the four seismic shifts
Forget everything you've been told about "being more strategic"
The most persistent myth in our profession is that you simply need to become a better 'strategic partner' to your executive.
What I’ve learned is that the future belongs not to those who perfect the traditional EA role, but to those who recognise when that role itself has become obsolete.
Adrie van der Luijt
Founder of Workplace Insights
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The four seismic shifts
The traditional executive assistant role is dead. And that’s brilliant news for everyone ready to embrace what comes next.
For decades, we’ve been told that the path forward is simply to become “more strategic partners” to our executives. This comfortable fairy tale fundamentally misunderstands the profound transformations reshaping our profession.
What’s actually happening are four seismic shifts that have nothing to do with getting permission to attend more meetings:
Beyond the comfortable truths
These four shifts aren’t simply asking you to add new skills to your existing toolkit. They’re challenging you to fundamentally rethink how you create value in organisations that bear little resemblance to those of even a decade ago.
The uncomfortable truth is that parts of the traditional executive assistant role are dying. Not because assistants aren’t valuable, but because the nature of that value has transformed. The tasks that defined the profession for generations are increasingly being automated or rendered obsolete by changing work patterns.
This isn’t a threat. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to elevate the profession beyond the limitations that have constrained it. The future belongs not to those who perfect the art of traditional assistance but to those who recognise when tradition itself has become a liability.
Your path forward
Navigating these shifts successfully requires more than just awareness. It demands concrete action:
- Audit your current value creation: What percentage of your work involves gatekeeping information versus curating it? Task execution versus problem solving? Technical proficiency versus technological adaptation? Hierarchical support versus network leadership?
- Identify your evolution opportunities: Which shift represents the greatest gap between where you are and where you need to be? What’s one concrete step you could take tomorrow to begin bridging that gap?
- Redefine your professional identity: How might you describe your role if terms like “assistant” or “support” were off-limits? What would your business card say if it had to capture the actual value you create rather than your formal title?
- Build capabilities, not skills: Rather than focusing on specific techniques that might soon be obsolete, develop fundamental capabilities that transcend particular tools or tasks. Systems thinking will outlast Outlook expertise. Problem-solving methodologies will outlive project management software.
The path forward isn’t about becoming a better version of what assistants have always been. It’s about becoming something the profession has rarely been allowed to be: architects of organisational effectiveness who leverage their unique position to create value that no algorithm, no matter how sophisticated, can replicate.
The traditional executive assistant role is dead. And that’s brilliant news for everyone ready to embrace what comes next.