You have many talents and dreams, but you can’t do it all. And you don’t have to. There is someone out there who loves doing the things you hate.
With a successful administrative partnership, an executive’s productivity increases by 20%-50%.
IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH 50% MORE TIME.
Navigating the intricacies of working with an Assistant can feel like exploring uncharted territory.
There’s no instruction manual, no formal classes, and rarely any discussions on how to maximize this unique and profoundly human relationship. Yet, the synergy between an executive and their assistant can be the cornerstone of enhanced productivity and success.
I'm here to change that.
Specializing in the relationship between executives and their assistants, I offer a tailored approach to hiring, partnering, and thriving together.
My experience as “Chief of Simon Sinek” taught me that a powerful partnership doesn’t happen overnight. It requires open communication, mutual understanding, and conscious effort.
We faced our share of challenges and made mistakes, but the real transformation began when we committed to working together as a cohesive team.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to fundamentally change your professional life!
By giving this partnership the attention it deserves, you can unlock unprecedented levels of efficiency and success. Let’s explore how we can transform your Executive-Assistant relationship into a powerful alliance that drives your organization forward.
How to build a great relationship
In the business world, robust training programs on how to work with, collaborate, and motivate actual human beings are scarce and usually speculative. So, it's no surprise that this unique and extremely human relationship, that of an Executive and an Assistant, is largely ignored. So, how DO we DO this DUO?
It’s time for a new perspective
Gone are the days of Administrative work being filled with typing on typewriters, getting coffee, and scheduling your dinners. That era has passed. Assistants are now Board experts, event planners, marketing or social media gurus, financial wizards, process masters, and procedure creators.
The goals of the Executive and the Assistant should be the same. You may just take different routes to get there.
How can I help?
As an Executive, you may not have the expertise or time to manage the complexities of administrative recruiting, coaching, and development, but I do. With my specialized knowledge and experience, I can streamline the process, ensuring you find the perfect assistant and cultivate an effective, harmonious working relationship. Let me handle the intricacies, so you can focus on what you do best—leading your organization to success.
SPECIALIZED ADMINISTRATIVE RECRUITING
Navigating the Executive-Assistant relationship without guidance can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be. My specialized recruiting services ensure you find the perfect Assistant, tailored to your unique needs. With extensive experience as both an Executive and Assistant, I understand the nuances of this partnership and provide end-to-end recruitment and training solutions. From crafting job descriptions to coaching on effective communication, my services are designed to transform your productivity and efficiency.
Discover how a well-matched assistant can upgrade your professional life.
COACHING FOR EXECUTIVES & ASSISTANTS
Are you ready to maximize the potential of your Executive-Assistant partnership? Whether this is your first Assistant and you’re unsure where to start or need your assistant to elevate their performance, my tailored coaching services can help. I specialize in helping executives understand the true value of their Assistants, teaching effective communication, prioritization, and how to foster a productive working relationship.
My coaching covers a range of critical topics, including enhancing communication and listening skills, building self-awareness, and identifying strengths and purpose. I provide strategies for collaboration and team building, advanced professional skills for assistants, and effective methods for giving and receiving feedback. Whether you’re exploring this partnership for the first time or looking to revive a struggling one, I offer actionable insights and plans to ensure both you and your Assistant thrive.
If onboarding plans, goal setting, OKRs, KPIs, or 30-60-90-day plans are among your needs, I can assist with that as well!
Coaching comes with most recruiting packages or can be purchased separately, and is always customized to your specific needs.
KEYNOTES & WORKSHOPS
You’ve probably heard countless keynotes and motivational speeches that fail to deliver lasting value. Imagine a session where your team learns practical strategies to significantly boost productivity. When I speak to your group, I provide concrete, actionable insights that everyone can apply immediately. Let’s make your next event not just inspiring, but truly transformative.
Check out my most popular sessions below or contact me for a customized presentation!
More Than “JUST” an Assistant
Turning a misunderstood profession into a celebrated & powerful career.
While working in an administrative role, your challenges are unique. Your responsibilities are always changing, sometimes fleeting, and you rarely get the recognition you deserve, even though you do it all with poise and passion. We are called the backbone, the heartbeat, the mother, the culture keeper...and we're supposed to be all of this for people wildly different than us sometimes in completely remote and often unsteady environments.
We need answers to questions like: How do we connect and grow relationships with our fellow Admins? How do we communicate with our Executives in a way they can understand? And how do we solidify our value and build our skills so we can advance to the next level?
By offering perspectives, functional techniques, and radical solutions to the common issues that plague Assistants around the globe, Monique will show you how to go from a "human doing" to a "human being."
Key session learnings:
Actionable steps (and insider secrets) to cultivate a dream-team partnership with your Executive(s).
The most important communication and conflict management skills no one ever taught you.
Tested ways to get to the next evolution in your career.
Identifying, accepting, and using your strengths and innate abilities to accomplish anything.
Finding appreciation, validation, and recognition.
How to become the leader you wish you had.
30-, 60-, or 90-minute keynotes.
2-5 hour interactive workshops.
Upgrade Your Communication IQ
Learn the most important skill no one ever taught you.
Our ability to communicate affects every aspect of our lives, including our relationships, our job performance, our career projection, our leadership capabilities, our parenting skills, our self-esteem, our level of stress, and yes, even our salary. We communicate all day long to help establish trust, build rapport, and encourage people to do what we need them to do.
The problem is that we are rarely taught how to effectively communicate, how to reflectively listen, and how to successfully have hard conversations before we step into the workplace. But yet, as adults, we must use these essential skills every day. We’re expected to just know how to do it. And do it well, with little to no formal training.
Good relationships with your team, clients, or family don’t “just happen” by accident or wishful thinking. It has nothing to do with luck. Relationships are created, developed, and continuously nurtured. Communication is an essential part of its success.
Key session learnings:
Relatable, tangible, and actionable lessons to improve your communication today.
Speaking skills to ensure you are clear, thorough, and understood.
Key listening skills to help understand others, not just hear them.
Tips to master those stressful hard conversations.
Giving and receiving positive and negative feedback.
45-, 60-, or 90-minute keynotes.
2-6 hour interactive workshops.
Finding Your Talent DNA
Learning who you are so you can become who you are supposed to be.
Are you self-aware? Do you truly understand your own skills, tendencies, habits, triggers, blind spots, and innate needs? Do you understand those same tenants for those you work with or engage with every day who are "not like you?"
These are the essential questions we must ask ourselves when we want to relate, collaborate, and innovate with individuals or teams within our organizations. These insights help us realize how our talents, and the talents of others, influence our actions, biases, opinions, choices, and behaviors.
Self-aware people are more successful, more confident, build better relationships, and are more effective leaders. They believe in authenticity and constant growth. They can catapult their careers to another level with ease and grace. Are you ready to become limitless?
Key session learnings:
Identify and accept the natural strengths and innate abilities within yourself so you can amplify and sharpen them.
Identify and accept the natural strengths and innate abilities of your team so you can collaborate with ease and excellence.
Using your collective strengths and weaknesses to rely on each other and build an unstoppable team.
Using your skills as a baseline for successful and authentic communication.
Create new habits that last, and rid yourself, and your team, of those that don't serve you.
The workshops require all individuals to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment.
2-5 hour interactive workshops.
Confessions of a Recovering Workaholic
The real story of what happens when we pretend nothing is wrong.
We have all heard 100 stories of burnout before; what caused it, what happened to their health, their job, and their relationships during the burnout, and how difficult their aftermath was. Yet still, we never – EVER – think it’s going to happen to us. But why? Why don’t we pay attention to the warning signs before it’s too late? Why do we feel we have to sacrifice ourselves to be a good employee, friend, or human?
Because we have control over our minds, we CAN overcome AND still have a productive and successful professional career. I lived this firsthand. Let me help you release the shackles and conquer this habit once and for all.
Key session learnings:
10 actionable tips to overcome this affliction to save ourselves and our relationships;
The internal and external reasons why we overwork;
How to recognize (and accept!) this habit within ourselves;
What workaholism IS and what it is NOT ;
How to recognize the warning signs, before it's too late.
30-, 60-, or 90-minute keynotes.
2-5 hour interactive workshops.
The Architect & The Builder
Creating powerful partnerships between Executives and their Assistants.
In the business world, robust training programs on how to lead actual human beings are rare and inadequate. So, it's no surprise that this unique and extremely human relationship, that of an Executive and an Assistant, is largely ignored. There are no courses on "how to successfully operate in this anomalous, and often misunderstood, partnership." There are no 1-day training programs on "How to DO this DUO." No one teaches us how to understand our own unique strengths, values, and personality, so how are we supposed to identify that in others as well? No one, that is, until now.
Let's unlock the Pandora's box of what a successful Exec/Admin partnership is. Knowing what this could be might just change the way things are now.
Key session learnings:
What the individual & collective job functions actually are;
The most important communication and conflict skills no one ever taught you;
Actionable steps to delegate, anticipate, and collaborate;
Prioritization, goal setting, and innovation from the top down;
The questions you need to be asking each other NOW.
45-, 60-,or 90-minute keynotes.
I have a deep passion and appreciation for this partnership. I spent 15 years in the demanding role of an Executive Assistant, including my last decade as the “Chief of Simon Sinek.”
During that time, I met with thousands of Executives and worked with thousands of their Assistants. I have seen partnerships at their best and at their worst, and I know the building blocks for both.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Working with Monique 180’ed my business! She’s brought my relationship with my Assistant from one of frustration and misunderstandings to one of consideration and empathy. She filled our cups with confidence, modernized our procedures, and helped us implement things I could not imagine living without. Without a doubt, she shifted my bottom line and up-leveled my life.”
Pete Longworth, Visual Poet & Photographer, The Art of Seeing
“Monique instilled confidence in our team to find the right fit for the EA to our CEO. She taught us how to evaluate candidates beyond the resume and skillset, coached us to see what our CEO actually needs, and what candidate profile will allow him to truly operate in his genius. Monique is efficient, direct, and fun to work with...her energy was just what we needed to get us excited about casting the net again!”
Erin Wahl, HR Manager, Advance Your Reach
“A dynamic and passionate speaker, Monique can captivate and awaken audiences by speaking candidly about the real issues plaguing the executive and assistant partnership. Monique’s innate ability to connect with people on a deeper level inspires not only momentum but confidence and action to reach your fullest potential.”
Emily Burley, former President, Executive Leadership Support Forum