Regardless of your current age, being intentional about the impact you want to have in your later career and life is something we all need to think about, explains Joan Burge
I want to introduce a concept I call “Encore Years.” When people first hear that phrase, they often assume I am referring to retirement. Slowing down. Stepping aside. Wrapping up a long career. That is not what I mean.
Encore Years are not about age. They are about intentionality. They represent a conscious decision about how you want to show up in the later chapters of your life and career. They are about relevance, reinvention, and energy. And they are not reserved for people in their sixties or seventies.
Whether you are 28 or 68, you are already building your Encore Years.
As administrative professionals, we are exceptional at managing the future for others. We anticipate our executives’ needs, prepare organizations for change, and think several steps ahead. Yet many Assistants rarely pause to consider their own trajectory. We support vision at the highest levels. The question is, are we designing our own?
Experience Is a Strategic Advantage
For seasoned Assistants, there can be subtle pressure to feel as though their professional relevance has a timeline. In reality, experience is one of the most powerful assets in today’s workplace. Long-term professionals bring context that cannot be automated. They have navigated leadership transitions, economic shifts, technological revolutions, and cultural changes. They understand nuance. They can read the room. They recognize patterns before others do. That depth of awareness strengthens executive decision-making and organizational stability.
Encore Years are not about fading into the background. They are about choosing how your next chapter unfolds. For some, that may mean mentoring younger professionals and passing along hard-earned wisdom. For others, it may mean stepping into expanded strategic responsibility. For still others, it may mean pivoting into a new industry, consulting, teaching, or launching something entirely different. The common thread is choice. You are not exiting. You are evolving.
Younger Assistants Are Building their Foundations Now
If you are earlier in your career, Encore Years may feel distant. However, the groundwork for that future is being laid through your daily decisions.
Rather than thinking in terms of retirement planning, think in terms of Encore Foundations.
Career foundation
The Assistant role has evolved dramatically. Today’s administrative professionals are strategic partners. They manage projects, analyze information, influence stakeholders, and serve as trusted advisors. The Assistants who remain relevant long-term are those who think beyond tasks.
Ask yourself:
- Are you strengthening business acumen?
- Are you cultivating executive presence?
- Are you becoming known as someone who anticipates rather than reacts?
Reputation compounds over time. A consistent pattern of insight, discretion, and reliability becomes a professional asset that opens doors in future chapters.
Financial foundation
Financial awareness directly influences long-term freedom. The ability to choose your future, rather than feeling constrained by it, depends on early and consistent decisions.
Saving, understanding investments, and managing lifestyle choices are not simply personal matters. They are strategic. Encore Years feel very different when they are entered with options rather than limitations.
Wellness foundation
The administrative profession can be demanding. High expectations, constant change, and heavy workloads can quietly erode energy. Yet long-term excellence requires sustained health. Sleep, movement, emotional boundaries, and stress management are not luxuries. They are performance drivers. Your body and mind carry you into every new chapter. The habits you build today determine how much energy you bring to tomorrow.
Identity foundation
Perhaps the most important foundation is identity. Assistants often derive deep meaning from their roles. However, titles change. Executives retire. Organizations restructure. Encore Years are richer when your identity extends beyond your job description. You are more than your title. You are a whole person with values, passions, relationships, and aspirations. When identity is anchored in purpose rather than position, reinvention becomes less threatening and more empowering.
A Multigenerational Profession
One of the strengths of the administrative field is its multigenerational presence. Younger Assistants bring technological agility and fresh perspective. Seasoned Assistants bring wisdom, institutional memory, and strategic calm. Encore thinking bridges that gap. Some professionals are planting seeds. Some are harvesting. Some are replanting entirely. Each stage has value. Relevance does not belong to a particular age group. It belongs to those who remain curious, adaptable, and willing to grow.
Moving from Autopilot to Intention
The pace of modern work encourages reaction. Emails, meeting changes, urgent requests, and shifting priorities can consume every available minute. In that environment, long-term reflection is often postponed. Encore Years require stepping out of autopilot.
They invite you to ask:
- What do I want my professional life to look like 10 years from now?
- What skills am I building that will sustain that vision?
- Am I managing my health and finances in ways that support freedom?
- Where might I be underestimating my potential?
These questions are not about pressure. They are about clarity. In my book Red Lipstick ON!, I describe the moment when a woman decides to stop shrinking and start standing fully in her own space. That decision can happen at any age. It often marks the beginning of a powerful new chapter.
The Assistant Role as a Launchpad
After decades in this profession, I have watched Assistants transition into senior leadership, chief of staff roles, entrepreneurship, consulting, and entirely new industries. The competencies developed in this role are powerful and transferable. Managing complexity, influencing without authority, maintaining discretion, and anticipating risk are skills that serve professionals in virtually any arena.
Encore Years are not about stepping away from impact. They are about expanding it in alignment with who you have become. Your Encore is not a distant event tied to a birthday. It is being built in everyday meetings, decisions, learning moments, and courageous conversations. You are writing your next chapter now. The only question is whether you are doing it intentionally.
