This is probably my most personal blog post yet. I was scrolling through yet another EA conference agenda last week when I felt that familiar sinking feeling. I’ve heard it all before, for decades.

There they all were again: the same old themes dressed up in slightly different outfits. Become indispensable. Master the latest tech. Develop your personal brand. Get that coveted seat at the table.

Don’t get me wrong. The speakers looked brilliant, and many I know personally are absolutely fantastic at what they do. The conversations happening on LinkedIn and other platforms about the future of our profession are vibrant, challenging and incredibly necessary. But I still find myself wondering if there might be angles we haven’t fully explored, questions that might be hiding in our collective blind spots.

Adding fresh learning points

I wonder if we’re caught in what I’d call the EA echo chamber – where we keep hearing variations of the same messages year after year, just with updated examples. The tools change (from dictaphones to digital assistants), the terminology evolves (from secretaries to strategic partners), but many of the underlying messages remain remarkably similar.

It makes me wonder if we are just repeating the same learning points, rather than adding fresh ones – steadily regurgitating rather than evolving in some meaningful way.

Let’s face it: even running a class on how to use AI tools is at its core just a repeat of the sort of task-based technology training EAs were offered three decades ago. The tools have changed dramatically, but the conversation about how they fit into our professional identity hasn’t necessarily deepened.

What would it look like if we moved beyond helping EAs adapt to the latest tools and truly reimagined what executive support might become in the next decade? That’s the conversation I’m curious about.

Genuine connection

I’ve been knocking about in the executive support world since my PA days in the 90s, when my biggest worry was managing to type faster than my boss could dictate. Through editing DeskDemon, I had the incredible privilege of connecting with thousands of EAs from Aberdeen to Athens.

My work with IMA, IQPS and other secretarial associations took me to conferences across Europe, where I’d speak to rooms full of professionals facing remarkably similar challenges despite their different languages and cultures.

Many of my friends have been EA trainers and speakers for years. They’re in the trenches with you all constantly, hearing first-hand about the daily realities, frustrations and occasional triumphs that make up life as a support professional. Their insights come from genuine connection with the community, not from theoretical models or management textbooks.

Different perspective

What’s niggling at me lately isn’t that we’re not having important conversations – we absolutely are – but whether there might be additional perspectives that could enrich our collective thinking. Not because anyone’s got it wrong, but because complex challenges benefit from multiple viewpoints.

I’m starting to wonder if my particular blend of experiences – from hands-on support work to business journalism to content design for digital transformation – might offer a slightly different perspective that could complement the brilliant work already happening in this space.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t suffer from a Messiah complex, thinking that I could be the only one with all the right answers. I really don’t. It’s more an intellectual excercise, if anything: if I went back into speaking and training again today, would I really have anything relevant to add in a crowded market.

I have an astonishing amount in common with many other speakers and trainers. We all have extensive experience in management support at the highest level. We all have lots of experience sharing our insights in front of an audience. Many have also done other things that have given them a wider perspective.

In my case that’s as a business editor and user experience writer. Can I use everything that I have learned over four decades and come up with fresh ideas that have anything new to add to the EA debate?

It typically takes other speakers and trainers 12-18 months to get up to speed, to define their niche and pluck up the courage to share their insights with confidence. For me, it’s early days despite my previous years of training, speaking and writing in this sector.

Sink or swim

Since my own time in management support at the highest level, I have been editor for the launch of four news websites that were quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other news outlets. Whenever you start a new website – or product for that matter -, it is absolutely crucial to identify what makes it competitive: its relevance, its unique selling points, its added value. You either sink or swim.

When I work on digital transformation projects now – for the Cabinet Office, Cancer Research UK or the Metropolitan Police Service, for example -, the first rule is always to understand what people actually need, not what we assume they need. We speak to real users, watch them struggle with existing services, and design based on their genuine pain points.

I’m curious about applying that same rigorous user-centred approach to understanding the evolving landscape of executive support: finding the real user needs of support professionals today and identifying whether the training, speaking and writing already on offer meet those needs. 

Purpose and evolution in a rapidly changing workplace

That quest for relevance, for finding your added value in a crowded and increasingly AI-driven job market, is just as relevant in the executive sector as it is in journalism and digital transformation roles. We are all forced to prove our worth or be replaced by technology.

The reality most of us have encountered at some point is that organisations can be fickle in how they value even the most dedicated professionals. I know that’s something many brilliant speakers and coaches in our field address head-on.

That complexity – how we create value that’s recognised while also building career resilience – feels more important than ever as AI and other technologies reshape what’s possible.

I’ve been following the thoughtful conversations happening across our profession about purpose and evolution in a rapidly changing workplace.

The dialogue about how the EA-executive relationship is shifting, how we might repurpose our skills in new contexts, and what capabilities will matter most tomorrow is genuinely exciting.

Shifting landscapes

I’m embarking on a bit of a journey to explore these questions from my particular vantage point. Not because I have answers to offer that others haven’t found, but because I believe adding different perspectives can only strengthen our collective wisdom.

If you’re navigating these shifting landscapes too, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What aspects of the current conversation resonate most deeply with you? What questions feel underexplored? What parts of your role do you find most fulfilling as well as most vulnerable?

The future of executive support is being shaped through the rich dialogue already happening across platforms, at conferences, and in one-to-one conversations. I’m simply curious to add my voice to that chorus and see what harmonies might emerge.