5 min read
Even Executive Assistants Need Their Village
By: Molly Chalfont Pollard on Jan 7, 2025 12:30:00 AM
A Couple lines About Me
Molly Chalfont Pollard is an Executive Assistant to the Founding Partner at a Sports Media Agency based in West London. Molly began working in the business support sector in 2021 and as an Executive Assistant in 2024.
Introduction
Executive Assistants have a lot of things in common: organisational skills, the ability to multitask, working well under-pressure. The most important common denominator? We care.
Caring is the reason we chose this career path. The intense desire to help others, make a difference to not only our executive, but the business itself. However, when your focus is on supporting others, you can often neglect yourself and your own personal development.
In order to provide the white glove treatment as an Executive Assistant and work to your best ability it’s essential to nurture your professional capabilities. Due to being the only business support function at my company I was unable to gain sector specific insights internally. Lily Shippen sourced me as a graduate fresh out of university for my first role as a Business Support Executive. Lily Shippen opened my eyes to the sector of business support and I never looked back. It was a full circle moment when I came across their mentorship scheme earlier this year only a few months into my first Executive Assistant role.
When you’re the only business support function in a company, the role can be incredibly isolating in terms of support and relatability. No one else in the company truly understands your role, so it’s difficult to seek advice and solutions to problems internally. Sometimes all you need is another EA to guide the way!
When I saw Lily Shippen were offering a mentorship programme I knew I had to get involved.
The Mentorship Scheme
Lily Shippen posted on LinkedIn about a Mentorship Scheme they were offering, where budding EAs are paired with veteran EAs for a 12 week period to gain invaluable insight into the world of being an Executive Assistant.
Lily herself met with all of the prospective mentees whilst Emily Mills met with all the mentors and the matchmaking began!
I was paired with an incredible woman called Zennie Major who truly transformed my outlook as an Executive Assistant as well as tips and tricks I wouldn’t have access to without the programme.
3 Things I Learnt
Believing in Yourself
It’s such a cliché, but the three words “believe in yourself” have been a real comfort to me and helped me in moments of self-doubt.
When you are the business support function in a business there’s rarely someone giving you the words of affirmation we all crave, particularly in the stressful moments. Zennie gave me the strength to be my own support system; reminding me of my own capabilities and that despite the little voice of doubt… I can do this!
As Executive Assistants we are our own worst critic, but we are also our best cheerleader and if you don’t believe in yourself, no one will.
Communication
Communication with your executive and wider team is essential.
Typically as an Executive Assistant we are taught to work diligently behind the scenes. This is still true, however your executive needs to understand “what” and more importantly “why” you’re doing something. The latter shows your understanding of the task in hand and the effects this has on the business.
The stereotype of assistants shuffling papers is something of the past. Assistants are the beating heart of businesses and our comprehension of the company’s goals, motivations and current hindrances is paramount. Therefore, as EAs we can never do a task for the sake of doing it, we need to understand the “what” and “why” and communicate this to our executives.
When I first began working in business support nearly three years ago, I would focus on saying yes to all requests and give a turnaround time of “as soon as possible” rather than providing a realistic deadline. As Executive Assistants we aim to please, it’s in our DNA. However, the longer I’ve worked in this sector I’ve learnt being a “yes man” doesn’t get you anywhere, it’s better to be honest about your capacity rather than overpromise and ultimately disappoint your executive. Don’t be afraid to say no!
Knowledge is Power
The more you know the better you can be!
During my first few months working as an Executive Assistant I was focusing on getting to grips with the role. I had been working at my current role for 5 months when I began the Lily Shippen Mentorship Programme.
Zennie gave me some incredible advice, which I recommend to any EA when they join a new business, a re-introduction with the team. I had a 1-1 with each team member in order to understand their role, what they need from me and what they need from my executive. I believe this helped me improve my support for the business as I was able to develop an in-depth understanding of what my team and our company’s objectives were.
Conclusion
I cannot thank Lily Shippen and Emily Mills enough for establishing the Mentoring Programme. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the early stages of their career as an Executive Assistant. Many companies only have one business support function and Lily Shippen's mentoring programme is the kind of support all Executive Assistants crave.
I have found a mentor for life in Zennie Major, as she mentions it's only the programme which has officially ended, I believe Zennie's support and insight with my professional development has only just begun! Her rawness, honesty and unwavering support is something I will be eternally grateful for.
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