There are a lot of good executive assistants out there. People who show up on time, manage the calendar competently, handle travel without major disasters, and keep things running smoothly enough that nobody is complaining.
Good is not nothing. Good keeps the lights on. Good gets the job done.
But great is something else entirely. And if you have ever worked alongside a truly great EA, or been supported by one, you know exactly what I mean. There is a quality to the work, a presence in the role, an impact on everything around them that is immediately obvious and nearly impossible to replace.
So what is the actual difference? After fifteen years in this profession I have some thoughts.
Good EAs React. Great EAs Anticipate.
This is the most fundamental difference and everything else flows from it. Good EAs are excellent at responding to what is in front of them. Great EAs see what is coming before it arrives.
They notice the pattern in their executive’s schedule three weeks out that is going to create a problem. They flag the email that seems routine but has implications their executive needs to know about. They prepare for the meeting that has not been formally scheduled yet because they know it is coming based on what they know about the business.
Anticipation is not magic. It is the result of deep knowledge, consistent attention, and genuine investment in understanding not just the tasks but the context behind them. It is also one of the hardest things to teach because it comes from within rather than from a checklist.
Good EAs Complete Tasks. Great EAs Own Outcomes.
A good EA does what they are asked. A great EA takes responsibility for the result.
The difference shows up in the follow through. A good EA sends the email. A great EA sends the email, confirms receipt, follows up when there is no response, and does not consider it done until the actual outcome has been achieved. A good EA books the travel. A great EA books the travel, confirms all the details, builds in contingencies, and has a backup plan ready in case something goes wrong.
Ownership is a mindset. It means caring about whether things actually work, not just whether you did your part. Great EAs cannot hand something off mentally until the outcome is secured. That is not anxiety. That is professionalism at its highest level.
Good EAs Manage Information. Great EAs Use It.
Every EA handles information. The calendar, the inbox, the meeting notes, the project updates. Good EAs manage this information competently. They keep it organized, they share it when asked, they file it appropriately.
Great EAs use it. They synthesize what they know across multiple streams of information and draw conclusions that are useful to their executive. They notice connections between things that seem unrelated. They bring insights, not just data.
This is another way that business acumen shows up in practice. The more you understand about the bigger picture, the more you can do with the information that flows through your hands every day.
Good EAs Are Reliable. Great EAs Are Indispensable.
Reliability is the baseline. If you are not reliable, you cannot function in this role at all. But indispensability is something different.
An indispensable EA is someone whose absence is immediately and significantly felt. Not because they hoarded information or made themselves the only person who knew how things worked, but because their judgment, their presence, and their partnership genuinely cannot be replicated by anyone else in the organization.
Indispensability comes from the combination of deep institutional knowledge, strong relationships, excellent judgment, and a genuine investment in the success of the person you support. It takes time to build. It is worth every bit of the investment.
Good EAs Do the Job. Great EAs Elevate the Role.
Great EAs make the profession better just by doing their work with excellence. They change how their executives think about the role. They raise the bar for what is possible. They demonstrate, through their daily work, that executive support is a strategic function that deserves to be taken seriously.
That matters beyond any individual job. Every EA who shows up at the highest level of their capability shifts the perception of what an EA can be. That is a contribution to the entire profession and it is not a small thing.
So How Do You Get From Good to Great?
You start by being honest with yourself about where you currently are. Not critically, but clearly. Where are you reacting when you could be anticipating? Where are you completing tasks when you could be owning outcomes? Where are you managing information when you could be using it?
Pick one. Work on it deliberately. Then pick another.
Greatness in this role is not a destination you arrive at. It is a direction you keep moving in. And the fact that you are reading this, that you are investing in your own development and thinking about how to operate at a higher level, means you are already pointed the right way.
Keep going.
What is one quality you think separates good EAs from great ones that I did not mention? Drop it in the comments.
-Irene
Leave a Reply