Ready for anything
Help your executive navigate uncertainty and prepare for what’ s coming next with advice from Jill Taylor
As an EA, you’ ve watched your executive face unprecedented challenges over the past few years. From pandemic disruptions to rapid technological change and economic uncertainty to shifting workplace expectations, it’ s clear the pace of change isn’ t slowing down. If anything, it’ s accelerating. Your role in helping your boss stay ahead of these changes is more critical than ever. It’ s not just managing calendars and coordinating meetings. You’ re helping them create space for the kind of strategic thinking that prepares organisations for an uncertain future.
The traditional approach to planning relies heavily on past trends and established best practices. But when change happens this quickly, yesterday’ s successful strategies might not work tomorrow. Your exec needs something different – the ability to sense what’ s emerging and respond with agility rather than simply reacting to what’ s already happened.
Moving beyond the obvious You’ ve probably noticed that when your boss is constantly firefighting – and they miss important signals about what’ s changing in your industry. When every moment is filled with urgent tasks and back-to-back meetings, there’ s no space for the kind of thinking that spots opportunities before competitors do.
This is where you become invaluable. You see patterns across different parts of the organisation that others miss. You notice when certain types of requests increase, when stakeholder concerns shift, or when new topics start appearing in meeting agendas. These patterns often signal bigger changes coming.
Start documenting these observations. Create a simple system to track recurring themes in your executive’ s conversations, meetings, and correspondence. What new challenges are clients raising? Which department heads are asking
56 Executive PA | Spring Issue 2025