Leah Warwick: Hi, everyone. I’m Leah Warwick, and you’re listening to The Admin Edge.

Today, we welcome chief of staff and trainer Courtney Scott back to the podcast. Because when we survey our community, you tell us how proficient you think you are in certain skills like data visualization, and we listen to you on that, but could you be selling yourself short?

Here’s Courtney and ASAP’s Lydia Davidheiser talking about how you can own proficiency in data visualization, financial acumen, and so much more. Take a listen.

Lydia Davidheiser: Hi, I’m Lydia Davidheiser, senior content coordinator for ASAP, and my guest today is Courtney Scott, chief of staff at the Cigna group and speaker at this event, EA Ignite. Welcome to the podcast, Courtney.

Courtney Scott: Thank you, Lydia. I’m so excited to be here.

Lydia Davidheiser: We’re excited to have you. And we’re talking about a very heavy-hitting topic today, which is data.

And just earlier when I spoke with you, you had a session on data visualization for senior leader decision-making, and it was pretty popular from what I saw. So clearly, these listeners are in for a treat today.

I want to start with a statistic that we found through our latest research, that 60.8% of executives rank data visualization as a top capability for admin professionals, but only 25.4% of admins say they’re proficient in it. So clearly, there’s quite a gap there. Why do you think this skill has become so impactful, especially at the executive level?

Courtney Scott: In data analysis, whether it’s gathering data, interpreting data, designing visual data, I think they’re far more proficient at it than they give themselves credit for. I think, historically, administrative professionals are put into a box, so they don’t really see themselves as these data professionals or data leaders. So I would actually challenge that, and I would imagine that it’s probably closer to the executive’s perspective of that.

I think that administrative professionals are so good at staying behind the scenes and not getting credit for the work, which is why I talk a lot about leaning into data, preparing visual data, making sure people understand that this is your work, that you are controlling the story of this data because it really highlights the level of data fluency that administrative professionals have. And it doesn’t matter if you’re an administrative assistant, if you’re an executive assistant, as a chief of staff, you are going to be diving into data far more than you give yourself credit for.

I think it’s just organic to the role that we’re so used to staying back and being like, “Oh, no, that’s somebody else’s data.” Well, no, but you’re very data fluent. You’re just not calling that out for yourself.

I like that there’s opportunity for us to talk about it. Like, yeah, let’s lean into data. As administrative professionals, there’s an opportunity there for sure if we look at that 25.4%. I think the real number would speak higher to that.

Lydia Davidheiser: Definitely. And they were talking about that in the keynote this morning, about that ability to translate and verbalize your skills rather than keeping it locked in and invisible. So there could definitely be that disparity there.

But if there is an EA that maybe wants to get more comfortable working with data, what’s a practical way they can start building that skill in their current role?

Courtney Scott: Ask lots of questions of senior leaders. In particular, I would be asking regular questions to the CFO. I would be asking regular questions of the chief operating officer.

They deal with data day in and day out, literally hour by hour. It’s what they go to bed thinking about. It’s what they wake up thinking about: financial data, operational data, how we can operate better using this data.

Lean into that, talk to those people, have those relationship-building conversations, and if they say, “Why do you want to know this? Why are you asking these questions?” Well: “Because it’s my job to be a strategic partner to you, and to understand the health of the business.”

The health of the business lives in this data, so it’s really important to be curious and say why you’re curious about it.

Lydia Davidheiser: Right. And what’s the difference, because we get this question a lot, between just seeing numbers and tracking them and truly translating it into something that an executive can use? Can you describe the difference between those two things?

Courtney Scott: Yeah, I love that question, and I actually spoke about this at length in my session on data visualization for senior leader decision-making.

When you think about data from the lens of your leader, you’re not just looking at numbers or data and saying, “Okay, well, there’s this data here.” You’re actually thinking about what it means to the business and what it means to your leader.

For example, and I use this example in my class, there are metrics and KPIs that I track for our business as chief of staff for the Cigna group. I manage them monthly and track them monthly. Very recently, I was asked, “Yes, pull this metric. Do the same thing you always do. Give us some context for the senior leaders who are gonna be looking at it. They don’t have the day-to-day insight into this, so just provide some context.”

And I started thinking, “They’re just seeing the same stuff month over month. How is there any additional context built into this? Like, it’s not right now, so let me go design it differently.”

So what I did was I pulled that metric, I did what they asked, and then I did a little bit more than they asked. I pulled the historical trend of that metric. So even though we were still under target, we are tracking and we’re able to forecast that in less than six months we’re gonna be exceeding that target.

The reason that’s important is because if I’m thinking about the context of that data, if I’m thinking about the context of that metric, I’m thinking about what the historical trend is, because then I can take that historical trend and allow someone or myself to produce a forecast.

That’s when you start thinking like an executive. You’re not just looking at data and being like, “Yep, there’s some data there.” You’re saying, “What am I doing with this data?” In my session, I talked about four questions that your visual data and data in general should answer or at least lead someone to find the answers.

Number one: What decision needs to be made?

Number two: What is the risk?

Number three: What is the next action and when do I need to take that action?

And then number four: Is there evidence here that supports the decision that I’m going to make from this?

If the data that you are designing and preparing for your leader or for yourself or anybody, if it doesn’t answer or lead people to answer those questions, you really should reconsider, like, “What am I doing with this data? What do I know about this data? Am I confident enough to have the conversation that leads to these answers?”

Lydia Davidheiser: Right. And when it comes to presenting data to executives, where do you see admins going wrong or perhaps overcomplicating things?

Courtney Scott: I think the biggest area is feeling a little insecure. Maybe they feel like they don’t know enough about the operations of the business. Maybe they don’t understand enough about finances or maybe that’s a belief. It may not be reality, but they just feel insecure.

And so sometimes what we do to combat that insecurity is, we do what I call, “Show up and throw up,” where you throw everything on the page, or in the deck. It’s kind of like throwing spaghetti on the wall, and let’s see what sticks. Let them decide what they want to talk about. When you do that, you’re really missing an opportunity to be the guide and to be the storyteller of that data and that narrative.

Even if it’s not “your data,” per se, even if you’re just compiling data, designing it, preparing it for someone else, you’re still the owner of that story. So if you can pull the story within the story out of that data, and you can lead people down a path of, “Hey guys, there’s a really compelling story here, more than just what the data says. Let’s talk about that compelling story and let’s make some strategic decisions,” that is a huge opportunity to highlight yourself as a next level administrative assistant or even a future leader of operations or strategy or whatever it is.

You’re setting yourself apart in that way.

Lydia Davidheiser: Absolutely.

We have a listener question that was submitted by one of our community members, and this relates to your former experience as an EA to the CEO for a Wealth Tech 100 company. They write: “How has being financially fluent changed the way your executives talk to you and include you in data conversations?” I can imagine not everyone feels like

Courtney Scott: Love that question.

Lydia Davidheiser: Because I can imagine not everyone feels they have that financial acumen. What would you say?

Courtney Scott: Here’s what I’d say to that: It’s not easy to get yourself in the position of feeling fluent with business finances. You have to really get out of your comfort zone. You have to be curious and unafraid to talk to key stakeholders, just for the sake of your own knowledge.

And I think sometimes that’s where EAs and AAs struggle, like: “Ae they gonna understand why I’m asking these questions? Are they gonna understand why I’m curious? Do they think it’s nonsense?”

If you show up and say, “I would really like this information. It’s gonna make me a better partner. It’s gonna make me a better EA, AA,” whatever the case may be, they’re gonna take you seriously.

But sometimes we have self-doubt in that way. Ask questions. Ask those senior leaders, your CFO or COO, to break it down for you: “Help me understand what this means.” Use them as your university, your business university.

They love that, by the way. Listen, everybody has an ego. Even the most non-egotistical people, we just as humans have ego; and when we sit down with someone and say, “Can you share your expertise with me?”  Of course they’re gonna say, “Absolutely, let’s talk. Schedule some time with me.”

If you really lean into that, you’re gonna be building these relationships that you can learn from.

As you learn that, you’re going to really become fluent in the financial metrics, the financial health metrics of that business

An important health metric for the business financially: net profit margin. I talk about that a lot in my classes. The reason I talk about it is it’s a simple metric to gather.

It’s pretty easy to understand, and when you ask that question about, “What’s our net profit margin?” You’re signaling to your senior leaders that you care about that. That you want to be a partner in adding value or have a measurable outcome that relates to that net profit margin.

Being financially fluent, it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to be brave and step outside of your comfort zone and have those conversations, put yourself out there—but it reaps dividends because you show up differently to your executive.

Now they know they can sit down and have a conversation with you about what’s on their mind: “Hey, I’ve been really worried about our net profit margin. We’re overspending in this area. Is there a way that you can jump in in the middle of this and help me figure this out? We have a budget problem.”

You’re now operating as a strategic partner, not just a tactical partner. Financial literacy and fluency is so important to be that strategic partner.

Lydia Davidheiser: Absolutely, and here at ASAP, we’re a huge fan of mentorship and, and leading on others, if you have those skills gaps or if you lack confidence in certain places.

Thank you so much for joining us on The Admin Edge, Courtney. Where can listeners find you online?

Courtney Scott: Find me on LinkedIn. I love to connect. I love scheduling one-on-one conversations. People will reach out and say, “Hey, I listened to the podcast, or I was in your session, and can we talk more about it?”

I truly welcome that. It fills my cup to be able to have those conversations.

Lydia Davidheiser: Amazing. Thank you so much, I had a great time.

Courtney Scott: Thank you, me too.

Leah Warwick: Thank you for listening to The Admin Edge, produced by the American Society of Administrative Professionals. Original audio editing by Warwick Productions, with audio and video production by 5Tool Productions.

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