Those in PA jobs in London know that their role is unique. It’s important to operate with ownership, accountability, and trust in your relationship with your executive. If you can excel in these areas then you excel in the role and your career, giving you the pick of PA jobs.
What do we mean by taking ownership?
As a PA, taking ownership of your work means taking responsibility for what you do—specifically, the decisions you make and the actions you take. You own your output, the value you add to the role, and the solutions and ideas you present.
Taking ownership can make your relationship with your executive extremely powerful and can make both of you more successful.
So, how can you do this as a PA?
- Take ownership for oversight and prioritisation
The very purpose of a PA is to make their executive’s life easier. Therefore, you can start by taking ownership for what you should be doing to that effect.
Each day, you have a bunch of tasks that need to do. You should take control and prioritise them within your schedule, and complete each one without intense direction or support. You take responsibility for getting them done.
Make sure you know what success looks like to your executive with each of these tasks—and then just get on and do.
By taking accountability for your own actions, you naturally become more results-focused. At the end of the day, your executive and your company are looking for results, so this is an excellent approach.
With every task, and especially with every larger project, ask yourself what the objectives are and remind yourself of them regularly. This allows you to deliver the best value in everything you do and makes you more effective across your entire role.
Don’t just do things the way they are always done for the sake of it. Actively think about how you can refine processes to make them more efficient. Be confident in your ideas and consider whether they will add value; share them and act on them where possible.
Personal Assistants can often make notable changes to systems and processes because they are very organised and logical people. Use these skills and strengths.
There are, of course, plenty of times when a task’s accountability is shared with your executive or you need to seek support. However, by taking accountability where you can, you proactively support your executive and function better as a unit. Ask yourself if you simply follow the path and spend time restricted by current systems, or whether you are an active problem-solver and -doer.
If you’re stuck with a micro-managing executive—or worse, a bullying one—then taking ownership will be a lot more problematic. In these cases, take your valuable skills as a Personal Assistant and make a move to where you will be valued.
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