Tips for Assistants’ Post

I continue to hear from Nova Chief of Staff graduates that after completing the course they are now *confident* that they can do the CoS job. THIS IS WHY I BUILT THE COURSE. This is why the course is real-life, scenario-based, and why the course is so hands-on. Students in the course spend hours building CoS tools, running offsites, forming recommendations, managing communications, learning how to fill gaps across the c-suite, and mock-presenting to their leaders. I also continue to hear that students are now *more confident* in interviews. They are more confident discussing added responsibility with their leaders. And they can articulate the ins and outs of the job they know they can do. Just today, a new student shared that he doesn't know much about the CoS role but has been told many times by different people that he'd be great at it. He got approval to use his learning stipend at his company to take the course. There is no better low-stakes way to determine if the CoS role is right for you than to practice doing the things Chiefs of Staff do every day, in this course. Start 2024 off with Nova! We'd love to have you. #chiefofstaff #executiveassistant #onlinelearning #personaldevelopment

Look at me when I was on the apprentice... ......no not really. Would love that though, but could you imagine my pieces to camera about the other contestants? 🤪 Anyway... this post was actually about... how over the last 6 months I've had unprompted positive feedback on my presence and confidence more times than I can count. I got the lovely bit of feedback that I was the type of person 'who would just roll with and respond to any challenge an Exec could throw' at me. They weren't wrong, not much really phases in my life or work, my instinct is normally curiosity or laughter depending on what what is going on. (I promise I won't laugh at your Exec). But another piece of feedback from a less confident friend who I value dearly stuck with me ... 'its so natural for you' I wish I could do it. It got me thinking about confidence and presence and how often when we see it in others, we think it is a 'born with' characteristic. It made me realise that looking at my 'natural swagger' might make others feel less than, and I would never want that. So if you are wondering, it absolutely was not a 'born with' thing for me. It was a hard won through years of work, experience and forcing myself to face into my strengths and unique value in contexts where I felt totally out of my depth. Things flipped when I started to trust myself, my value to others, and my intent to do good. So if you spot people wandering about looking like they are bossing it, remember do not measure your internal experience by their external projection. I highly doubt any of my colleagues in my 20s realised I was vomiting on the way home from Exec sessions because of all the pent up anxiety and self imposed pressure I'd stuffed down during the day. Is it worth considering what you can do to better see yourself as the rock star that you really are? Where are the people who love and appreciate you? Surround yourself with them and listen to them, lean into to what they say makes you great. Presence is less about confidence and more acceptance of yourself in all your wonderful technicolour . That means embracing the shadows as well as the rainbow. #Paulaforapprenticewin

I received this picture from Nakambo Chirwa , MZIHRM,BA, and he ended our chat with, "What a journey!" They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this one certainly is (and yes, that's us).🙈 This was the first week of our graduate program and while waiting for a plant tour we decided to create some memories. We had no idea what the future held yet we were filled with excitement and anticipation because our mentor, Madam Linda, had sold us the FQM dream and nothing was going to stop us from living it. This HR graduate cohort will always be the best, and here's why. I have never seen such stubborn and competitive graduates who refused to accept anything at face value and constantly challenged the status quo. Soyapi Mapulanga would surely agree, as we often kept him up at night, making him rethink and justify his decisions. Our go-to responses during team discussions were always "Why?" "I don't agree," "I beg to differ," "There should be a better way of doing it," and even "I want to challenge the law." Taziona.T Mwale Can you believe the guts we had with zero experience? 🤣😱 But that unyielding drive is what made us who we are today. You can't talk about anyone from this team without mentioning their professional advancement and leadership in various organizations. Kudos to the selection process used in this recruitment—it brought together great minds with diverse strengths, leading to a tremendous impact in different organizations. Looking back, I am filled with gratitude for this journey because it made me who I am today. The laughter, the debates, and the sleepless nights have all been worth it. To anyone starting their career, remember this: there is room for you at the top if you put your mind to it. Keep pushing, stay curious, and never stop challenging the status quo. 💪 #WhatAJourney #CareerBeginnings #RoomAtTheTop #StayCurious #Leadership #ProfessionalGrowth #DreamBig

Just returned from a beautiful trip to the Netherlands during tulip season! Now, back to the grind. Wrapping up some interview rotations, and I wanted to share an outstanding leadership question I hadn't heard before. While AI can provide answers to many interview questions, some truly reveal a candidate's core qualities. This question is one of them: "How do you balance team and individual performance?" It's a straightforward high signal to noise question. It allows for easy follow-up questions, examples, and discussions about aspects like pace, quality, coaching, and communication. #leadership, #interviewtips, #engineeringmanagement #tuliptime #interviewing #hiringmanagers #Keukenhof

I’m late to #NationalInternDay celebration but I want to share the top 3 lessons that can help interns demonstrate leadership and thrive in today’s corporate world, ▪ Lead without authority  ▪ Collaborate ▪ Create visibility To all the interns out there, it is extremely important to create visibility in your organization by conscious self-branding to show the impact of your work and how it contributes to the big picture. Here are my top five lessons that have helped me for the past 8 years, 1️⃣ Ownership: Never restrict to the scope of your job description. Think beyond the roles and responsibilities. 2️⃣ Initiative: Always look for opportunities to improve things, faster, and more efficiently, and keep sharing them with your team.  3️⃣ Solve the problem: Come up with a “Solution”, rather than merely identifying the problems.  4️⃣ Network: Persistently network to seek guidance from your mentors to outpace opportunity and build meaningful connections. 5️⃣ Know your goals : Explore opportunities within your organization and set a career path that aligns well with your aspirations. 💡 By being a true leader, you’ll complete tasks faster and more efficiently and improve overall team performance. Follow Rashmi Gunasekaran for more content like this. 📢P.S. I am launching a newsletter “Inclusion Insights” next month, stay tuned for updates. #CareerAdvice #Leadership #Mentor #ProfessionalJourney #LifeLessons

The average time to get promoted in America is 3-5 years. That’s over 1,000 days of grinding, hoping your boss notices your hard work…taking on your colleague’s tasks to be a “team player”… and sacrificing family time, praying that all your sacrifices pay off. 🤞 But here’s the harsh truth: When you hope for a promotion, instead of making it happen…you’re just wasting precious time testing different methods that you think might work. Here’s the thing: If you’re reading this, you’re likely a top-performing corporate badass. So why wait 3-5 years to land the promotion you already deserve? I recently released The Executive Fast-Track Interview Course—a 60-minute course packed with immediately actionable strategies designed to help you land more interviews, nail them, and fast-track you into leadership roles. And today is the LAST day before the investment to access this information doubles. If you’re ready to go from overlooked candidate to must-have leader… 👉 Get instant access to the strategies that will secure you more senior leadership interview invites and nail those interviews: https://lnkd.in/gPuDV5ZW No more guessing games. No more hamster wheel. Just proven, promotion-getting, interview-nailing magic. #WomenInLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #InterviewSkills #CareerAdvancement

Mastering Professionalism: Why Leading AND Following Should Be Done Professionally Leadership took centre stage in the corporate world during the 90s, closely followed by the concept of 'followship'. The idea was simple: sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow. The expectation? That when it’s your turn to follow, you do so willingly - almost blindly. But let’s be honest, that approach doesn’t align with what it means to be professional. A true professional never acts just because they’re told to. When it’s time to follow, you should do so with intention and insight. Seeking clarification on purpose, goals, or strategy isn’t about challenging a leader’s authority - it’s about clarity and potentially having input. If a leader can’t handle that, they’ve missed the mark on what leadership truly is. Listening to a leader’s message and thoughtfully considering its implications isn’t resistance; it’s engagement. Offering input on how to achieve objectives is not only supportive, but it may also lead to better outcomes. Leaders who expect professionalism from their followers should also expect them to question, to enquire, and to contribute. After all, the expertise of those being led is often the very reason they were hired in the first place. Great leaders understand that true followship involves more than just doing what you’re told—it involves being engaged, thoughtful, and proactive. In your working life, sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow. But when you do follow, do it professionally. ___________________________________________________________________________ Let's work together!: https://lnkd.in/djt93mxY I have a life commitment to helping young people and career starters develop their very own personal professionalism. That helps them - and the people who employ them! Why settle for ‘just so’, when you can have a reputation for being effective, ethical and a valuable colleague? Follow me to get your regular dose of professionalism. #professional #professionalism #professionaldevelopment #personaldevelopment #management #leadership #earlycareers #graduates #apprentices #internships

At One Time, Our Turnover in Service Advisors Was Over 135%—Now It's Less Than 20%. How Do You Hire Energetic, Problem-Solving Recruits With College Degrees for Positions Historically Filled by Non-Degreed People? We used to struggle with turnover in key roles like service advisors—over 135% at one point. That’s when we shifted focus to hiring college recruits with a knack for problem-solving and a hunger to learn. The result? We've reduced turnover to under 20%, but we’re still refining the process every day. Our approach centers on building from within. We’re recruiting enthusiastic, educated individuals for sales and service roles. These positions don't require a degree but offer an opportunity to learn the business from the ground up. With a solid foundation in the day-to-day challenges, these recruits are fast-tracked into leadership roles through our Leadership Pipeline. This process includes coaching, structured learning, and an intensive assessment we call "The Grill" to ensure we’re preparing people to succeed. But we know we're not alone on this journey. For those who’ve faced similar challenges or refined internal development strategies over time, We'd love to learn from you. How do you bring in fresh, educated talent and guide them through the ranks? What’s worked for you in reducing turnover and fostering leadership from within? What did you try that failed and you changed? #LeadershipDevelopment #InternalGrowth #ReducingTurnover #HiringTheBest

Great insights for educators and business leaders. I’ve come to expect nothing less from Bellwether.

Happy New Year to the Amazing Career Services field! I am genuinely looking forward to additional time together in 2024. I had a chance to reflect on a few extraordinary highlights from our team at The Career Leadership Collective that happened in 2023: 1++Kickstart for new career professionals was wildly popular and successful, training 75 new professionals over 2 cohorts, equipping the future of our field, and saving career teams scads of time preparing new staff.  2++We now have 150 Mastermind Alumni! It continues to be a transformative leadership development experience for Career Directors.  3++Our ground-breaking research product, the National Alumni Career Mobility (NACM) survey, and EMBARK, our FDS survey service, were acquired by Lightcast, yielding an ongoing partnership between our two organizations to fuel the career data landscape in higher education.  4++We assisted on more executive searches for career services leaders than any other year in our history, while also seeing our largest and most diverse pools of candidates. 5++Our team was everywhere - coast to coast - as we continued to provide our core transformation services of consulting, training, and executive search, assisting with capacity building for career ecosystems at all types of higher education institutions.  6++Our partners at Career Launch surpassed 500 certified Career Launch Readiness Coaches. So glad we partnered with them 3 years ago.  7++Lucky 7! We turned 7 years old as a company and could not be more pleased to continue to serve higher education with their career ecosystem growth needs.  #CareerServices #HigherEducation #InnovationOutcomesEquity