Course Description
This professional development program emphasizes the "people" skills required to support C-Level Executives and build strong organizational alliances. By mastering concepts like relationship currency and personal power, you will be able to confidently negotiate priorities, minimize "scope creep," and act decisively on behalf of your executive to achieve long-term business goals.
The curriculum also prioritizes advanced communication and time-management strategies. You will refine your ability to deliver tactful, high-stakes communication, both written and interpersonal, while building executive trust through taking initiative and maintaining confidentiality. The course explores Parkinson’s Law and determining true short- and long-term priorities. The day concludes with creating a 30-, 60-, and 90-day action plan to ensure these new processes become permanent professional habits.
Active participants will:
- Learn communication skills required to align with executives’ needs and take proactive ownership of business goals to build professional credibility.
- Communicate with tact in difficult situations.
- Develop "relationship currency" by building alliances across departments.
- Apply time-management techniques to handle multiple tasks with less stress.
- Produce written communications that are clear, correct, and compelling.
Agenda
1. Welcome and Program Framing
- Program goals, introductions, and core people-skills focus
- Managing up, adaptability, communication, and professionalism
2. Team 1 / Team 2 Dynamics
- Operating across executive and cross-functional team priorities
- Building stronger internal partnerships
3. Managing Up with C-Level Executives
- Proactive planning around priorities, deadlines, and outcomes
- Accountability, ownership mindset, and scope-creep prevention
- Balancing short-term execution with long-term goals
- Practical exercise: “What do we need to get this done?”
4. Adaptability and Responsiveness Across the Organization
- Aligning expectations and timelines across teams
- Defining success early and collaborating around shared goals
- Managing multiple projects and deadlines effectively
5. Navigating Change and Uncertainty
- Understanding resistance to change
- Practical strategies for staying effective through uncertainty
6. Anticipating Issues and Taking Ownership
- Problem identification, pre-mortem thinking, and decision confidence
- Knowing when to escalate vs. act independently
- Exercise: Ownership and responsibility in action
7. Communication for Peer Collaboration
- Accountable communication and tactful boundary-setting
- Saying “no” constructively; offering alternatives
8. Building personal power, trust, and relationship currency
- Verbal, tone, and non-verbal communication skills
- Building Executive Trust and Credibility
- Anticipating needs and taking initiative
- Confidentiality, discretion, and trust-building behaviors
9. Interpersonal and Written Communication Excellence
- Follow-through habits (“say-do ratio”)
- Managing commitments and bandwidth realistically
- Writing clearly, correctly, and persuasively
- Exercise: Editing for clarity and correctness
10. Technical and Time-Management Skills
- Parkinson’s Law and practical prioritization tools
- Organizing work, documents, and correspondence
- Exercise: Next-action thinking
11. Stress Management for Sustainable Performance
- Practical stress-regulation and reset techniques
- Maintaining focus and composure in high-pressure environments
12. Sustaining Momentum and Action Planning
- 30-60-90-day follow-through practices
- Peer check-ins, huddles, and 1:1 rhythm
- Final self-commitment and group debrief
Audience
Executive Assistants and high-level Administrative
Professionals