BY SOULAIMA GOURANI
INVESTOR, SPEAKER, AUTHOR, ADVISOR, LIFE LEADERSHIP & DESIGN COACH
One day, I was speaking at a conference for highly accomplished consultants in San Francisco. We spoke about how the consulting industry is being disrupted. And I told them how I make sure to stay ahead of the game and burn and have a great deal of passion without burning out! That is a very fine line here. As a consultant, a thought leader or as a freelancer it is SO easy to burn your candles on both ends.
When I was 20 years old, I told people that the first two people I would hire (when I got older) would be Personal Assistant (PA)/EA Executive Assistant and a driver. People just laughed.
Back then it was only CEOs of big companies/ministers that could afford a PA.
20 years later I look back at my hires and guess what? The two first people I hired was a personal assistant (a personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS) or Executive Assistant – a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal tasks) and a personal driver. I am on my 4th PA. Normally they stay for 1-3 years before they get headhunted, in my case, for a position in the government. People know I train them well.
Why should you get a PA? Well first of all people send more and more e-mails and you do not want to be stuck in reading e-mails, setting up meetings, change locations, reserve tables at restaurants, book flights, take calls, etc. But first and foremost, you can be the YES person. She can be the NO person. Can’t afford it? Well, I would rather have PA then a cleaning lady.
The driver picks you up in the mornings, find the way, park and make sure you manage all your meetings on time (in Denmark where I am from to have a driver is VERY unusual unlike in UAE, China, etc. and again unusual unless you are the CEO of LEGO or a PM).
The driver was a mature –but tired taxi driver. I asked him if he was willing to drive me in my own (good) car 3 days a week (very long days) and 2 days off.
He said yes on the spot. It is much cheaper than most people think. Today you have Uber, Lyft, etc. – at that time these rideshare platforms did not exist. Today, as I live in the USA, I mostly take flights and taxi or an Uber.
As the person I am, I want to concentrate on what is important – to be present. I do not want to be stuck in traffic, tired behind the wheels, not finding a parking spot, run late, etc. I want to open my calendar every morning knowing my route and day is planned and optimal, and all I have to do is to prepare and deliver. I want to be as sharp as a knife.
My PA knows me better than most people. She knows what I want to eat, sleep work, my exercise routines, how I want to spend my time, what I want to work on. This is crucial. You have to let your PA get full access to your life otherwise it is not going to work (access to your calendar, e-mail, social media platforms, mailbox – whatever). You have to be crystal clear on your values, preferences, etc. It is like finding a spouse. If you know how you want it to be, a good PA can make it happen.
If you are like me, can’t afford to waste your time these two hires might be the two most important ones, you should consider hiring these “support functions”. Do you waste your time? Well, a poll for CareerBuilder queried 2,138 hiring managers and HR professionals and 3,022 full-time workers across a variety of industries and company sizes to determine the reasons for the steadily increasing waste of time. Twenty-four percent of workers admitted they spend at least an hour a day on email, texts, and calls. According to the survey, two major time wasters are the following:
1) Talking on the cell phone and texting – 50%
2) On email – 23%
Coping with job pressure is tough – for all of us. Your productivity can be greatly improved by adopting some good habits designed to make your work more efficiently – in my case, it was a driver and a PA. Efficient use of each minute of the day does make sense in my situation. I run my own companies and a family with small kids. I want to spend time on valuable work. I want to give my fullest attention to the most important tasks first. I feel accomplished, satisfied and productive.
BTW it is the mission of Google to provide all people with a PA – this is how they came up with the idea of Siri -just as an example. Today you have SO many options. Look for real people or a virtual PA. When compared to hiring someone full time and in-house, or simply working the extra hours to do the work yourself, it’s clear that hiring a virtual assistant can be THE most cost-effective option. However, I never tried a virtual assistant, but I am sure it can be good too.
Anyway, if you are an SME owner, speaker or an entrepreneur I would highly advise you to think about your first hires. I want to free up time. And you can do anything with that time you like.
What is your goal? How do you manage your time and energy, and can you afford NOT to have a PA? ~ Soulaima
~ Soulaima Gourani
FB: soulaimagourani/ LinkedIn: Soulaima Gourani www.soulaima.com
Soulaima Gourani is the founder and CEO of Tradeconductor, a highly successful business, and global trade marketing consultancy that has helped countless major corporations become what they are today and an official expert at World Economic Forum’s (Expert Network) Behavioral Sciences & Education and Skills. She is a frequent motivational speaker at conferences with approximately 200 public talks/year around the world, online coach, corporate advisor to major companies on customer loyalty, sales, service strategies and employee motivation and the future of business + author of several bestseller books and has contributed to more than 14 books on leadership, change mgt, SCM and how to get success in life. Soulaima helps to serve a common purpose: to create more innovators, critical Thinkers, and problem solvers–more peace in the world. Www.bigspeak.com https://soulaima.com
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