[00:00] LEAH WARWICK: Hi everyone, I’m Leah Warwick and you’re listening to the Admin Edge. Here at the American Society of Administrative Professionals, we offer an ASAP career stages framework, resources, and community to help you build your personalized career path. We’re also fortunate to welcome experts from around the world to our events, including EA turned career coach Ruth Kilah. Here’s me and Ruth, chatting about career progression and courage for EAs at the ASAP event EA Ignite. Hi, I’m Leah Warwick, Senior Content Manager for the American Society of Administrative Professionals, and my guest today is Ruth Kilah, founder and CEO of Hoxton Hyde Career Coaching and Mentoring, and a speaker at this event EA Ignite. Welcome to the podcast, Ruth.

[00:51] RUTH KILAH: Thank you for having me. It’s such a pleasure to have you here from Australia, so excited to be here.

[01:00] LEAH WARWICK: I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly.

[01:02] RUTH KILAH: Right?

[01:03] LEAH WARWICK: We’re at all the time. Yeah, when you’re listening to this, we’re on day two of EA Ignite.

[01:08] RUTH KILAH: Yeah. And what a time it has been.

[01:11] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah. It’s so many great speakers, and it’s just the excitement in the air here, everyone I come into contact with and speak to, they’ve just got so much positive feedback and everyone says the same thing, information overload, positive, so much great information they’re taking back to their organisations and should be sharing with their fellow EA, so it’s yeah, it’s really nice. It’s really nice to hear.

[01:30] RUTH KILAH: Good, good.

[01:31] LEAH WARWICK: And the energy is so infectious.

[01:33] RUTH KILAH: Yeah.

[01:34] LEAH WARWICK: What a time to be alive and to be here with you. I’m so grateful. And to talk to you because I’m so curious, as a career coach, I’m sure people come to you with all kinds of questions and challenges. So what is the most common challenge that EAs are coming to you with?

[01:51] RUTH KILAH: I’m going to kind of break it into two parts. So what the most common kind of challenge commentary that comes to me is Ruth, there’s a lack of opportunity out there for executive assistance that they want to grow further in their career, whether that be into another role, stay within the EA role, but expand their band with whatever that may look like for them. And it’s that lack, they say that the common word lack of opportunity there for me. Now, that’s a symptom. That’s a symptom of some two key main causes and that is executive assistance like clarity on what they want next or what next, what that other growth, whatever it is, whatever to have like that clarity on what that is. And secondly, they lack the ability to effectively and clearly communicate that. If we can’t, we don’t know what we want.

[03:13] RUTH KILAH: And if we aren’t able to clearly communicate that with others, how can we expect others to help us? So they’re the two main things, I would say, like in terms of a symptom, but they’re the causes of that symptom that I believe it’s actually not there’s opportunity out there. There’s so much opportunity out there. If executive assistance aren’t clearly articulating and asking for what they want, then they get a blank or an opportunity response and that’s obviously not the case.

[03:42] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah, that’s really helpful clarity and communication that that really really hits. So what questions should an EA ask themselves, you know, getting clarity on themselves to uncover what growth means to them personally, not just by title or salary?

[04:05] RUTH KILAH: Yeah. You know, as I shared in my keynote today, growth is such a personal journey and we should never compare that to others. What’s one person’s journey, growth journey is, is going to be completely different to somebody else in terms of what they actually desire and what’s actually aligned for them, ethically, morally, so it’s a very personal journey. So the two key areas that I would encourage executive assistance to look at first and foremost is their strengths, so where they already are doing amazing work, getting really great results and their passion, their passion’s interest where they feel they want to expand their learning more and they have a feeling for an inkling that they might be good at something. I tell the story to clients in when I was in corporate as an executive assistant, I had this innate feeling that I’d be good at marketing and it’s one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t lean into it more in corporate was I regret being not more curious about it because now being in business owner, I’m quite good at it, turns out I was correct.

[05:23] RUTH KILAH: So I think, you know, trust that intuition, if you feel that it might be, maybe good at something, follow that intuition and see where it leads.

[05:32] LEAH WARWICK: Yes, like when your heart starts to be a little faster, are you feeling yourself getting excited about something or energized by something, listen to that because that’s your body’s way of telling you and hopefully it can connect to your mind and be like, oh, that’s what I love. That’s what I am interested in, that fills my cup because what fills your cup might not necessarily fill someone else’s cup, but that doesn’t matter.

[05:50] RUTH KILAH: Exactly. Yeah. Some existence, love, doing expenses, I was the worst thing for me. I can’t relate, but that’s cool, but honestly, there was executive assistants that love that. And the world needs that, like if we were all the same, then, you know, you just wouldn’t know and would stand out. You need to have your thing and then you will stand out for your speciality.

[06:10] LEAH WARWICK: Exactly. You have something that nobody else has in the same way that you have it.

[06:14] RUTH KILAH: Exactly. I firmly believe that and we’re all very unique and so tapping into what makes you unique and what you love, that’s the winning combination.

[06:23] LEAH WARWICK: So all right, let’s get into misconceptions. There’s so many out there. What’s one of the biggest misconceptions you see about career growth for administrative professionals?

[06:33] RUTH KILAH: Number one is that I, they say that to me that Ruth, I need to go and get a bachelor’s, I need to go and get an MBA. Now I am the biggest supporter of further education and continuous learning, the biggest supporter. However, there’s a huge misconception, especially in executive assistant space, that we can’t apply for a role, we can’t do something until we have this accreditation or a qualification or MBA, we don’t have permission to do that. And employers, they value your expertise and experience in a particular area. Now what executive assistants need to do is to clearly and effectively communicate their experience and skills they’ve gained because employers value that, because that tells a story of how you can bring impact on value into my organisation. Now I’ve got a great story on this and that is like a client of the previous client of mine, she moved into an EA role into an HR leadership role. She didn’t have a leadership or HR degree or bachelor’s.

[07:46] RUTH KILAH: When she stepped into that HR role, she’d already been, it made sense for her to step into that role because she had been delivering impact and value, stepping in and covering for the HR leader at the time. It made sense for her to make that move. And when she did, her employer was more and happy for her to get and support the funding of that HR qualification. And that’s the perfect time to get that qualification because she’s living and breathing that HR role and she’s able to implement that theory real time in her role. And what the biggest mistake is with a lot of learning and development, where there’s overconsumption, there’s overconsumption of information and not enough implementation. And we learn by what I call the 2D and the 3D by actually consuming the information and doing the thing, getting the evidence and the skills that is going to be valuable to employers. So I’m not saying don’t get or go for a qualification or another bachelor’s or MBA, whatever you want, but do it in tandem of that practical implementation. It is critical.

[09:11] RUTH KILAH: Otherwise, it is almost useless. And I can tell from experience because I have done a bachelor’s in business management and use nothing of it because I went straight out of school and did that degree and then use nothing of it. So like all my business skills been learnt from being an EA.

[09:29] LEAH WARWICK: Yes, no, I agree with that because you have to apply what you are learning if you just absorb it and you don’t actually use it in your work. I would argue you’re not really doing what is required. So yes, I have a certification. I have to use what I learned in that certification. It’s not just a badge that I had and I say, no, you have to use what you learned. And I think that there’s no shortcut. I think sometimes people think, well, if I get an MBA, then I’m going to become this or that. That’s not necessarily a shortcut. I think these days, anyway, I think you have to really prove in the role and in your work that you can do these things and that you have proof of that. And I think a certification can be a first step of proof and that I got the certification. Maybe I took a test on it. I proved my knowledge. So that’s the first step. I proved my knowledge. And then the next step is I proved that I’m good at what I do, but that is a different thing.

[10:14] LEAH WARWICK: So I’m glad you brought that to the forefront because it is important to talk about.

[10:18] RUTH KILAH: Yes.

[10:19] LEAH WARWICK: So speaking of growth, how do you help EAs evaluate when it’s time to grow within their role, within their company versus explore opportunities elsewhere?

[10:29] RUTH KILAH: First step would be because I come across on many executive assistants that want further growth and progression in their organization and feel frustrated, you know, like they won’t promote me. They went a lot of the time. There’s not an ROI, a return on investment to promote that person to a certain role. There is an need for them to have that role, create that role. So it comes down to business. It’s not a lot of executive assistants feel that it’s a personal thing, but it’s actually comes down to business as business as brutal as it is. There needs to be a dollar value to you moving into that role. And if you can fulfill the needs of that role and deliver the impact and value that is required of that role.

[11:23] RUTH KILAH: So a lot of the time you need to make sure you’re assessing if is there actually a genuine opportunity for you to move into that role or get promoted within your role in your organization? And is there going to be a space there? Once you’ve assessed that, then it’s about really making sure and asking yourself, have I clearly been clear in what I want and clearly communicated my impact and value for that opportunity and growth potentially in the organization? So once those two areas are ticked, then I would say look elsewhere. You always want to try and capitalize as much on where you are because your current employer, they know your impact and value. They’re seeing it every day, they’re experiencing it. It just might be that you’re not clearly communicating what you’re already delivering.

[12:21] LEAH WARWICK: Yes, and it’s important not to make assumptions without asking, right? Because you might think, well, well, even my boss would never or this position doesn’t exist right now. So it’s never going to exist. And it’s like, how do you know unless you ask? And the answer still could be no, but you haven’t even taken that step to see.

[12:41] RUTH KILAH: I literally had a client last week that believed that there wasn’t an opportunity in her organization. And we just restructured a small bit of a conversation that she had with her executive. And now she is a whole new opportunity has arisen from that because she’s communicated in a different way and been clear.

[12:54] LEAH WARWICK: Yes, back to clarity, back to communication. Let’s keep hitting that because it’s vital. It truly is.

[13:00] RUTH KILAH: Yes.

[13:01] LEAH WARWICK: So speaking of, what are some underrated skills or habits that often separate thriving EAs from those who plateau in their careers?

[13:11] RUTH KILAH: Yeah. Strong communicators. They’re able to communicate their value. They are reflective of their own, what they have done or not done. They’re able to go, okay, this is when this went on. And I did this and not did like, they’re able to reflect on the actions or inactions. They’re courageous. They’re not, you know, they’re no different to everyone else. They just, they’re scared. They’re still scared, but they move regardless. And they know that the more they do that, they put themselves out of this comfort zone, the better the closer they bring themselves to their goal. I would also say that they’re hugely responsible for their own development. They’re radically responsible. And they never blame others, organization, they respect their past, their journey and said, you know, I played a part in this, whether it was a good partnership or not, but I said too long maybe in that organization, but now I’m taking ownership for my own growth.

[14:22] RUTH KILAH: So they, radical responsibility for their own action or inaction and take their growth in relation to their own hands, you know, they don’t, they don’t wait. They don’t wait for anyone else. And if they understand that there’s a, when they see opportunity, when they see market changes, they need to move and they want to be ahead of the curve.

[14:42] LEAH WARWICK: I love that Ruth because it’s true. We are in the driver’s seat of our own life. You are the main character of your own life. So make that move. I often feel like courage to me, it is doing it scared, right? It’s not, oh, I’m not scared, it’s, no, you’re still scared, but you do it anyway. That’s the brave part. That’s the courageous part. So having a conversation with your boss about compensation, I mean, maybe some people don’t think that’s scary, but I think most people are a little nervous going into a conversation like that. The courageous people do it anyway, right? And the courageous people they ask one year and they get, it’s a no, and the courageous people will do it again the next year, regardless of that no the previous year, because they know that could be yes, because it’s always going to be a no if you don’t ask.

[15:30] RUTH KILAH: Exactly. It’s always a no if you don’t ask, and you’re so right, we hear that a lot when it comes to coming to events like these.

[15:36] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah. I’m getting the buy-in. Sometimes they’ll ask the first year and get a no, the second year they might get a, you can come, but just you, the third year, they come back and say, I learned all this great stuff and I’m putting it into work and you can see, but I would love more people to come so they can attend other sessions. So sometimes it can take multiple years to get the full vision of what you want. If your full vision is I want to go and I want my team members to go, yeah, that might not happen overnight or same thing with with a raise or promotion or anything that you want, even if maybe you want to do more of the event planning at your company, maybe you’re really into that, maybe at first it’s a no because they’re like, well, we don’t, we’re not really experiencing that, we don’t really have the proof, right?

[16:18] LEAH WARWICK: But you got to, if you just show up and you show people and you come with data helps, evidence, data facts, evidence, over time, you know, it’s either going to work out where you are or it’s going to work out somewhere else. But I think a lot of the most successful people in life, it’s not that they’re necessarily smarter than anyone else or that they, they have more skills or talents, it’s that they are determined.

[16:38] RUTH KILAH: Yeah. Great. Great. Yes. I come back to that all the time.

[16:42] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, they just understand that they need to take responsibility, like they, they want to be in the driving, the driver’s seat of their growth and you know, I’ve had quite a few clients say to me, I want to invest, I want to do this myself because I don’t want anyone to claim ownership of my investment. This is my journey and I’m going to own this and control this because I want to be in the driver’s seat of my, my growth moving forward. And I, I mean, what power is that?

[17:05] RUTH KILAH: Oh, it’s the ultimate power of being in charge of your own life, um, can’t think of anything more powerful than that really.

[17:16] LEAH WARWICK: And we do have a listener question of one of our community members sent in for you. They wrote in, how do you balance what you want for your career with what your company actually has room for? So that kind of is an extension of what we’ve been talking about of you might have all these things. You’ve talked to your company about it and you’re starting to get the sense that maybe they don’t have room for it right now. So what are your options?

[17:44] RUTH KILAH: Look, my first session was kind of what I mentioned early is like looking at the business days. What does a business need? Um, in terms of, you know, what, what’s going to be a return investment for them supporting you in that, the development activity. And you might not be able to get all of it, you know, in terms of, you know, every training course or everything you want to, but it’s about trying to get what you can that aligns with the business. It’s got to make sense of the business. And then it’s about looking at, you know, the other lane development that doesn’t fit under your business. If it’s of high value to your development needs now and all in the future, don’t forget, like don’t just think about now, think about the future imperative at the moment and make a decision off that.

[18:34] RUTH KILAH: It comes down to what is most important to you, you know, I, my clients come to me that that this is important. This is a 10 out of 10 for me, there’s a level of importance. I need it. I want to make this change. If that level of urgency importance to you, go for it. If it’s a level five, level six, maybe there’s a level for why it’s got to be something that you want because and for your future now, because otherwise, realistically, you’re not going to put the effort in, let the learning, you’re not going to put the hours in or the minutes in whatever it is that learning development option. You’ve got to really care about it. And so I would go with what you care about most and have your organization fund, what they can, that makes sense for them. And you look at covering the rest yourself that makes sense for your development and you’re where you are at your stage of life on what you are able to invest in. Everyone’s different.

[19:30] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah, no, and that’s really good advice because everyone is different.

[19:33] RUTH KILAH: Yeah.

[19:34] LEAH WARWICK: And so that kind of comes back to what you were saying earlier about everybody has a different idea of what growth is for them. When it comes to where you work, what I found is really you will thrive in your organization if you’re an employee, regardless of what kind of role you have, if what you like doing and what the business needs, happy to be aligned, then then you’re doing great. You feel good about your work, you’re well compensated, all these things. When those things aren’t in alignment, that’s a struggle. But yes, like you said, as a coach, I’m sure you’re so great at telling people those that they have so many opportunities and it may not be at their organization or it might know you need that they don’t know about. There’s so many free options as well.

[20:14] RUTH KILAH: Yeah. Don’t forget, learning to develop the best that you can get is on the job.

[20:20] LEAH WARWICK: Yes. Yes. Or is there a local community, volunteer group that, if say for example, you need, you want project management support, is there a local community soccer club, you know, like whatever kids that needs managing, that’s project management.

[20:38] RUTH KILAH: Mm-hmm.

[20:39] LEAH WARWICK: Don’t think about it in corporate sense, but also in your practical life, it’s all experience. So think directly in how you can gain that experience, that training, build those skills, and there’s lots of free options out there.

[20:52] RUTH KILAH: That’s true.

[20:53] LEAH WARWICK: Yeah. That’s true. And actually, volunteer experience, I think that’s great for your life. And hey, they’re like, oh, there are resumes too, they’re like, oh, that’s interesting. Being a well-rounded person and learning in different ways, not just, oh, I’ve only learned in college, or I’ve only learned in a corporate environment.

[21:10] RUTH KILAH: Oh gosh, yeah. It adds so much depth to your life. And I think that is also attractive to others who are looking for more well-rounded people. So anyway, I could go on and on all day about this, this is like an amazing topic to get really into. But thank you so much, Ruth. Where can our listeners find you and learn more about your work?

[21:30] RUTH KILAH: You can find me very frequently on LinkedIn, Ruth Kilah. You can find me on Instagram at hoxtonhyde or one word. And on my website, which is www.hoxtonhyde.com, all one word, .au.

[21:47] LEAH WARWICK: All right, thank you so much, Ruth.

[21:49] RUTH KILAH: My pleasure.

[21:50] LEAH WARWICK: Thank you for listening to The Admin Edge, produced by the American Society of Administrative Professionals, our original music and audio editing by Warwick Productions, with audio and video production by five tool productions. If you like this podcast, please leave us a nice review, five stars, and subscribe. If you’d like to submit a listener question, you may do so on our website at asaporg.com/podcast. Thank you.