Ep82: Strategic… Job Title or Mindset?

Welcome to the EA Campus podcast, the ultimate destination for executive assistance, looking to Excel in their careers. I'm Nikki Christmas, the founder of the EA Campus, and I'm here to bring you inspiring conversations, expert advice, and practical tips to help you thrive in your role. Each week we're diving to interviews with successful assistants, thought leaders, and top trainers, sharing their insights on leadership, productivity, and the skills that make a difference. You'll also find solo episodes with me, active tips, tricks, and strategies designed to help you elevate your career and deliver exceptional support. Whether you're just starting your journey as an assistant or aiming for the next level, the EA Campus podcast is here to empower you with the tools and confidence you need to succeed. Hi everyone and welcome back to the EA Campus podcast. I'm Nikki Christmas your host and today we're getting into a topic that always sparks debates and that is the phrase strategic business partner. Is it a job title? Is it a mindset shift or a handy way to pile on more work without recognition in the EA role? Quick note before we start, check out what's coming up on the EA Campus events calendar. There's a brilliant line up to close out the year. We've got the focus virtual summit on Friday the 14th of November, followed by the assistant check and tools masterclass on Friday the 28th of November and we'll wrap up 2025 events program with the co-pilot for executive assistants masterclass on Friday 12th December. It's the perfect time to book your spot before we close the office for Christmas and the new year. So head over to the events page on the eacampus.com to see all of the details. Okay so why does this topic matter? Strategic business partner being strategic? We've all heard it right. It pops up in job descriptions, performance reviews and all of those motivational posts on LinkedIn. We the EA Campus also has a whole online course called the Strategic Business Partner. So we actually know a thing or two about this one but here's the real question. When we're asked to be a strategic business partner are we given the access, authority and compensation to match or are we just absorbing more responsibility with the same title and the same pay. I've talked about this a lot over the years with many different EA's, many thought leaders, many trainers in the industry and in this episode we are going to cut through the buzzword. We'll unpack what strategic actually looks like in an EA's day to day and call out the disconnects because there are a few and then I'll give you a weekly operation system that you can put in place straight away. So we're going to talk mindset first what does it mean to be strategic and then we'll look at practical routines that you can put in place that actually helps you operate on a strategic level. So strategic business partner being strategic what does that mean? Is it a job title? Is it a mindset or the way in which we operate as executive assistance and then we'll talk a little bit about that awkward bit around reward and recognition. So let me get on my little soapbox for a minute. There is a genuine disconnect right now, that's how I feel. The expectation that EA's operate as strategic business partners is very real but the compensation, recognition and progression often don't follow. Too often strategic is thrown into a job advert to justify extra responsibilities without adjusting salary or authority. We see it time and time again on job descriptions on LinkedIn or through jobs boards where there is so much level of detail in the job description that EA's have to work with but the pay does not reflect the amount of work that the EA's being asked to do. So there is 100% a disconnect there. In those circumstances it does feel like a buzzword and not something concrete that actually in any way adds to the EA's job prospects or career development. So let's take a second and let me give you what I think being a strategic business partner means or working in a strategic partnership. For me, true strategic partnership means being in the room where decisions are made, having a voice at the table and being recognised accordingly. If organisations really want EA's at that level, they need to align pay, access, development and the ability to make decisions with those expectations full stop. That is what the work of being a strategic business partner in Tows and the pay has to be worthwhile doing that level of work. Now here's where I agree with so many brilliant EA's I speak to. Strategic isn't a badge, it's not a job title, it's actually a mindset and it's a way of working. You don't see other professions adding the word strategic to their job title. You don't see strategic solicitor, you don't see strategic accountant. They're simply expected to operate strategically and I think the same applies to the EA role. That's how I've always meant it. I've never meant it as a title change, but as a shift in how we think and how we operate, particularly in the partnerships that we have with the executives that we work with. I've always said you don't magically become strategic because someone adds words to your email signature or you start to put that on your LinkedIn profile. It's actually how you think, how you communicate and how you connect the dots across the business. So you have to know you stuff, it's knowing the goals, understanding the commercial context, being able to spot risks and stop problems occurring and shaping the flow of your executives' week so the important work actually happens. It's something that we teach across the EA campus, it's something that I'm incredibly passionate about and it's the practicalities of how you work at a strategic level. Now I'll be honest, I didn't always do that myself. Earlier in my career I could be heads down, busy, helpful, but not always looking up at what was happening around me. I've told this story before, I remember sitting in a meeting that I've been called to pretty last minute by my executive who thought that I would be able to contribute to the meeting, not just sit there and take the minutes but actually getting involved and they were talking about how they could work more with the clients that the organisation had and how the organisation became more aware of who the clients were and their needs. They asked me to contribute to that discussion about serving clients better and I remember that I couldn't actually name a single client that this big organisation that I worked for had. It was a real out-moment, I went bright red, I felt really embarrassed, but for me that was a real turning point because if I'd been thinking with the sort of strategic way that I think now, I probably would have said I can't name a single client and that's your problem, there's probably loads of people in the organisation that can't name any of the clients that we serve this. That's the problem, where do we start to deal with that, but instead I just said I couldn't name a client and to just get everybody to look away from me as quickly as possible. Now as I said, that was a real turning point for me because it made me realise that strategic EAs don't just support the work, they have to understand the business, to be seen as being influential in the EA role and this is something that again I learned and built up on and developed, I had to speak the language, I had to know the key influencers in the organisation and I had to start to drive the outcomes, the things that my executive really cared about, rather than at that point in time for me, the mundane things that I would do to make their life easier, but not necessarily the things that were going to make me be seen as being able to add value. And I just want to quickly turn to what that means for your careers. So if you're trying to work in this way and your executive or your organisation refused to acknowledge the value, now I was lucky, I worked with an executive who once they saw the change really supported that, but a lot of you don't work with executives or working organisations where this is an option, so you have no access, no growth, no budget for development, then you as the EA you need to be pragmatic, particularly as this is your career, you need to take ownership of it. So use what you can in terms of training budgets, exposure, which projects you can put yourself forward for, keep delivering and quietly line up your next move. Okay, and that's really important, if you want to make that move into being more strategic, it's not something where you have to ask, you have to put yourself forward for things and if it's not happening, as I said, be pragmatic, but line up your next move. And then when you get to that series of interviews, you can ask those direct questions, how do you support EA development? What access will I have to planning meetings? How are EA's recognised for the strategic contributions they make? And then you will deserve a straight answer in those interview settings. If they're not and they don't know how to answer those questions, you look for the next role. Now with all of that being said before we move on to actually what being strategic means in the practical sense, I think it's really important that you get clear on your goals. Okay, if you are not or you don't feel like you're operating in a strategic capacity, but you want to, why do you want to? What's the aim? What are the reasons? Are you after a title change? Are you after a pay rise? Do you want broader, more interesting responsibilities? Are you on a pathway to get yourself somewhere else? I think one of the things we talk about a lot is that pathway to being a chief of staff. I have opinions about that as well. That's maybe another podcast episode. It could be that you want to move out of an EA role into a different area or you want to work for a more senior executive or you want to be seen as a more senior executive system, but you have to know what you're optimising for because it won't always arrive in one neat bundle. When you know your aim, then you can make better choices in the short term while you're built towards that aim. So it's really important if you don't feel like you are working in a strategic way or you don't have the opportunities for it or you're not sure how to make that shift, the place to start is work out why you want to get there. What's the end goal here? Now as I said for me, the phrase strategic business partner, it isn't a job title, it's a way in which we work and we operate within the executive assistant role. Now I know that sounds quite grandiose and it doesn't really help those who want to get to that position get there. I'm going to spend the rest of this podcast talking about how you can put together a weekly operating system to start to work on a weekly basis on a daily basis in a strategic setting. Now on the EA campus website this week we just put up an article that covers all of this in a huge amount of depth and I'll put the link in the show notes but I would absolutely make sure you go and check out that article because we cover what it means to be strategic and then we give you real practical steps to get there. In this podcast I'm going to focus on one area which is the weekly operating system. Now what I want you to do is I want you to think of your mindset shift, how you are going to start thinking about your work as one thing but then I want you to think about how you actually put that in place, what the method of that is and that's where the term strategic business partner really starts to come alive. You don't prove your strategic by what's written on your job description or as I said in your job title or on your LinkedIn profile you prove it in how you plan, communicate and manage the rhythm of the week. Now this is something I think that you can really get behind this is practical stuff. Strategic thinking becomes meaningful only when it translates into consistent structured act and that's exactly what this next part of the podcast is all about. It's simple, repeatable, weekly operating system that you move from reacting to truly partnering with your executive and ultimately with your organisation. So think of it as the bridge between the mindset shift that we've just talked about and the measurable impact of actually working strategically. It's really simple, it's pretty sustainable and then actually what's great about it is it compounds week after week. So as I said we're going to talk about your weekly operating system and a few things that you can do every week which is going to lead to you being seen and being strategic. Okay so the first thing that I want to talk about is a Monday priority sink. This takes about 15 minutes. Okay so sit down with your executive you are not a strategic business partner if you do not have access on a weekly basis with your executive. Okay there is no ifs and buts about that you need time with your executive. So the Monday priority sink it takes about 15 minutes sit down with your executive and confirm their top three priorities for the week. Start by looking at what actually matters for the business this week not just what's loudest or most urgent. So what other priorities for the business this week? Now if you work for a large global organisation you can break that down into your department, into your team however you want to look at it but you have to get those top three priorities in place and it has to be what is moving the business forward not what is loudest or most urgent. Now if you've listened to a podcast of mine read a blog or attended some training I like to ask questions. So ask questions at Spark a proper conversation not just a list of things but a conversation with the two of you around the priorities. So what does success genuinely look like by Friday remember this is happening on a Monday? What outcomes will move the business or team forward this week? What could slow us down or block progression and where do we need to carve out real-time focus? And then use this time to align those expectations before the week runs away from you. This isn't just one of those kind of tick box meetings where you go into your executive you ask them to sign off some forms that they need to do or you need to run a quick schedule change by them. This is your moment every Monday to reset your priorities and protect time and focus both yours and your executives and when you finish the conversation at the end of the 15 minutes open up the schedule together block the time that supports those goals and then be really brave about reshaping what doesn't fit. So where you need to you can shorten meetings you could merge similar topics together there's like the same people in the same meeting put them into one meeting delegate the work that doesn't is your executive direct involvement and just create that breathing space for thinking and decisions again breathing space both for you and your executive. Now something really practical that you could put into place that shows how strategy starts to show up in practice. Okay so this is a Monday priority sink that will give you clear priorities a counter that reflects them and a week built around the outcomes that need to push the business forward rather than noise or overwhelm or urgent things that maybe aren't urgent. Okay so the next thing that you need to do again on a weekly basis is a calendar audit. Now it doesn't have to be a huge calendar audit it could be a 20 30 minute activity that you do every week. So once you've agreed on your priorities then it's time to see if the calendar actually reflects that. So do this on a Monday and then I would generally repeat it on the Friday for the following week because things can change over weekends or midway through the week just to make sure that it's working but take 20 to 30 minutes to go through the next two weeks with a fine tooth time. Don't just skim through meetings really question them. So what's the purpose? Who benefits? Does it align with what you've just said in the meeting you've had with your executive? What matters most in these next two weeks? So how do you go about doing that? Start by reviewing each block of time through the lens of value. Does this meeting move something forward? Or is it just a routine meeting that's always in the calendar and doesn't need to be in there? Flag any standing updates that rarely lead to action or decisions and again have this conversation with your executive. Are these meetings actually contributing to anything? And then as I said identify overlapping or repetitive sessions that could be merged or tightened up and then look for those stretches of back-to-back calls that leave no space for prep, reflection or recovery. Again it might be a call it might be a meeting whatever it happens to be tends to be Zoom meetings these days. If you find them block shorter buffers protect thinking time as fiercely as you do meeting time. Now hopefully that will hit home because it's absolutely something that EA's do. We protect the meeting time particularly if they're with important people in the organisation we are fierce protectors of meetings that meeting can't be moved your executive is going to that meeting everything else will have to fit around it. If we protected the thinking time as much as we did the meeting time think how much time your executive would have to tackle strategic work the things that often get forgotten. So when you spot issues don't just make notes for later address them in your calendar or do it and draft a short message or meeting note that offers an alternative. You're in control of the schedule so message people say would it help if we merged X and Y. Speak to executive they're probably so hadn't thought of that great idea that to do that. Or could we trial shorter sessions for the next month and review. So you're not rearranging things for the sake of it and if you're actually really thinking these things through and speaking in that kind of strategic language your colleagues will realise that you're not just doing it to annoy everybody. You're helping the business reclaim time for the work the actual work not the meetings but the actual work. So when you do that meeting audit exercise it will change how the week feels. It creates breathing room for better decisions and space for your executive to focus on where they start to add the most value and trust me even the busiest most meeting focused executive will enjoy having some free time. The next thing that I want you to look at is creating a decision pack. Now this is a simple template for items that need your executive's input and this becomes a living system that you update through the week rather than a one-off task. So the goal here is to help your executive make fast, confident decisions without chasing extra context. So how do you do that? Now your executive has to make tons of decisions during the week and just putting a simple process together for them to be able to trust you that you've done the context you've done the work they need to come in and make the decision. You know they're going to be so pleased with how well you are helping them with that decision fatigue. So how do you do it? First of all keep the background short and factual. No more than three clear sentences that set the scene for as to why the decision needs to be made. Define the decision in really plain language. Be direct about what they need to decide and buy when. And then present two or three practical options with clear pros and cons. You don't want to overload them with data. Show them what is relevant for them to make that decision. And then offer a recommendation. Be confident about what you think is best and what. So let me give you an example. Imagine your executive needs to choose a venue for an upcoming quarterly leadership meeting. So the options could be host the meeting on-site, convenient, cost effective, but you maybe don't have a huge amount of space. You could book or you can book an off-site venue nearby which offers a change of environment and focus. It comes with additional coordination and some cost. Or you could run the meeting virtually. It's easier to set up. It's less impact on people's logistics, but also potentially less impact on collaboration. So your recommendation might be to book an off-site venue. You would highlight that it supports the focus discussion. It encourages engagement. And you would find a venue that is within budget. And again you could then include two venue options. You could draft the agenda. You could do a quick logistic summary. And then that will give you your executive everything they need to make that quick informed decision. Now I hope that makes sense. So when you build the week's worth of decisions into your decision pack, you would then include any supporting documents that they might need. So summaries, schedules, presentations, links, whatever it happens to be. And then you would put the key information at the top. So it's really easy to scan. The idea is to replace that long back and forth the email chains without any structure. You would have all of that structured in a really time-saving process. You would then walk them through it in person if you can, explain what's needed, know any quick reactions, and then move on to the next decision. What happens when you start to put this in place, you are really working at a strategic partnership level. Over time your executive will start to trust your judgement and rely on those decision packs as the rhythm as to how you work together. That's where your strategic value becomes really visible. You're not just passing information along anymore. Your helping clarify what it is that they need to do and see. And then you're ultimately supporting the decisions that they need to make in a really effective way. This is absolutely working at that strategic business partner level. And then the last thing that I suggest you implement across the week is a Friday decision digest. So by Friday the goal is to close the loop on everything that's been set into motion. So this is your opportunity to pull the week together, spot any unfinished work, and set a clear direction for the following week. So you want to keep this light and it's Friday after all, but really meaningful. So again, try and book in 10 to 15 minutes half an hour with your executive to run through the Friday decision digest. So the best way to approach this is to draft a one-page summary that captures all of the essentials. Decisions made that week and who owns the action. And it open items or blockers that may need your executive's attention. The top three priorities for the week ahead at this point and any emerging risks or your early thoughts on how to manage them. Now use that summary as a short conversation starter with your executive. If you can't get to see your executive on the Friday, you can put all of this in an email so they've got it, but ideally you want that time with them. You would walk through it together, you would confirm where the progress has been made and then what still needs to be followed up on. And that's your moment to help them finish the week with real clarity, no loose ends, no vague follow-up, everything's been closed off or moved into the following week. And tactically for you, that habit reduces the number of well where did we land on that? What's happening with that? Can you tell me where we are with that? Questions that you know your executive will ask you, they don't forget this kind of stuff. That will start to creep in later and with that comes doubt and uncertainty in your role as an EA. So putting these practices into place stops all of that. It also gives you a real-time record of progress that you can then use in your performance reviews or planning sessions later into the year. And then what happens over time is you've built a really simple history of how you get things done, but also on the flip side of that what tends to not work, what tends to stall and where improvements can be made over time. Okay, four really simple practices which then moves you into the next sort of step of working as in that strategic mode. We're not going to cover that in this podcast, but the next step then tends to be decision-making problem solving and things like that where you are start to have a real autonomy over the work. If you put these four practices into place, as I said, you'll then have a history of what you've done, the problems you've solved, where things start to go wrong, so how you can then improve processes and where improvements can be made. It's a small thing to put these four things into place, but the payoff in transparency and how much value you add is huge. That's your weekly things that I want you to do and then one monthly thing that I want you to look at is a monthly stakeholder map. So again, about 30 minutes to an hour, this is once a month. So every month set aside 30 minutes, half an hour to step back and look at the bigger picture of the entire process between you and your executive and the team that you work in. So who you're executive interacts with and how those relationships are working, what you're doing here is starting to see how information flows, how you can start to map influence and then make those collaborations smoother. So start by listing the people and teams who have the biggest impact on your executive's work. That could be their direct reports, their key clients or partners from other departments, and then you can ask yourself these three questions. So who helps things move forward quickly? Who tends to slow things down on needs more support? And are there relationships that have maybe gone a bit quiet and need a bit of a nudge? And then once you have that list, start to look for patterns. So maybe projects are bottled net because two teams don't talk to each other regularly enough. All your executive hasn't had an update from a critical partner in months. Note down where stronger communications would make a difference or alternatively where they're working really well and why they're working really well. Going back to the ones that aren't working so well, you can then start to again take an ownership of your work, schedule a catch-up coffee or a short call to reconnect with those people. Draft an email or set a meeting, create an agenda to smooth those frictions between departments or encourage your executive to reach out where their voice will have the most impact. So this is where you as the EA can then quietly shape the organization's rhythm, your influence and your executives because you'll start to see your cross teams and understand what information gets lost or decisions stored. And by mapping and maintaining those connections, you're reducing blockers before they even escalate and keeping your executive plugged into really what's happening in the organization. And then again over time, if you do this monthly, this becomes a proactive system for managing relationships, rather than reacting when communication breaks down. This is such strategic work. I cannot begin to tell you how helpful all of this stuff is. What you're doing is you are putting all of the practices and processes in place that make outcomes easier and faster, effectively driving the business forward. So what does that look like in practice? So let's imagine this in real life. You merge three repetitive status meetings into one focus 30 minute session. You add in a pre-read so everyone turns up ready to make decisions. If you do something like that small shift alone can return about six hours a month to your executive's diary, time that can then be spent on real priorities rather than repetitive updates. Then you build in one weekly 90 minute focus block for deep work, genuinely protecting it in the diary from outside influences, but also from your executive. So your executive then has space to think about their week ahead or their big project that they're working on, not just reacting to what's happening around them. And then you add to that a habit of sending a really well structured decision pack ahead of time, meaning that they can then sign off on topics in 10 minutes instead of half an hour. That practically is what makes you a strategic business partner. That's you working proactively, thinking about how you're moving the business forward, the objectives of your executive forward, and working proactively, not reactively. Now none of this requires a change in job title or you haven't asked permission. I think this is real proof that this is how you operate. Being strategic shows up in the way that you plan, how you manage information, and how you protect your executive's time. Each of these actions has a really tangible effect on the business day. It means less time wasted, clearing and a calm up more productive week. It's quite small steps, but you can start small, then you can make them repeatable across the week. And then that will really start to demonstrate for you in your role what it means to be strategic. And then I'm just going to give you my tip of the week and it's to ask for context. Always ask if you don't know, but do it intentionally. So you want to go into these conversations with your executive when you're trying to get more information for it to be strategic, for it to sound intentional. You're not looking for background. You're trying to understand the reasoning behind a task so that you can then make smarter decisions throughout the week. So a really simple way of doing that would be, can I get 30 seconds on why this matters right now and what a good outcome looks like? So the reason that you would ask it in that way is because it's really clear, it's short, it's respectful of your executive's time, but it shifts the focus from how you need to go about completing the task and shifting it into why, what's the purpose? And when you know why something matters, then you as the EA, you can go off, you don't need to go back to your executive, you can prioritise it properly, you can anticipate what might come next, who needs to be involved, and then decide what deserves attention first. So you can take this further by keeping a short note of it or shed document where you track those insights, and then over time you'll start spotting patterns in what your executive values most. Is it their energy? Is it that they want to delegate quickly? We will also help you start to see what is coming back around because your executive doesn't tend to change. They're wise and they want tend to be similar things. So that awareness then builds that strategic judgement, and as I said, all of these tips and strategies that I'm giving you ensure that you will grow weak by week. And then I just want to talk about how you connect all of these ideas together. I think I've made my point that being strategic isn't a job title, it's part of how you operate as an executive assistant, it's about showing up with intent every single week, putting those processes and tactics into place that will really start to make a difference. And if you've listened this far, you've probably realised that the habits that were talked through, the Monday Priority Sync, the weekly calendar audit, the decision pack, the Friday Digest, the monthly stakeholder holding map, they're all quite small habits, but they are structured ways to prove that strategic thinking lives in all of your day-to-day actions. Now I think it goes with that saying that this work isn't easy, it's very much easier in a lot of ways to be reactive and do the things that I'll put in front of you, do them well, but don't look outside that bigger picture. You keep your head down, like I said, I did as an EA for a long time, you do the work, you do it well, you keep your head down, you don't look up. And as I said, it isn't easy to shift the way that you think, it does take discipline, it does mean communicating confidently and having that confidence to make changes that shape how your executive operates, take an autonomy over your work. But if you put those plans into place, that's how influence is built. It's something that you can develop quietly, as I said, you don't need to ask permission to start putting these processes into place. You can do them quietly, you can do them consistently, and just bringing in a way that you operate that brings clarity and structure and helping drive that strategy forward. So here's the heart of it, this is what I want to say in this episode, strategy being strategic, being a strategic business partner is mindset first. It's changing the way you operate and how you work. It's not a job description, it's not a job title, it's something that you do as an executive assistant. If your organisation wants strategic output, it should 100% match it with access to information, access to your executive, access to those meetings where these decisions and these things are being discussed and are happening, it absolutely needs to be matched by recognition and fair pay. And lastly, you don't need anyone's permission to start working strategically. The weekly operating system that I discussed gives you a place to begin, a rhythm to your work that turns what you're doing into having real visible impact. So as you wrap up your week, reflect on one area where you think or act a little bit more strategically next week. So maybe it's refining your executive's calendar, selling up your first Friday decision digest or starting that stakeholder map that you've been putting off. And as I said, those small actions build momentum and momentum builds confidence. So know your goal, know why you are wanting to work in a strategic way and then stay focused on it. And if your environment doesn't support the level that you're ready and willing to work at, look elsewhere, be pragmatic, keep working hard but don't wait it out, take what you've learned and go find the space where you can really thrive as an executive assistant who works strategically as a strategic business partner. Now, as I said right at the beginning of the podcast, we have a whole online course that goes into all of this. It is called the strategic business partner. It is available for you to go and take a look at the website, the eacampus.com. It's designed to help you build business acumen, really sharpen your judgment and turn these weekly rhythms into really measurable results. The course gives you the exact tools, the frameworks and the confidence to move beyond task execution into real true partnership with your executive where you are recognised, respected and trusted as a valuable part of the leadership team. And while you're on the website looking at the strategic business partner, you can also check the eacampus events calendar for those upcoming masterclasses and sessions that I told you about. They really keep your skill shop and your network strong and will lead you very well into 2026. So thank you for listening to the eacampus podcast. I'm Nikki Christmas. If this episode resonates, share it with other ea's who are ready to step into a more strategic way of working. Subscribe, leave a review if you can and I will see you next time on the eacampus podcast. Thank you for tuning into the eacampus podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love for you to subscribe on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. Don't forget to leave us a review. Your feedback helps us reach even more assistance around the globe. You can find the show notes, resources and links to everything we discussed at the eacampus.com forward slash podcast. Be sure to explore the site for more tools, tips and training to support your career. Want to continue the conversation? Join our growing eacampus community where ambitious and career-driven assistance connect, share and learn. From live events to exclusive training, we're building a space for assistance to thrive. Thanks for listening and I can't wait to have you join me again on the eacampus podcast. Let's make your assistant career everything you want it to be.