Jacqueline M. Leib, CAP

Okay, I have to declare. No, I need to shout from the roof tops that “I have THE best inner circle of women that any woman could want or need!!”  I have girlfriends who have helped me through my child raising years (and still want to be my friends).  I have young whippersnapper faculty/staff members who keep me moving so I don’t become stale.  I have new colleagues that I have known (through their teachings, books, and blogs) for many years, but have just recently met that continue to encourage me to strategically reach for my dreams.  You name it, I have many in my inner circle cheering me on, empowering me to be my best.

There are days that I just want to sit back and coast, you know . . . rest on my laurels.  I looked this phrase up in Google and loved the definition.  Rest on one’s laurels definition is “be so satisfied with what one has already achieved that one makes no further effort”.   My inner circle would never allow this.  These women want to see me live my dreams and accomplish my goals and I am so very grateful for their fierce friendship and fervor.  An inner circle can mean different things to people so I thought I would tell you what an inner circle looks like to me.

First-class Friendships – women and men who are honest with you and enjoy sharing your joys and accomplishments as well as working with you through the tough times.

Encouraging Positive Peers – every one of us needs help and by cultivating relationships with your peers or being of service to your peers not only enriches your work life, but it can teach you new skills that you can bring to your own desk.  Win-Win!

Outstanding Magnificent Mentors – in order to up your game, you need Magnificent Mentors.  Be specific in what you need from your mentor and accept requests to be a mentor as well.  We all have something unique to offer.  Sharing yourself, your skills with others is so rewarding.

Having a stellar inner circle is a necessity in today’s competitive environment.  No one can operate in a vacuum and make their dreams come true.  Everyone needs a top notch inner circle to keep them on their path or to convince them to take a new one.

One more really cool benefit of the power of an inner circle is that the circle increases in size as you grow.  New people come into the circle as you seek out your dream.  They help you add more to your Admin arsenal as do you add to theirs.  Let me know how I can help you.  It would be my honor to be a member of your inner circle.

Jackie

   I left my Admin job at the top of my game.  I had given birth to my oldest son and had all intentions of going back.  He came into this world a little sick and I could not leave him.  So I put my career on hold and raised both him and his younger brother as a stay-at-home mom.  Now everyone knows what a hard job a stay-at home mom can be, but like always, I was up for the challenge.

When my oldest went to kindergarten, the principal of the school was looking for some part time help at the school.  I stepped forward and for 13 years I worked part time getting the kids off the bus in the morning, supervising them on the playground and during lunch.  I would also sub for the office admins in the schools within our district as well as admins in the district office.

Our public library often held classes on resume writing, Microsoft software and other relevant classes for people looking to gain employment. I took them all in hopes of keeping my skills up and to turn my part time job into a full time position in one of the schools offices or within the district office.  When it was obvious that this was not going to happen, I decided to look outside the school.

I sent my resume to all the large corporations that were in a 25 mile radius of my house but to be honest with you, I was not interested in 60 hour work weeks.  My oldest was in high school and my youngest in middle school.  So I sent my resume to all the public schools in the surrounding neighborhoods.  I heard crickets.  I then started looking at the private schools and found a position as Office Manager of External Relations at Lake Forest Academy.  I knew nothing about a boarding school environment but was intrigued.  After researching the website I wanted this job . . . badly.  I had received offers from two places but was holding out for LFA.  I got the job and all is history.  WHAT?!?!?!  Just kidding.  This is the important part.

I started full time in the External Relations Department, the fundraising department for the school.  It was exciting and exhausting all at the same time.  I came home and hit the couch and was zonked out before 7pm.  Working part time in a grade school does not prepare you for full time in an independent/international college prep school.  LFA does not roll up the welcome mats at 3pm.  No it is open 348 days a year.  And even on holidays our faculty and boarding students live on campus so it is humming.  There are trips to the city (Chicago) for dinner on the weekends or to Milwaukee for a baseball or basketball game. During the weekday there are evening trips to Target for supplies or a fan van to see one of our teams compete.  Nothing prepared me for this.

And nothing prepared me for how insecure I would be about my admin skills.  As I said, I was at the top of my game in corporate America and had kept up my skills.  But working for a team of 12 in a fast paced office was overwhelming and I needed to gain my confidence back fast.  That is when I began to research experts in the Administrative field.  I picked up all the books I could from the experts such as Joan Burge, Bonnie Low-Kramen, Peggy Vasquez, Sandy Geroux and Julie Perrine.  I signed up for newsletters from Lucy Brazier, Rhonda Scharf, Chrissy Scivicque, Office Ninjas and Courtney Clark.  I would frequent the websites/blogs of International Association of Administrative Professionals, Vickie Sokol-Evans, American Society of Administrative Professionals, Jennifer Abrams, Colette Carlson and Exceptional EA.  I signed up for every free webinar I could find and watched every YouTube webinar.  I KNOW that I am missing many of the wonderful sites that I frequented and currently visit.  I promise to include them in other posts in the future.  The point is, I gave myself the professional development I needed and at no cost or low cost to me.  Providing myself with knowledge that I gained from those who had struggled with the issues I was struggling with and came out on top and were willing to share gave me the confidence I needed to work towards being the best Admin I am capable of being.

If you are returning to the workforce after a hiatus, you got this!!!  It is in you, you just need to find your mojo.  Whatever it takes to find it, use those avenues.  If there is anything that I can do to cheer you on or steer you in the direction of what you need, ASK.  We all are in this together.  We all have doubted ourselves.  Heck, I STILL doubt myself . . . often!!!  You can do this and there are so many Admins with great knowledge who are out there waiting to help you.  Dream big and go after it.

Jackie

I am a month off of the 2018 IAAP Summit that was held in Austin, TX and I have to tell you that it was an amazing experience.  Not only were there top notch speakers, but the networking was incredible.  I am a self proclaimed introvert, so networking is a stretch for me.  A special friend suggested I write about my experience, and share the details.  Here is how I approached this conference.

First and foremost, I made sure to schedule downtime to regain my energy.  I had so many things that I wanted to do that were out of my comfort zone that I had to schedule alone time.  All I needed was a few minutes of quiet time (5 to 10 minutes worked for me) and I was ready to present my best self.  At times, I can lose the confidence that I need to fulfill all my dreams.  I just need a few minutes to talk myself back into doing what I know I want to do but my brain might tell me that I can’t.  Anyone relate?

Secondly, with all the choices of exceptional presenters, you need to come up with a game plan ahead of time.  IAAP had an app that allowed you to pick your presentations based on the times and days.  It was very helpful.  I needed to take it one step further so I created an Excel Spreadsheet to indicate when I had free time.

Thirdly, and this is where the fun and amazing yet scary/way-out-of-my-comfort-zone happened.  Many of the speakers at this conference have been my favorite people to follow on social media.  These amazing women are my heroines in the Administrative arena and I wanted to meet them . . . one on one.  WHAT?!?!?!?!  Yep, I wanted to meet them and have a conversation.  I wanted to get to know them as individuals like I was with a long time friend.  After all, I knew them for years from blogs, books, websites, social media, webinars etc.  You name it, anything they had made available to the public I gobbled up. But how was I going to do this?  They know nothing of me.

As soon as I came up with this wonderful idea, my brain began to shoot it down.  What if they don’t reply?  What if they say no?  They are going to think I am weird . . . maybe a stalker.  I could have stopped at that moment and never taken the chance, but this was something I really wanted and I pushed through the anxiety and sent each of them a quick message saying that I would love to buy them a cup of joe and would they be interested.  To my delight they responded!  Kind notes saying “I’d love to see if we can find some time to meet up”, “I would love to chat, when do you arrive?” and “thanks so much for reaching out”.     Slowly, but surely, my free times became filled with coffees.  I was going to meet some of the women who I admire most in the Admin industry.  These women had taught me to be the ADMIN that I am today.  I Googled each name and took notes.  I searched every nook and cranny of the Internet to find out about each of them and then came up with three or four questions for each woman.  I was prepared.

Summit came and went.  I had the time of my life!!!!  I met each and every Goddess I asked to coffee and then some.  In the excitement of the moment, I forgot the questions that I had prepared.  I wanted to just BE in the moment.  I had the opportunity to just hang with each lady like we were lifelong friends and it was awesome!  I have only one regret . . . I was too awestruck to put myself out there for one individual.  I won’t let that happen again, Lucy Brazier!!!

And my final tip for getting the most out of a conference is to teach what you learned.  Go back to your employer and tell them how much you enjoyed the conference, what you took from it and how you would like to share it with the rest of the organization.  I have chosen five of the topics from the IAAP Summit that I will be sharing with the Admins at my school in the upcoming months.

Attending a conference is a gift.  Put yourself out there and make the most of it!!!

Jackie

Happy New School Year!

I work at an international boarding/day college prep school.  I absolutely love working at a school.  Each new school year allows you to raise the bar on yourself.  This school year I am choosing to be a more positive influence on my coworkers and to actively choose to turn negative conversations into positive ones.  We have some big changes happening this school year and I want to be a source of calm and positivity.

This summer I had the privilege of meeting an amazing Administrative Professional, Master speaker Bonnie Low-Kramen.  

She spoke at the IAAP Summit in Austin, Texas.  It was an awesome presentation with many take-aways that I could use immediately.  But one thing she talked about touched my heart.  Bonnie talked about women lifting each other up.  Bonnie has been on a mission for a long time to end workplace bullying.  There are many aspects of bullying, but one that I can have an immediate impact on is lifting other women up.

The workplace is a competitive place and can cause negativity within the ranks.  I want to focus this year on positive energy at the office.  Below are three things that I believe will bring positive energy to the workplace.

1. Come to work each day with an optimistic outlook. Attitude is everything. So when you encounter a conversation that is going negative, turn it around and make it positive.  Attack your day with a sunny disposition.  It is more fun to take on the day with optimism.  It goes by much faster.
2. Choose one person to pour yourself into. Optimism is infectious.  Find a peer to invest your time and energy in to meet their needs. OR, bestow your optimism into all the peers at your workplace by being a positive representative of your peers.  Stand up for the admins in your company.
3. Periodically, send a thank you note. We all carry a full load, so take on this task at a level that is comfortable, not taxing to you.  Sending someone a thank you note is a simple way to spread positive energy.  I few suggestions on who to thank: the janitorial and maintenance members, those who have lifted you up when you needed it and those doing a thankless job.  Send your note via email, or for a bigger impact, send a handwritten note.  Nothing fancy or expensive.  It is the thought that has the positive impact.

Small gestures of goodwill can offer great rewards.  Please join me in putting ourselves out there.  A very beautiful and smart admin/author/international speaker/coach,  Peggy Vasquez, wisely said to me “you have to be willing to take a risk in order to get what you want”.  I want a workplace that is humming, with women lifting up each other and enjoying a positive and calm environment.  I wish this for you as well.

To a wonderful new school year!

Jackie