Administrative & Executive Assistants Must Be Prepared for The Conceptual Age

Executive and Administrative Assistants, Heads Up! Be Prepared for the dawning of “The Conceptual Age.”

“America is moving out of the Information Age and into the Conceptual Age, where creative thinking will become as essential as logical thinking.” An article written by Lisa Bodell, founder and CEO of futurethink, was recently published in the internationally-acclaimed magazine Training & Development.

Will you be ready for The Conceptual Age?

The article discussed that creativity is emerging as the most important leadership quality for success. Administrative professionals have opportunities to demonstrate leadership each and every day. You lead when you….

• direct your executive in their day’s activities and meetings.
• take the initiative to streamline processes.
• juggle multiple managers.
• collaborate with your administrative peers.
• manage you attitude.
• maintain calm.
• deal with a difficult person.

While you may have been doing the above, the difference is you will now need to access right-brain thinking to meet the demands of business in the Conceptual Age.

Lisa Bodell has identified the 5 most critical skills of the Conceptual Age:

1. Strategic Information. Today’s employees are so mired in busywork that their ability to visualize the bigger picture has atrophied.

2. Provocative Inquiry. Transformative power lies in asking questions that make your rethink the obvious, and the ability to ask smart and often unsettling questions is known as provocative inquiry.

3. Creative Problem Solving. To survive the Conceptual Age, employees will need creative problem-solving skills: the application of best practices from unexpected sources to create fresh solutions.

4. Agility. Quick thinking and resourcefulness in the face of unexpected situations is the very definition of agility. Individuals who confidently handle unforeseen scenarios will become extraordinarily valuable in the Conceptual Age.

5. Resilience. Executive and administrative assistants will need to demonstrate resilience, which translates to tenacity and courage in the face of obstacles.

REGISTER TODAY for the 2014 Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence! Seating is limited to 200 high-performing administrative and executive assistants.

Joan Burge