Personal Development
Issue: September / October 2012

Developing Your Personal Advisory Board

By - September 25, 2012

Surround yourself with many wise advisors, and you’ll reap the benefits of their wisdom and insights explains Julie Perrine
Personal Development
Issue: September / October 2012

Put Intuition to Work for You

By - September 25, 2012

Robert Hosking shows how trusting your gut can be a valuable technique at work, not just in your personal life
Personal Development
Issue: September / October 2012

Bosses need boundaries

By - September 25, 2012

Adam Fidler discusses how PAs should set boundaries with their bosses in terms of their working hours, the expectation for them to be checking their e-mails out of hours and their availability when out of the office or on annual leave. One downside of the PA role, if I can use the word ‘downside’, is... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: July / August 2012

PA behaviours – the ‘what’ and the ‘how’

By - July 25, 2012

There’s more to examining your performance than you think says Adam Fidler It’s a funny word ‘behaviours’ and something that often conjures up an image of a parent telling their child, “To behave
”. However, it’s a term that I became very familiar with when it came to full-year and mid-year performance reviews. In fact, in... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: July / August 2012

The “R” Word

By - July 25, 2012

‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T- Find out what it means to me…’ Aretha Franklin’s 1967 smash hit anthem is considered to be one of the best songs of all time. Why? The word hits a nerve. Note: Since 95% of all admins are women, the pronoun ‘she’ will be used in this piece. To all the male admins, I... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: July / August 2012

Building Greater Trust in Your Relationships

By - July 25, 2012

Trust is central to being able to work effectively, and achieve greater success. As an Executive Secretary, trust is likely to be a cornerstone of your success. The degree of trust placed in you by your boss enables you to build an effective partnership. Often, this is a bond which lasts many years and through... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: July / August 2012

Motivation Made Easy

By - July 25, 2012

The three secrets to staying motivated: love the activity, love the result or love neither. But how do you put this into practice? Motivation is rarely a problem when you love the activity. Some people love cooking, running, or making customers happy. Others love eating the things they cook, the way they feel after running,... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: July / August 2012

Two heads are better than one!

By - July 25, 2012

Rona Cant explains why working together really is the best path to success – whether in an office, or on a yacht. It is an old adage but as true today as it was years ago. Whether you are working in an international organisation in a big city or a small business close to home... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

How to ‘Hire’ the Right Mentor

By - May 25, 2012

Taking a recruitment perspective to finding the right mentor is often the best way to finding the right ‘match’.   For many people considering the essential ingredients to a successful career, having a mentor isn’t high on the list. Reasons range from being intimidated by the prospect of identifying and approaching someone of influence, to... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

The Law Of (Office) Attraction

By - May 25, 2012

Attracting the working environment that you want is all about mind-set.   The phrase ‘what you think about you bring about’ has been proving itself over and over to me this month. Take this week for example: a couple of unhappy employees in the office who were sitting mumbling under their breaths and making negative... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

Confidence at work: Are you aware of your own abilities?

By - May 25, 2012

Taking an audit of your own strengths and weaknesses is the key to building confidence.   In all aspects of life, confidence is acknowledged as a positive quality to possess. Confidence enables us to effectively communicate our personality and abilities to others through the way we act and handle tasks. It is therefore a valuable,... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

Your Training Business Case

By - May 25, 2012

By building a request for personal development into a business case you may have more success in gaining your employer’s support explains Julie Perrine It’s a common complaint: my boss won’t approve my training or professional development requests. But it may not be your boss’s fault. It may be the way you’re asking or failing... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

How to Build Your Self-Esteem

By - May 25, 2012

Graham Price shares some practical steps to build your self-esteem
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

Redundancy…Coping with Change

By - May 25, 2012

Redundancy is often seen as the end, but it can really be the beginning of a great new phase in your career.   At the age of 14 my mother pushed me to do a typewriting course, and then a secretarial course so that I would find a career as a Secretary. ‘Being a Secretary... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: May / June 2012

I’m boooorrrrrrrrrrred!

By - May 25, 2012

When’s the last time you were bored? Maybe it’s been too long says Brenda Bernstein Early on a Saturday evening, I admitted to a friend that I had watched a Netflix movie the night before, and was likely going to watch another one that night. For many people, watching videos two nights in a row... Read more »
Personal Development
Issue: March / April 2012

Self-belief: The Key to Success

By - March 25, 2012

“If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” Sam Walton Self-confidence is one of the most important qualities to have in every aspect of our lives. Whether this is in a personal context or a professional one, belief in oneself is often the difference between success and failure. Yet so many people... Read more »