Over the past 20 years, I have attended several conferences ranging in topics from fiction writing to motivational to professional training and even a full weekend trying to become a more educated outdoor woman. Each conference offered a unique learning opportunity, but none of them provided the ideal balance of professional and personal development that last year’s conference did.

The Conference for Administrative Excellence not only provided many educational moments with a variety of speakers, I was introduced to some amazing people in my field as well. The conference exceeded all of my expectations.

How better to share the conference experience than a conversation with the creator herself – The professional, personable, and mentor to many, Joan Burge! I’m honored to have had the opportunity to ask Joan a few questions. Her answers are enlightening and encompass the experience that helps create one of the most respected conferences ever offered. I highly recommend reading them more than once (with a notepad!).

There is a team behind the amazing conference event. From the first phone call to register for the conference to picking up my name tag, the entire team carried out the professionalism of Joan. I never imagined my experience and learning would stretch so far beyond those few amazing days in October last year. We have so many ways to learn from Joan; webinars, books, blog posts, etc., yet here I am with another amazing opportunity to know and learn even more!

A Conversation with Joan Burge

Q: You’ve been a unique blend of experience as an assistant and now executive and business owner (with so much in between!). Can you share a mentorship opportunity you had as an assistant from another assistant and one or two takeaways from that opportunity? [Read more…]

Do you know that it only takes one obstacle in an otherwise perfect day to make you feel less-than-best? Especially in these hectic times, when every employee is pressed to achieve more in less time with fewer resources, a single hiccup can make you feel like everything is in upheaval. Let’s face it: Instability or chaos of one form or another is everywhere.

We cannot control what happens. But we can control our attitudes. We can control how we choose to respond to a negative situation. It’s easy to respond negatively to a problem, of course. The key to success (and the challenge for top performers) is to see the positive in every troublesome issue and turn obstacles on their head so we benefit in some way.

Say you walked into the office this morning, and you were feeling great…. Better than great – fantastic! You woke up in a splendid mood. All your favorite songs were playing on the radio on your ride into work. You were looking sharp in a new outfit. Everything was going your way.

But as soon as you stepped foot into the doorway of your department, a colleague approached you with a last-minute report for you to finish, a supervisor called you into her office to urge you to pick up your productivity, and your son rang your cell phone to say he forgot his lunch.

Could you smile and make the best of it? Being positive when you’re in a tough spot is a skill we can all benefit from developing.

Here’s a quick exercise: Think of at least three recent situations where your mood changed from good to bad because of outside influences. How could you have helped avoid that from happening?

Remember: You do have a choice. So next time you find yourself facing a challenge, choose to find the positive in the negative. It’s a success skill we never outgrow.