A small bump in my road

April 20, 2020

Yesterday (Sunday) I woke up feeling kind of “meh”.  I mention the day of the week because I don’t know about you, but the days are starting to meld together.  Anyways, I didn’t have a fever or feel sick so I went to the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee.  I did my usual routine which includes playing the daily game of solitaire on my iPad (nailed it by the way) and sat in my chair watching the sun rise.  After an hour or two of just starring, I decided to go back upstairs and lay on my bed for a while.  I ended up falling asleep.  It was a quick nap, I felt better but knew it was not going to be a productive day. 

I have had a couple of these days in the past 5 weeks since I have been house bound with our current quarantine due to the COVID 19 virus and I was wondering if any of you have had a day (or days) where you have felt like this too?  I believe this is “normal” and know that when I am not feeling “off”, I will be right back into the rhythm of things.  So even though I was not feeling myself, I continued with my routine of laying out my week.  Here is a link to my article published in Executive Secretary Magazine that outlines my Sunday routine should you need some inspiration. 

You may have a bump in your road.  Or, if you are like me, you might have a few bumps in your road.  DO NOT beat yourself up for them.  DO NOT look at other social media posts and compare yourself to someone who ran a marathon before making a four course breakfast for their family and delivered it to all the neighbours in a three block radius of their home. (Speaking honestly, I never have and have no intentions of being THAT productive . . . just saying.)  Now, is a perfect time to really get to know yourself.  To figure out how much you can take before you need to take a break.  Your body will tell you.  I know that mine does and I finally have had time to stop and listen to it.  It is like the instructions you receive on an airplane – take care of your oxygen mask before you help others with theirs.  We have heard this SO MANY TIMES in so many ways!!!  But it is so true.  You cannot be performing optimally for others if you are not in optimal condition yourself.  Take the time.  Figure out what you need and get it!!!  No guilt.  PLEASE . . . no guilt.

Reach out if you need to.  Sit in silence if you need to.  Listen to your body and fill yourself up.  You’ve got this!

Stay healthy, safe and strong!!!

Jackie

Collaboration is SWEET!

February 17, 2020

I have a fellow admin at work, Erin, who sits on the “Head of School Symposium” committee with me at Lake Forest Academy.  I had suggested a project to be undertaken by our committee and the committee approved the project.  Of course, I volunteered to head the project and left the meeting with a head full of ideas and a need to put together a plan of action.  Erin caught me in the hall and we talked about the project on the way back to our offices.  Erin generously offered her time to help me out on the project.  We talked a little about ideas and agreed to set up a time to seriously talk about our ideas and come with a solid game plan.

A week later we met for lunch to map out how we could have the greatest impact on our community with this project.  I hardly ate at all because the ideas we were exchanging were magnificent.  We both brought a different perspective to the project.  We both were feeding off of each other’s suggestions and my paper was filled with well thought out ideas that by ourselves we might have come up with some but together – well we mapped out the entire campaign pretty much from start to finish.

We also shared about ourselves.  We had been honest with each other before, but we felt that a safe place had been established for us which allowed us to be vulnerable and in turn creative.  In Peggy Vasques’s new book, Mean Girl No More, Peggy invites us to “celebrate each other”.  I wish this would be possible more often and with Admins and Executives alike.

I wrote up our ideas and sent them to Erin to add any additional ideas or information that she had promised she would obtain.  The proposal looked great and what was better is that it had the potential to have a big impact on our community and those individuals who choose to participate.

We received approval and moved ahead.  I contacted the organization that we were going to partner with and Erin began creating documents and forms to be shared with the committee and the community. 

What, you might ask, does this have to do with celebrating each other and/or collaboration?  EVERYTHING!!!

  1. Accept help – I could have put the proposal together by myself.  It would have been good, but because Erin and I collaborated it is now great.  Erin questioned some of my ideas which made us delve deeper into the process.  By accepting Erin’s help, I am extremely proud of the project we have embarked on and so is Erin.  We both feel ownership based on our contributions.  Win (me) Win (Erin) Win (those who will benefit from this project)!
  2. The more the merrier – I am sure you have heard the saying two heads are better than one, or the more the merrier.  I know that it was drilled into me when I was young.  But as we grow older we are taught to think for ourselves and we become more competitive and less collaborative.  Only one person can be _______________ (fill in the blank) so we compete against each other instead of with each other.  Afraid of not getting recognized, some people will take credit for collaborative work or even worse, throw a colleague under the bus because the collaborative work did not work out as planned.
  3. Be vulnerable – I volunteered to take on the project that I submitted.  Erin offered to help me with it.  We both shared about ourselves allowing each of us to see how we were the same as each other and to observe how we’re different from each other.  We bring our life stories with us to every conversation we have.  Each person’s life story is different and influences how we think and react.

Thank you, Peggy Vasquez, for the invitation.  By celebrating each other, we created a safe environment to dig deeper, be creative and to throw out ideas (no matter how crazy they might have seemed) knowing that we would not be judged but instead lifted up.  And in doing so, those ideas became our project that has and will continue to bring much joy to those in our community and surrounding communities.

How do you “Celebrate” others?  Please leave us a comment below and let us know.

Jackie

2020 = Perfect Vision!

December 31, 2019

At this time of year, everything you see and hear is about starting a new healthy life style.  “Make sure you get your daily exercise in so join our gym”.  Or, “workout with your friends so take our classes”.  It is very important in our role as Admins to make sure that we take care of ourselves.  Our jobs can be very stressful and we can work at our desk for hours and forget to get up and move.  I read somewhere that sitting is the new smoking.  Yikes!!!!  I follow several people/groups on Facebook who have a healthy life style through walking.  #EveryDayWalking, started by Jannie Oosterhoff, is a group that takes beautiful pictures while they walk and posts them.  It is very inspiring and I get to see pictures from all over the world.  Women Walking:Women Talking and One Million Women Walking, both started by Heather Waring, are two groups that also post pictures of their walks.  What do you do to stay physically healthy?  Please share with us.

I believe that starting a new healthy life style also includes exercising our brain.  Just like feeding your body healthy foods, it is imperative to feed your brain.  Here are a few things I like to do to feed my brain:

Read books and blogs – there are so many great resources out there.  Some new book releases this year that I have read and highly recommend include Tonya Dalton’s The Joy of Mission Out; Peggy Vasquez’s Mean Girl No More; Debbie Gross’s The Office Rockstar Playbook, Melissa Esquibel’s Dirty Data, and I am looking forward to reading Rhonda Scharf’s Alexa is stealing your job.  I also enjoy reading blogs.  A few that I have found this year are Kem Foley’s Admin Renegade; Melissa Peoples blog and Melissa Mosher’s Support Savvy Ninja.  We can learn so much from each other.  Do you have any books or blogs that have been helpful to you?  Please share.

Watch webinars – I have written in earlier blog posts about my obsession with professional development through webinars.  A few that continue to be my favorites are Joan Burge, ELS Forum, Julie Perrine, Chrissy Scivicque, Admin Chat with Lucy Brazier, and a new one I found this year is Sawbuck Seminars with Melissa Esquibel (they literally are $10!!!!!)

Listen to Podcasts – I have a 20-30 minute commute to work.  It is a perfect time to listen to a podcast.  Some new podcasts that I found this year are Jeremy Burrow’s The Leader Assistant and Liz Van Vliet’s Being Indispensable I listen again when I am able to write down ideas that I grab from these information packed episodes!!

What are you going to do to keep your mind and body healthy and happy in 2020? Remember 2020 equals perfect vision!!!  See you in the New Year!!!

Jackie

Learning your worth

November 18, 2019

I recently travelled to China as an ambassador for my work.  Six of us were invited to an International Fair at a school in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China.  We toured the school, enjoyed the school’s talent show, made sea creature dumplings with the students, and ate bountiful and delicious meals with the Principals from the lower, middle, and upper schools (along with other important dignitaries within the school system) including a special Chinese tea ceremony with the Superintendent, which was spectacular.  We were greeted, upon arrival to the campus, by the welcoming students who were selling trinkets to raise money for their projects.  This was a delightful experience which grew me in many ways.

I grew in appreciation for what I have.  The opportunity to represent my school in China is still difficult for me to phathom.  I find it difficult at times to understand my value.  Being one of the senior members on the trip, I found myself guiding decisions among our group.  I found myself listening intently and making decisions that were appropriate for me, my colleagues on this trip and my school.

I also saw my school and colleagues in a fresh perspective.  We are a school that has been around the block a few times; 163 times to be exact.  Our experience is very appealing to this school that is only in its 3rd year.  I didn’t see my colleagues as the positions they hold at our school, I saw them as students.  Global Students absorbing all of their surroundings in as much as their 5 senses could bear.  One pretending to be a DJ on a make believe radio station and another pretending to be a TV news anchor reporting the day’s news.  Another colleague began using technology to talk to the students and strangers he encountered.

I grew in appreciation of how I/we are different.  I came over dressed while the rest of my colleagues smartly, came more casual.  They fit in so much better than I did and by the end of the school day, I was carrying my heels as I walked across the cool and comforting grass of the soccer field after an amazing match between the Belgium and Chinese teams.  All joking aside, our worlds – my school and the Chinese school; my group and the faculty of the Chinese school; my colleagues and I; we are all different.  We each come to the table with different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs.  I graduated from the Chicago Public School system (CPS), I am a first generation graduate from a university in the states, and I have a husband and 2 children.  Of just my 5 other colleagues, I was the only one who went to CPS, the only one who received an Associate Degree in Business Administration from a Secretarial School, and a BS in Business Administration.  Five of us are married.  Four of us have children.  One just finished attending school and this is his first teaching position.  Two were born and raised in other countries than the US.  One lives on our school campus.  Three are faculty and three are staff.

At the Chinese school, all the administrators were Chinese but many of the teachers are American.  The majority of students are Chinese but there are American and Australian students too.  Visiting the Chinese school with us were 3 faculty members from a Belgium school, and 35 of their students.  All of us, so very different and yet the same.  We all leaned into the discomfort of different languages and cultures.  We all created a safe environment so that we could share ourselves along with our school practices.  We challenged ourselves and each other to take that step outside of our comfort zones and open ourselves to new opportunities and knowledge for the benefit of not only ourselves but for the students we engage with.  We made connections that grew us and our understanding of each other that make us stronger as a community of educators and bring our worlds closer together.

I came back a different person from when I left.  I have worked 8 years at my school, an international school that in any given year has 35+ countries represented, and understand that our differences make us stronger and that we each bring a different perspective, but this was different.  I was the outsider, or as many referred to me as “the foreigner”.  I was the one who needed to adapt.  I had to figure things out even though our hosts were amazingly helpful.  I had to be vulnerable and say “may I have some help, please” or “I don’t understand”.  I have a new appreciate for those of any race, religion, or size.  We truly are the same even though we are different.  We all want to be accepted, loved and nurtured.  We need to feed our souls, nourish our bodies and grow our knowledge.

I had no part in planning this trip at this time of the year when we Americans gather together with friends and family to express our gratitude and appreciation.  It seems appropriate that this opportunity to travel to China with 5 AWESOME individuals and to meet our Chinese and Belgium colleagues (and now friends) happened at this time of year.

As I reflect back on this trip, and my insecurities, I no longer ask “Who am I to . . .”, rather I say to myself, “I was the correct choice to have gone on this trip and I believe I am a good ambassador of my school”.  For any of you who suffer from this ugly feeling, I wish you much success as you tackle this monster.

Make it an awesome week, friends.

Jackie

Everyday can be New Year’s Day!

July 23, 2019

July 1st is the half way mark for the year and the beginning of a new school year for most schools including Lake Forest Academy.  This is the time of year when many faculty and staff set goals or make resolutions, for the upcoming school year, and it made me think about starting new things.  It could be starting a new job, a new project or even a new day.  Heck if my morning starts off with less than a positive tone, I will declare it as such and begin again. Starting fresh at any point, gives us the chance to stop old bad habits and start new positive ones.  Rethink, reorganize, and redo.

The Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of starting over is “to begin to do something again, sometimes in a different way”.

After much thought, I decided that I was going to put more effort into using my time more wisely by incorporating automation.  Here are two email habits that I have incorporated into my routine:

Snooze button in Gmail – For the past two weeks, I have been managing our Summer Science Camp.  It is a full time job during the two weeks that it runs so my regular 9 to 5 responsibilities get put on hold.  That being said, I still receive emails asking for things that need to be done, but not immediately.  In comes Snooze.

I found out about Snooze about a month or two ago and then when I was attending Melissa Esquibel‘s Sawbuck Seminar Stop Making Copies of Email and Stay on Track Anyway, Melissa reminded me of the capability of Snooze.  With Snooze, I can click on the button (that looks like a clock) and Snooze an email to come back into my Inbox on a day and time that I select when I know I will be able to handle it.  With Snooze, I do not need to put a reminder in my calendar to handle the email at a later date.  This saves me time and keeps my Inbox clean of emails that are not urgent.  Brilliant!!!!

Boomerang outgoing mail – Hopefully everyone has heard of Boomerang and uses it often.  I have been using it for quite some time, but thoughtfully sat down to figure out how I could use it more often.  During the school year, there are times when I am super busy, and other times when I am just busy.  (I am sure you can relate with any industry you are in.)  Working with three board committees, I send out emails prior to our meetings as reminders.  I send an email out two weeks, one week, and the day prior to each committee’s meetings.  We establish the meetings and the committee members months in advance for the entire year.  I decided to automate this process by writing these emails ahead of time and Bommeranging them to send on the appropriate dates for each of the committees two weeks, one week, and the day prior.  That is 11 meetings with 3 emails each for a total of 33 emails done all at once.  Now when I am in the throes of preparing for these meetings, I do not need to stop, prepare, proof and send these emails.  What a time and mind saver!!!

Whatever your reason for starting anew, seize the opportunity to put your best foot forward, to be the stellar Assistant you were meant and capable of being.

Here is to your fresh start!!!

 

Jackie

Change is a good thing

May 28, 2019

There have been, and continue to be, many changes happening at my work Lake Forest Academy. One major change happening July 1, 2019 is the changing of our Head of School. After 18 years, Dr. John Strudwick will be retiring and José De Jesús will be joining us as the 30th Head of School.

As we come to the end of our school year, there is an anxiousness that you can feel on our campus. Tamar Chansky, author of Freeing Yourself from Anxiety says “changes at work are among the top life stressors that one can experience”. There are many things we can do as Admins when changes occur around us that will give us a sense of control.

Continue to put your best foot forward. Now is not the time to sit back and rest on the good job you have done thus far. Keep striving to be your best and keep that positive attitude. Things get tough right before the change, during the change and even after the change. Make it your mission to be the Admin that works to bring negative attitudes and energy back to a positive state.

Ask questions and communicate.  If you don’t know or understand, ask questions.  Don’t be afraid, everyone is learning.  And once you understand, communicate what you have learned so others can understand and be on the same page.  Any time you find out information that would be valuable to others, share it.  Communication is the key to a smooth transition.

Stay with your winning routine.  You know what you are doing, that is why you are the amazing Admin that you are.  Continue to keep your goals in sight and work towards them.  Stay the course.  If you are working on improving a skill, continue to work on it.  Embrace the changes, but do not be changed by them.

We are constantly changing.  As Admins, our jobs change daily . . . hourly, even.  How many of you come in with a TO DO LIST and as soon as you sit down at your desk, the emails come barging in with “others” to do lists which take precedence over what you had on yours.  Or the phone rings with a request that needs to be handled immediately.  How about your executive comes in and just in the way they are walking, you know you need to grab a pen and pad of paper to take down the to do list from your executive.  You handle these changes like a PRO!!!!

I am looking forward to this change.  I am sad to see Dr. Strudwick retire, but I have been a part of conversations with José and am looking forward to what he will bring to our school.

Are you afraid of change? 
Are you great at change?  Please
share your comments with us below.

Jackie

Administrative Professional’s Day

May 1, 2019

Last week it was Administrative Professional’s Day and I have to be honest that I have mixed feelings about this special day in my profession. I truly believe it is important to recognize the hard work that Admins do on a daily basis, but wonder how it makes others in the office feel. I decided to do some research to see what other office worker/staff days there are to be celebrated.

There is an Employee Appreciation Day the first Friday in March but it is too encompassing. There is the National Receptionist Day that is celebrated on the 2nd Wednesday in April. This is a position that we do not currently have at our school. And of course there is Boss’s Day which is celebrated on or around October 16th. There are other days like Nurses Day or Dentist Day and even Educator’s Day. But working in the business office of Lake Forest Academy, an independent international board and day school, I was unable to find any “days” to celebrate my friends who are Purchasing agents, Accounts Payable clerks, Accounts Receivable clerks, or any other staff position.

For this reason, I feel uncomfortable being celebrated on our special day. It can separate us from the rest of the office and make us seem less of a profession. In fact it shines the spotlight on us intensifying our differences from other staff members further distancing us from our co-workers.

I truly believe that we should be celebrated for the amazing work that we do. Not everyone can be a professional admin. I tend to like the idea of the Admin Awards to celebrate us individually as we strive to be our best.

What are your thoughts on this day of celebration? Please let us know by commenting below.

Have a great day!

Jackie

Be a sharp pencil!!!

February 18, 2019

Happy George Washington’s Birthday day or as those of us in the State of Illinois say “Presidents Day”.  Several states (California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma) renamed this holiday to Presidents Day.  Should this ever come up in a game of trivia . . . you are welcome!

As you may know from reading my blog posts, I like to proctor exams on the weekends.  ACT, SAT and SSAT exams are all given at my place of employment, Lake Forest Academy.  When I proctor an SSAT exam, I usually am given a couple boxes of number two pencils for students that bring mechanical pencils, or have number two pencils but they do not have erasers.  There is always one in the student body.  There is also always one that comes with 20 number two pencils and they are not sharpened.  And that is where today’s article comes from.  I could have talked about being prepared as an assistant, but looking at all these different types of pencils, made me think about the Administrative profession in general.

When we as admins come fresh out of school, or when we start a new job, we are like the brand new unsharpened pencils.  We are filled with knowledge, everything is new and we are ready to get started.  A pencil, when it is brand new, needs to be sharpened (trained).  On the job, we learn the culture of a company, the political game, and how we fit into the picture.  Sharpen, sharpen, sharpen.

After we have been on the job for a while and we understand what is expected of us, we can become dull (complacent) and need to be sharpened again.  How do you go about getting sharpened?  Here are a few of the ways I like to sharpen:

Books – Has anyone read Joan Burge’s new book, Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed?  It is chocked full of insight that Joan tells like she is sitting with you having a conversation over a great glass of wine.  It is honest and raw with Joan’s many years of expertise behind it.  Lucy Brazier and Executive Secretary Magazine have produced excellent books on personal branding and building an internal assistant network to name a few.  Excellent references for sharpening yourself.  Peggy Vasquez’s Not just an Admin is a must read for anyone looking to grow both personally and professionally.  Vickie Sokol Evans’ 100 Life-Changing Tips Using Microsoft Office for Windows is on my list to purchase.  I have had the privilege of attending a live class and a few webinars of Vickie’s and she is the real deal!!! 

Webinars and Podcasts – I mentioned in my blog post on Professional Development many of the webinars that I watch.  Go check out all the free knowledge you can bring into your arsenal to keep you sharp.  Bonnie Low Kramen and Vickie Sokol Evans, Shelagh Donnelly, and Liz Van Vliet all have fantastic Podcasts you can download and listen to.  I use to listen while I was walking, but I had to stop too often to write down what they were saying.  You need to pay attention because they are divulging pure pearls of wisdom that we all can benefit from.

Networking – Check out Conferences.  Read my blog post on How to find a Conference and then read my blog post on How to get the most out of a Conference and then get busy.  Open up dialogues with industry and organizational leaders that interest you.  Step outside your comfort zone and sharpen yourself.

I don’t know about you, but I love to use a freshly sharpened pencil.  My guess is that your Executive does too.  Don’t let yourself get dull.

Here’s to another great week of making a difference as an excellent ADMIN!!!!

Jackie

Attitude of Gratitude

February 11, 2019

This past week was filled with many moments of Gratitude that I would like to share with you.  Living a life of gratitude is so fulfilling, so easy and brings others joy as well.  I am bursting at the seams with gratitude as I write this blog post!  So much so, that my mind is going faster than my hands can type.  I think I will highlight three things that I am grateful for.  It will help my fingers from getting tangled. 

As many of you know, I work at Lake Forest Academy (okay so I am highlighting a fourth thing I am grateful for – GO CAXYS).  It is an international boarding/day college prep school and everyday is a treat to be a part of this amazing environment.  On Monday, we had a guest speaker for our All School Meeting.  The author of A Chance in the World, Steve Pemberton came to our school to talk about his life.  He talked about his hardships growing up, but the man has an attitude of gratitude for every lesson he learned from his horrible childhood in foster homes.  He is thankful for his life and every encounter he has had and shows his gratitude in everything he does.  What a wonderful role model!  Later in the evening, we gathered in our Theater to watch the movie adaptation of his book.  Steve endured horrific events in his life and still finds the good in every encounter.  I read his book prior to meeting him and I highly recommend it.  Meeting Steve, reading his book and listening to his eloquent talk to our school, I am a better person for this brief meeting.  Thank you, Steve.

On Tuesday, once again at Lake Forest Academy, I had the honor of presenting to my fellow peers, a talk on The Power of an Inner Circle.  Peggy Vasquez is an amazing Admin, author of Not just an Admin and Speaker who speaks on this subject and offered her worksheet for my presentation.  She offered . . . I didn’t ask.  Peggy just offered to send me the link for her hard work to better my presentation.  Almost a week later, I am still speechless on how grateful I am for my friendship with Peggy and for the lessons she teaches me daily that she is unaware of.  Thank you, Peggy, for your unconditional friendship and fantastic worksheet!

And if you are counting, this is my last highlight.  Believe me when I tell you there are many more things that I am grateful for this week, but these needed to be highlighted.  On Wednesday, I received an email allowing me to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Thank you, Ike Saunders and your wonderful organization REACH!!! (If you are in the Chicagoland area and an Executive Assistant, you really need to check Ike and REACH out)  This time I asked if I could extend this opportunity to others in my community and was granted permission.  If you do not know the magnificent Vickie Sokol Evans of The Red Cape Company, you need to!!!!  She is the author of 100 Life Changing Tips Using Microsoft Office for Windows, a speaker and a trainer.  Vickie, like Steve and Peggy, has touched my life in so many ways by being the extraordinary human that she is.  Vickie is the real deal and I am so very grateful for her kindness and gifts she shares with Admins across the globe.

Having an attitude of gratitude is a choice.  A simple choice that bears wonderful benefits such as improving your mental and physical health, self esteem and makes you a person others want to model themselves after.

Here’s to an easy choice!  Cheers

Jackie

Are you a robber or a receiver?

January 21, 2019

How do you accept help?  Last month we had our annual holiday department luncheon.  I had organized the entire event because I want it to be somewhat of a surprise to my department.  The food, the decorations, even the holiday movie trivia game this year was a surprise to everyone.  It gives me such joy to see everyone arrive in the meeting room and smell the smells of whatever meal I have ordered for them and take in the sights and sounds of the winter wonderland that I have created for them.  During the luncheon I will walk around making sure that everyone has what they need.  A refill of a side dish or a slice of dessert, whatever it takes to make my department feel that they are thought of and well taken care of. 

After the party was over, I was asked if I needed help.  Of course my reply was “no”.  I wanted the experience to continue for the rest of the afternoon and to me helping clean up would break the “caring” feeling that I was trying so hard to evoke.  Several people asked a couple of times if they could help me with the clean up and I continued to answer with “no thank you”.

Later in the afternoon I began to think about how I would feel if I really wanted to help someone who had just given of themselves and I was not allowed to.  It made me think about another time when I had said no thanks to help from a friend I had years ago.  This very good and wise friend had said to me that by not allowing anyone to help me, I was not letting (I believe the word she used was “robbing”) others to feel the same joy.  Ouch!!!

In my many years of Admining, I have experienced that a good portion of Administrative Professionals are hardcore people pleasers!!!  I am a people pleaser who always wants to do for others.  But if it would “please” others to help me, am I truly a people “pleaser”?

Thank you Beth, (my good and wise friend from years ago) and Kristin (my good and wise friend and co-worker from this holiday department luncheon), for reminding me to allow others to help me.  I do not ever want to be accused again of robbing others of joy. 

How do you take help?  Are you a robber or a receiver? Please let us know in the comments below.

Jackie