01. The Need for Personal Assistants

Module1-Chapter 1 The Need for Personal Assistants

The more high-profile a person is whether he is a celebrity, professional athlete, minister, politician, attorney or entertainment executive, the more necessary it is for him to be able to concentrate on performing the most important tasks included in his career. The proper management of his lifestyle can favourably or adversely affect his success and prosperity of his career.

Clearly, the more efficiently and effectively the celebrity performs the important tasks involved in his work, the greater the benefit to his career endeavors and any business enterprises he might own. He should be able to concentrate on those important tasks if he is relieved of some other duties involved in his job; which, while still needing to be performed, can in reality be done by somebody else on his behalf or under his supervision. In other words, the celebrity needs assistance, and that will be provided by at least one assistant.

In this book, we will refer to the personal assistant, lifestyle manager and household administrator by the affectionate title PA. This position requires a one-on-one relationship with the employer. Your role as a PA is that of business manager, confidant, administrative assistant and more. A successful assistant must handle wide-ranging responsibilities and talents. You must have boundless energy and think quickly. In addition to anticipating your employer’s desires, it is imperative that you have strong business acumen; diplomacy and political skills; know how to do last-minute decorating construction and labour relations; make travel arrangements; provide public relations expertise do styling and let’s not forget the occasional hand-holding. It is the total, professional delivery of these varied elements to your employer that will help you land and most importantly keep your job as a personal assistant.

What Is Your Role?

Some think the role of an assistant is to walk toe to toe with his employer down the red carpet; to participate in interviews and to become his employer’s best friend and enjoy the perks that are stereotypically associated with being a celebrity. Others feel it is a position for sycophants(someone who agrees with everything his boss says and who brings his boss gifts) and errand runners who go and get newspapers and scoop the dog poop from the front lawn. Both the former and latter are at face value wrong.

The PA’s role is about leadership. The PA takes responsibility for much of the organisation and coordination of his employer’s lifestyle and business needs. It is a task that calls for tact, diplomacy and effective communication and organisational skills. A good PA makes an enormous contribution to his employer’s effectiveness and requires numerous professional skills to be successful in this role. Today’s PA must be “the barber, the baker and the candlestick maker.” Most often there is nothing new an experienced corporate professional must learn to get the job done. For example, things learned in any corporate environment such as computer skills, project management, customer service and strategic planning can all be repurposed for working as a PA. However, adaptation is needed when it comes to working in the environment of a high-profile person. One must dispose of the 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. mindset and quickly become accustomed to being on call twenty four hours a day. In some cases, there is no time to cultivate a “personal life” for yourself; some assistants admit that they have no friends, no love life and are too busy to even take care of a plant. While this is not the case for all assistants you must carefully consider the environment and work ethic of the person you will be assisting before accepting a position as his EA.

Types of Assistants

Job openings, like job applicants, are not all the same. The personal assistant is concerned with communicating information between the employer and the people and entities in the employer’s life.

Types of Assistants

• Personal Assistant

Executive Assistant

Secretary

Personal Secretary

Chief of Staff

Administrative Assistant

Office Secretary

Office Manager

Business Assistant

Executive Coordinator

Commercial Assistant

Diary Manager

Schedule Manager

Political Assistant

• Celebrity Assistant

Celebrity Manager

Lifestyle Manager

Personal Manager

Travel Manager

Sports Manager

Event Manager

Floor Manager

Public Relation Officer

Public Relation Manager

Head of PR

PR Executive

PR Representative    In charge Public Relation

What is OSD/SDO (Officer on Special Duty/ Special Duty Office)

This post is often created to carry out special duties which are not mentioned in day-to-day activities or we can say, some tasks need or an experienced or special attention from regular tasks.

We can call those tasks a special duty. So many people, organisations & companies assign them as OSD. This assignment generally happens to assign duty to a person who is already working in an organisation. Bosses see some special qualities in them and have confidence that they can do special duties along with their regular tasks. There is another possibility from outside the organisation through reference, newspaper advertisements and recruitment agencies.

OSD/SDO can be appointed or can work :

• On special site
• Malls/Multiplex
• Government organisations
• Educational Institutes/Universities
• Hospitality-hotels, resort, amusement park
• Private/Government Aviation
• Political-Elections/Campaigns etc
• Hospitals
• Business houses
• Industries/factories
• NGOs/Trust
• Bank head office

Executive Personal Assistant:

The executive personal assistant’s salary ranges from 00,000 to 00,000 per year. These assistants usually support high value individuals like celebrity, CEO, CFO directors and chairman in short bosses of respective business or company’s . They support their employer with high level tasks outside the home and professional business skills are necessary. Often seen as the life support machines of their employer, these senior PA’s are a hybrid of project manager, secretary, and confidant to the employer, they are given more responsibility, autonomy and recognition. Beyond the typical administrative requirements.

There are certain key attributes and skills that set these EA’s apart:

• high level business acumen
• PR and communication skills
• flexibility and initiative
• ability to manage projects
• intuition and empathy
• commitment to the organisation
• working beyond the job description
• observation skills
• anticipation
• taking challenges

Gate-keeping, adding value and going beyond the call of duty are just some of the attributes required at the “executive” PA level. To succeed, a PA needs to be totally prepared to go that extra mile. They must be able to deal with all aspects of business life from working with a team, to supervising projects, to organising events and managing budgets. They must be persuasive communicators with a level of business insight previously required only in corporate middle-management positions. These days, celebrities prefer PAs that are polished, career-focused professionals with a solid career history. In one-to-one relationships, knowing what your employer needs and understanding his career goals are essential requirementsresponsibility and trust increases the longer you are with the employer. Ultimately, as a right-hand person, the more work you can take away from your employer, the greater value you add

1 – A – Political Assistant Article (MARATHI)

What’s in a Name?

“Assistant” is a noun that refers to a person or tool that provides help or support in achieving a task or goal. It comes from the Latin word “assistere,” which means “to stand by” or “to help.” The word has been in use in English since the 15th century.

The word “secretary” comes from the Latin word “secretarius,” meaning “confidential officer.” Originally, a secretary was a person who handled confidential information for a powerful person or government official. Nowadays, a secretary is more commonly known as a professional who assists with administrative tasks in an office or organization.

Although the term “personal assistant” or PA has been in use for many years, it has been very much common for such an assistant to be referred to as a ‘secretary; or as a ‘private secretary.’ However, over the years, the word secretary has gradually come to be used as a generalised description of many different people who perform work in an office environment. Although the work they perform might vary considerably from organisation to organisation; in general, it is of a clerical nature. Indeed, many of those concerned are, in reality, no more than office clerks although perhaps senior experienced ones are given the courtesy or honorary title of secretary or administrative assistant.

Similarly, many office personnel who are actually receptionists or other clerical or administrative roles might be referred to as “assistants.” This trend of using more dignified titles can be seen in other fields as well; for example garbage men are now often referred to as “refuse collectors.”

In recognition of the increasingly important roles played in many companies by assistants to executives, the descriptions “administrative assistant” and “executive assistant” are being used far more often today and it is likely that the trend will accelerate. We cannot, of course, say what descriptions you will come across or be designated during your career, as circumstances differ from country to country and from enterprise to enterprise.

In the private sector, when working with celebrities, the designation “personal assistant” is used; or for simplicity, the title PA is applied. But when we use this title in our agency and in this book we shall be referring to a person who is a specialist at lifestyle management. These PA’s are aware that the busy lives of celebrities require Personal Assistants to be not only extremely efficient and reliable, but flexible in their responsibilities and schedule. We hope that PA’s will soon enjoy a more befitting title that captures the essence of the services they provide — lifestyle management.

Assistants Essential and Game-Changing Characteristics.

for expert/top/game-changing/leader Assistants

A expert/top Assistant has courage, persistence, and a good sense of humor. They stay on top of their game by staying on top of their education. They sharpen their axe by mentoring others. They’re a mind reader, diplomat, psychologist, politician, strategic partner, and team player.

Lists of essential characteristics to embody, whether you’re a new assistant or a veteran, are commonplace. Because everyone has their own ideas, lets outline what we see as the essentials for assistants. Think of this as a warmup and a refresher.

Case study of Mr Sushant EA 

One of my former executives went through several assistants before he hired me. The longest any of them lasted was eighteen months. One assistant was loyal but not organized; he was willing to drop anything for his executive, but he also frequently dropped the ball. Another was organised but wasn’t proactive; he could keep track of all his tasks, but he would sit around waiting for things to do. It’s no wonder they didn’t last long.

Making a positive and powerful impact as an assistant requires more than just a few of the essential characteristics. Take a look at the list, make an honest self-evaluation about which are strengths and which are weaknesses, and pick a few “trouble spots” to work on in the coming weeks.

Use questions like “What would it mean for me to be curious this week?” or “How can I embody assertiveness today?” to get you thinking.

1. Now that you’re caught up on the essentials of your assistant role, let’s look at the characteristics that will help you change the game.

Must have Characteristics

• Proactive
• Responsive
• Loyal
• Trustworthy
• Others – Centered
• Sociable
• Organised
• Flexible
• Assertive
• Proactive
• Responsive
• Loyal
• Trustworthy
• Others – Centered
• Sociable
• Organised
• Flexible
• Assertive

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