Sandy Geroux, M.S.

The cost of miscommunication and disrespect in the workplace is high, often resulting in a loss of credibility, trust and effectiveness. It’s often difficult to get things done, as well as keep your emotions under control when disrespect, incorrect or even insensitive communication occur. Learning how to prevent these situations, as well as determining the type of response to offer when they happen, can impact your progress and advancement within your organization, as well as your self-confidence. Join Sandy for this informative and entertaining session, where you will learn simple tools and techniques to prevent and gracefully deal with miscommunication and disrespect.

Learning Outcomes

• Recognize the cost of miscommunication, especially in the workplace setting.
• Learn tips for preventing miscommunications from happening.
• Obtain methods to gracefully deal with miscommunication and respect when they occur.

Your competence makes you “indispensable.” Beyond that there are mindsets, attributes and skill sets that executives prize in their assistants – features that move you from “indispensable” to “invaluable.” Knowing what your leader is looking for (often before they know), “having their back” by anticipating needs and attending to things they overlook, and acting with the agility and adaptability demanded of executives is as critical to your success as it is to theirs. Direct from executives, get 15 hard-hitting tips, skills and mindsets that they desire and you need in order to stay on top of your game and help your executives stay on top of theirs.

Learning Objectives

• Learn the difference between being “indispensable” and being “invaluable” – and why it matters
• Recognize what leaders are truly looking for in their executive assistants
• Receive over 30 tips and ideas for serving your executive at a higher level
• Discover the mindsets and habits of the most invaluable assistants
• Understand the “trade-offs” that come with being the right-hand person for a busy executive who doesn’t keep “normal” business hours
• Hold interactive discussions to raise the respect and credibility of the entire Administrative team
• Get tools and templates to help you raise your impact to the level of “WOW”!

Congratulations! You have been asked to serve on or lead a team at work. You have responsibility and deliverables, but no real organizational authority. Now what? Since the title was invented, administrative professionals have been vested with great power and unofficial leadership. Join Sandy as she shares informal leadership processes that allow you to lead without rank, up down and across the organization.

This program focuses on focuses on informal leadership processes that allow you to:

• capitalize on that power;
• gain greater visibility in your company’s culture;
• unlock tremendous leadership abilities using relationships, feedback and team-building skills; and
• use Indirect Influence to persuade others to act… without ever issuing a directive.

Whether you want to create the WOW in your personal or professional life, several elements are critically important, and we must not simply accept the status quo as inevitable and/or unavoidable. We can begin making huge impacts in our lives and our careers by answering one question:

W ill I
O r
W on’t I

…do what is necessary at this particular moment to make a difference in my own life or the life of someone else? Will I take the action necessary to satisfy this customer? Will I go out of my way to help this colleague, even though I’m tired or in a bad mood today? Will I act according to my values, each and every time I have the chance to make a difference in the life of someone else? If the answer is yes… the WOW will happen for you – and everyone around you.

Following this program, you will:

• Discover what you need to consider in order to create the WOW
• Learn why “the land of comfortable enough” is a dangerous place to live
• Realize that the WOW will never happen without taking reasonable and appropriate risks
• Uncover the value and importance of innovation and creativity in your life and your work
• Get rid of the “glass ceiling” in your job and in your mind
• Realize the value and importance of connecting with your values and passion to create joy and immense possibilities in your life and your work

As a society, we’re often taught to avoid risk and focus on playing it “safe.” What we’re not taught is that some level of risk is necessary in order to progress forward, nor are we taught what this level is, how to gauge and leverage it for our own success, and the high personal cost of “playing it safe” – especially in today’s competitive business environment. This program is designed to help attendees create breakthrough performance by learning to think differently about taking risks and realize the critical importance of taking calculated and appropriate risks. They will also discover the factors they will face when deciding to take risks, as well as principles to follow to achieve their goals and gain buy-in from others. Sandy shares personal experience and the experiences of others who have escaped the trap of “playing it safe” to inspire attendees to think more creatively about taking personal and professional risks. With this program, Sandy also helps organizations create a climate that encourages and rewards reasonable and appropriate risk, so employees feel empowered to connect with their values and creativity to produce exceptional experiences for themselves, their colleagues and their customers!

Following this program, you will:

• Recognize the absolute necessity and benefit of taking appropriate risks in business and life.
• Identify and mentally prepare for the 4 factors you must fight when deciding to take risks.
• Learn 5 valuable principles for taking risk, including steps to take to motivate yourself and how to gain buy-in from others whose help you may need/want.
• Identify and eliminate the excuses you use to hold yourself back, and begin a plan to add more risk in your life to accomplish your goals.
• Learn the importance of being a positive role model of high personal and professional performance.

Are you good at setting goals?  Maybe you’re great at it…but do you usually accomplish them, or do they often go by the wayside, like so many New Year’s resolutions?  Are you continually setting goals, or “getting ready” to accomplish them…without ever reaching the desired result?  Do you feel you’re being held back?  We’re all good goal-setters, but how many of us actually achieve the goals we set – especially the big ones?  Let’s face it – it’s a Do-It-Yourself World!  We must accept personal responsibility for successfully achieving our dreams, or we’ll never reach the desired results.  Whatever your dreams, this interactive, hands-on program is designed to help you discover how to effectively make plans to accomplish your dreams.  You will learn key principles and tips for doing so by developing the right mindsets, creating a framework and plan to achieve success, and increasing your self-reliance and self-confidence. You will actually begin the path to setting – and achieving – your own personal and professional dreams before you leave this session!

In this program, you will:

• Learn 7 critical mindsets and habits of high achievers, and how they succeed.
• Discover the basics of success and motivation: why we fail; how we plan for success; eliminating instant gratification and other unrealistic expectations; personal responsibility.
• Learn 10 tips for ensuring goals are attainable – and attained.
• Learn 5 additional tools, tips and techniques to keep yourself motivated and accountable.

Develop action items in “baby steps” to accomplish goals, including deadlines, budgets and monitoring tools to track your progress along the way!

In the old days, support staff had limited responsibilities and could focus on one task at a time. No more! Today’s admin typically has not only routine daily tasks, but also undertakes special projects, managerial responsibilities, and teamwork. That’s not to mention the unexpected and urgent things that come up each day. Help is here. This fast-paced session provides realistic techniques for setting priorities, tips on managing time so that the unexpected doesn’t control you, and ideas for boosting your ability to focus and reduce distractions.

In this program, you will:

• Discover the critical distinction between multi-tasking, background tasking and switch-tasking
• Prioritize and categorize what should be multi-tasked and what should not
• Learn how to manage your time, your actions and your emotions
• Uncover how to optimize your best time
• Obtain strategies for maximizing your strengths and those of your team
• Learn effective methods for allocating your time and breaking up your activities
• Discover tools and techniques to help you get more organized.

Skills Portfolios have been used for many years in the creative and artistic fields.  However, many professionals in other areas are beginning to realize the power of using this invaluable tool to advance their careers, differentiate themselves in job interviews and demonstrate their unique skills.  Join Sandy as she shows you how to create an effective physical or electronic Skills Portfolio, how to use it properly in an interview… and how to advance your career – or even create a new position for yourself – within your current company.  In this workshop, participants will work with each other to begin thinking about, writing and actually creating their own personal Skills Portfolio before the course ends!

In this program, you will:

• Discover how to use a Skills Portfolio to advance your current position, obtain a new position or demonstrate your ability to take on new responsibilities within your organization
• See how a Skills Portfolio is most effectively organized and used
• Learn the value of standing out in any situation – especially in interview and review situations
• Understand the importance of a personal mission statement and begin to craft your own statement
• See examples of critical elements of a Skills Portfolio
• Learn the value of a leave-behind item, and how it can be effective utilized.

Do you have confidence in your knowledge and abilities when you’re alone, only to have all that confidence and courage disappear in the pressure of a real-live situation?  The good news is that confidence is not something you’re simply born with – you can acquire greater confidence by focusing on self-improvement, being willing to overcome fear and take action, and changing the way you think, speak and act with regard to your talents and abilities.  Sandy will take you on a journey of self-discovery that will allow you to capitalize on your strengths and help yourself to stores of buried confidence you never knew you had!

In this program, you will:

• Identify situations in which you do – or don’t – feel confident, and learn how to capitalize on, or deal with, them.
• Discover 4 categories of focus for boosting self-confidence
• Receive a (Baker’s) Dozen ideas to boost self-confidence
• Learn an effective method for giving and receiving construction criticism

Do you sometimes wonder how certain people receive opportunities that the rest of us just don’t get?  How do they position themselves to receive those opportunities – is it just luck, or do they do something special to make things happen for them?  If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, this program will help you realize how to position yourself to recognize opportunity when it knocks, cause it to “knock” more often, and capitalize on it when it does.  Learn the importance of taking action to create positive circumstances and opportunities for yourself at work – and in life in general!

In this program, you will:

• Realize the importance of being creative and learn ways of expressing your creativity in positive ways at work
• Learn how to “stand out from the crowd”
• Understand how you can help yourself by helping others
• Discover why it’s important to sometimes say “yes”, even when you’re tempted to say “no” (and vice versa)
• Learn the crucial roles of diplomacy, preparation and persistence
• Learn how to keep your eyes and ears open for opportunity
• Realize the importance of being a leader

Imagine a world where people understand your way of doing things. Better yet, you understand why they do things so differently from you (and each other) so you know exactly how to communicate with them to build relationships, foster teamwork and get things done.

In this webinar, Sandy Geroux will guide us through four personality styles (identified by colors and identifying descriptors) and help us understand the “lingo” that is natural to each style. Through stories, examples and tips, she’ll illustrate how we can bring out the best in each other instead of driving each other crazy! You’ll identify your own true personality style and that of your colleagues, allowing you to enhance your communications and reduce stress – not only at work, but at home and in your communities, as well!

After this program, attendees will:

• recognize their dominant personality styles and understand the core values that drive them;
• utilize new behaviors and approaches to others based on a higher understanding of what drives them;
• break down barriers to effective communication in and out of the workplace; and
• build a work culture that honors differences, rather than struggling against them.

Too often, we undervalue what our knowledge and skills are worth. Realizing our own worth is crucial for advancing our careers, improving our skills and gaining greater respect. Today, Sandy shares tips on realizing and showing our full value, as well as celebrating our success and the success of others.

After this program, attendees will:

• Learn to recognize and stop under-valuing your self-worth
• Obtain and use effective tools to communicate your full value
• Discover how to help others realize and communicate their full worth, without feeling intimidated or threatened by the success of others

I just had to send you a note and say THANK YOU for your words of inspiration the past couple of days when you came to P&G and talked to our group of admins. You are a very special person doing very special work, and I appreciate you and the path that led you to where you are – and to us.

Thank you is clearly inadequate to express, on behalf of the APN network, our thanks for your being with us last Wednesday and presenting to our admins across the enterprise. What we are hearing is nothing less than expected… it was truly a great day in the life of admins across the company! Thank you so very much!

I have seen Sandy speak several times, and always come away with a new “ah hah” moment. Our attendees ask to bring her back every year. Her delivery is energetic and message brings people back to center. Leaders can easily get lost in the day to day minutiae and putting out fires, and Sandy reminds them that they are in the workplace to make a difference. Especially having members in the healthcare industry, this message is even more profound. Here’s what some of them have said: 

• Very energetic speaker, lots of ‘common sense’ reminders that we all need from time to time. Great delivery. 

• I could not help saying Wow to every other slide! Amazing presentation 

• Sandy was an amazing speaker and left you with a feel-good positive vibe!