know. A year ago, I forget. Our staff culture
44:06
Speaker 1: team came to some of the executives in an organization
44:10
Speaker 1: and said, we want to give your admin assistance and
44:14
Speaker 1: your executive assistance a gift that reflects your appreciation for
44:19
Speaker 1: what they do for you, and we want you to
44:21
Speaker 1: come up with an item that represents their value add
44:27
Speaker 1: to you. And when they gave me that assignment, the
44:31
Speaker 1: first thing that came to my mind was the most inelegant,
44:35
Speaker 1: potentially offensive item, and so I kept thinking, I can't, can't,
44:40
Speaker 1: that can't be it. So finally I said to them, okay,
44:44
Speaker 1: I know this is terrible, but you know that thing
44:46
Speaker 1: that they put on the front of they used to
44:48
Speaker 1: put on the front of locomotives to scoop cattle off
44:52
Speaker 1: the track as the trains, you know, going through the wilderness.
44:56
Speaker 1: It's traditionally called a cow catcher because in the early
44:59
Speaker 1: day that's what it was to get cows off the
45:03
Speaker 1: railroad track. I said, that's kind of what what Diane does.
45:08
Speaker 1: She just keeps my path clear. I said, but I
45:12
Speaker 1: don't know how that's going to go, you know, Diane,
45:14
Speaker 1: you remind me of a cow catcher. Diane. Anyway, so
45:18
Speaker 1: they thought that was kind of funny, and I thought,
45:21
Speaker 1: I don't know where you're gonna get one. I don't anyway.
45:23
Speaker 1: So fortunately they said, okay, if that's what it is,
45:27
Speaker 1: and they found this print of this old locomotive on
45:31
Speaker 1: a track with the big, old wide cow catcher on
45:34
Speaker 1: them on the front, and so I presented it to
45:37
Speaker 1: Diane and she wasn't offended, and it's hanging.
45:40
Speaker 2: You're my cow catcher.
45:41
Speaker 1: You are you keep the track?
45:44
Speaker 2: That's what I be. A cow catcher.
45:49
Speaker 1: Anyway.
45:49
Speaker 4: Well, that's amazing, So.
45:51
Speaker 1: Diane, thank you. And as Susie said, That's about all
45:53
Speaker 1: the time we have for today, and this was enjoyable.
45:56
Speaker 1: I actually learned a few things. I need to go
45:58
Speaker 1: back and write down some notes. Anyway, thanks for listening.
46:02
Speaker 1: We do have one request and that is that you
46:05
Speaker 1: would subscribe to the podcast, and by subscribing, you help
46:07
Speaker 1: us grow the audience, which allows us to keep improving
46:10
Speaker 1: and bringing you great guests and great content to help
46:13
Speaker 1: you as a leader go further faster. Also, be sure
46:16
Speaker 1: to visit to Andy stanley dot com website where you
46:19
Speaker 1: can download the Leadership Podcast application guide that includes a
46:23
Speaker 1: summary of this discussion plus questions for reflection or even
46:26
Speaker 1: group discussion. And join us next week for our Reverb
46:29
Speaker 1: episode where either Susie and I will talk about Diane
46:33
Speaker 1: behind her back, or perhaps Susie and Diane will talk
46:36
Speaker 1: about me behind mine. Either way, it'll be great. You
46:39
Speaker 1: won't want to miss it. Once again, thanks for joining
46:41
Speaker 1: us on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast.