Attention Leaders: Ignore Your Executive Assistant at Your Own Risk

A few months ago, a neighbor (who I'll call Robin here) asked me to review her resume.  After nearly 15 years with the same company, she was ready to leave.  Her boss had just retired and her company hired a young man from outside the organization to fill the now-vacant executive management position. The company thought he would be a great addition to their executive team, but it turns out he was a narcissist and his behavior was belittling to Robin, his Executive Assistant. 

Robin is a consummate professional and tried to help the new executive acclimate to the new company and the new role. However, during the first week of his new job, he made it clear that he did not need any help.  After all, he had conquered the interview gauntlet.  He knew how to do this job, and he knew how to manage his team.  And he certainly didn't need the help of a lowly secretary without a college degree!

Unfortunately for him, all of his knowledge and charm was insufficient to help him be successful at his new job because he did not understand the culture.  About the time we started talking over her resume, Robin started hearing other executives whispering about this young man. They were suspicious of his intentions when he asked to help with key initiatives, they doubted his ability to prioritize his time, and they questioned his overall effectiveness.  His cultural ignorance was starting to catch up to him.  Even worse, his arrogance had forced Robin, one of his strongest potential allies, onto the job market, leaving her flatly uninterested in helping him succeed. 

In the world of Mergers & Acquisitions, we often think of culture as "how work gets done" in a particular part of a company.  We try to understand things like who really makes decisions, the level of collaboration expected between people and groups, and how important matters are communicated. We attempt to evaluate how the organization sets goals, how performance is measured, and how people are held accountable for achieving results.  We do most of this using publicly available information sources or brief interviews with a small handful of key stakeholders.  We need this information to help ensure a smooth integration of new employees into the acquiring organization.

This executive had a much stronger way to assess how things get done in his new company.  Robin, his executive assistant, had spent nearly 15 years there, working her way up her own career ladder.  She had spent the last half decade supporting his very popular and effective predecessor. She had a clear understanding of the culture, and he foolish ignored her attempts to help him navigate it. 

As a cultural guide, a competent Executive Assistant is invaluable.  Robin, and other Executive Assistants, know "how work really gets done."  For example, Robin knows which of the gentleman's fellow executives should get priority time on his calendar, which employees and vendors should be allowed to interrupt phone calls in progress, and which meetings he should consider requesting with his new superiors.  Robin knows what kinds of materials her former boss would have her prepare for C-Suite meetings and which staff members are indispensable for discussions of certain topics, because she has been the keeper of the calendar for several years.  Robin also knows a lot about office politics and effective ways to end up on the good and bad sides of the most influential members of his new peer group. 

I'm not suggesting that Robin should be this executive's only tie to the culture, but I do believe that he made a very foolish error by alienating somebody so steeped in how work really gets done at that company. Had he been just a little more humble, he would still have a strong ally, and their careers might have advanced together.