Who Took My Pen… Again? is a practical, real world guide for executive and administrative assistants who want to elevate their role, increase their influence, and build a career that truly matters.
Created from the collective wisdom of high performing administrative professionals, this book was inspired by the Office Dynamics Conference for Administrative Excellence, where assistants from across industries and generations shared the strategies, lessons, and insights that helped them succeed. The conversations were too powerful to keep within conference walls, so they became this book.
Written by executive assistants, for executive assistants, this is not theory or fluff. It is grounded, honest, and actionable, reflecting what the role actually requires in today’s fast paced, ever changing workplace.
Whether you are early in your career or highly seasoned, Who Took My Pen… Again? helps you move beyond reacting to requests and into a more strategic, confident, and influential partnership with your leader.
In this book, you will learn how to:
Add value every day, even when priorities constantly shift
Lead without authority and influence decisions
Communicate clearly, confidently, and professionally
Create calm out of chaos
Strengthen trust and partnership with your executive
Embrace change, innovation, and technology
Build confidence, credibility, and long term career success
Each chapter focuses on a core competency of the modern administrative professional, including accountability, communication, courage, creativity, decision making, trust, organization, and future focused thinking. The content reflects insights from four generations of assistants working in diverse roles and industries.
With over 100 practical “super secrets,” real stories, and immediately applicable ideas, this book is designed to be referenced again and again as your career evolves.
If you are ready to stop waiting for recognition, fully own your impact, and step into the leadership potential of your role, Who Took My Pen… Again? is your go to resource.
Joan Burge is known as the red-lipstick-wearing "Rock Star" of administrative and executive assistant training and a successful entrepreneur who created a unique niche in 1990 by founding a training company that would uniquely provide sophisticated, robust educational programs and information to administrative professionals.Joan is an accomplished author (8 books), professional speaker, consultant, and corporate trainer. She is the creator of The Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence™; World Class Assistant™ Certification course; Star Achievement Series® Certification and Designation course; 30+ customized workshops, 200+ educational videos, 150+ articles, and nearly 1,000 blog posts for executive and administrative assistants.Her company, Office Dynamics International, is a global industry leader which offers a broad range of solutions and provides high-performance, sophisticated executive and administrative assistant training and coaching. One thing is clear: Executive assistants, their executives, HR business partners, administrators, and managers have come to rely on Office Dynamics International because "only Joan is Joan."Joan Burge is an original; the foremost expert in the demanding field of management support. She put in the hard work and high investment required to earn the reputational excellence and uncompromising trust of leaders in business. She illuminates through her empowering teaching, building better work relationships between executives and their assistants.Joan's never-ending quest to provide top-notch educational programs has earned the respect of premier clients like Cisco Systems, AT&T, Kindred Healthcare, The Boeing Co., Humana Inc., Sunoco, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, Nationwide Insurance, and Chevron.
