How to Understand and Win with Entrepreneurs without losing your mind or your cool

Admin assistants play a very huge role in the operations. Most of the time, they might get intimidated by how entrepreneurs work and might make admin assistants feel undervalued.  It’s not you! It’s just how they roll. They are full of anxiety and want to protect their castle and minimize the impact on others should these issues arise. It’s important to know how these high achievers work to understand how they behave and nail being an admin assistant.

First, let's get to know them better. 

Work on a fast-paced environment

They run really fast which sometimes leaves a wasteland on the way. They are completely unaware that they are offending people or knocking some people down on the journey.

A lot of Highs and Lows

When the pressure gets too high and there are a lot of things going on, it’s easy for them to get tilted and become aggressive, arrogant, sensitive and irrational. It’s critical to know what it is and not take it personally.

They need solitude

They usually don’t realize that they need this and neglect this intentionally because they have a lot of pressure noise. This does not usually turn out good most of the time. They also need to breathe and take that moment of solitude.

They don’t work from 9-5 schedule

Entrepreneurs might send you emails or tasks during off hours but remember, it doesn’t need urgent attention. It’s just how they want to release their anxiety to make sure that you get this before it passes their mind.

Hyper-sensitive

These high achievers might demand numbers every now and then or may ask for the same report 6 times a day. This doesn’t mean they don’t trust you. They are just focused on protecting the castle and want to make sure that they could jump on the wall as soon as it’s attacked. 

Incredible Commitments

They could get so excited and make some incredible yet unrealistic commitments which may become difficult to the operations. They tend to forget that there’s a process which makes the people pay the price.

Fears

They are carrying a very huge responsibility in their shoulders. They know there are a lot of people at stake, these make them more anxious. They are afraid to fail, they are afraid to see things fall apart.

Over-rely on their strengths

They might over-rely on their strengths. They are charismatic and can become very appealing to people and may disregard the system and the right process.

Struggle to deal with lazy people

They can get irritated easily with lazy people. They usually want to get things done within a snap and they tend to forget that there’s a process to do things. They tend to become annoyed by people with a high C personality since these types of people are really keen on details and sometimes think of them as lazy people. It’s not always you; they are just unappreciative of the process.

Tip on how to interact with Entrepreneurs:

Get Clarity

It’s ok to slow them down to make sure you understand what they want you to do. Try to ask for more specific instructions. Feel free to hold them accountable and stop them on their tracks to get things done the right way the first time.

Decision Tree

This extra dialogue may help you communicate well with your team:   

1. Leaf decision – This kind of decision is given to the assistant and you can make whatever decision you want and these high achievers may never need to know what decision you made.
2. Branch decision – This is the decision you make which you may or may not loop your boss but you got to tell them what decision you made and the results.
3. Root decision – This is the type of decision where you would need to gather pieces of evidence or gather opinions and you would need to sit down with this together and come up with a decision.

 They need a lot of Dashboard.

They always ask for numbers and seeing these frequently somehow makes them feel at ease. They are full of apprehensions and fears that things might not go the way they want it to be. Dashboards will help them see the update of what’s going on with the castle. Ask them what they want to see and create these dashboards for them.

Got to learn how to talk to them in a tough conversation

Recognize that a lot of them aren’t offended when you have a tough conversation with them. Healthy conflict is part of a great team! No conflict means things are headed for a blowup or people are starting to resent. It’s ok to have a tough conversation with them and slow them down a little bit. They’re actually happy to have those conversations.

You are incredible, you are vital and you are important! Having some of these structures to convey them makes a difference. Your opinions and words matter. Be your own hero and live a heroic life! #BeYourOwnhero

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