day 723: Assistants

"But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God."

I can remember when I was assigned my first executive assistant. One day I was doing all of my work on my own, and then the next I had someone who wanted to help me manage my calendar and all of my administrative duties. I would say that it took me a good while to understand how best to utilize such a valuable resource. In this day and age even some of the most senior people in a company will share an executive assistant and with the advances in technology and digital communication it makes sense. Still, having someone who can assist and help is such a gift. And then to think of the people we know who treat assistants shoddily or don't value them for what they can do or bring to the office. Assistants should receive great respect and treatment because when led correctly, they can increase our productivity immeasurably.

Now, imagine that we had the assistance of God always with us? Why do we have to imagine, as we do! God wants to be our helper and He is constantly asking and offering out to us His assistance. But, we don't take it, or we continue to decide to go it alone and see what happens. Even on the surface it doesn't make sense that we just turn our back on that much help. Today, think about where you could use the help and don't be hesitant on calling on Him for whatever the need may be. He is not only just outside of your office He is the assistant who is right there with you, right now.

Reference: Psalm 146:5 (New Living Testament)

day 230: Assistants

My wife was the administrative assistant to the chairmen of one of the largest companies in the world. She worked for him for nearly 20 years as he rose through the ranks of the company to ultimately become CEO and Chairman. As I watched her in that position, I came to realize and appreciate the value of that role from a different perspective. Having had my own assistants over the years (some great, many good) I have always understood how valuable that person can be. But, there is more to it than just skill. What I know from my own experience, and from my wife's job, is that there are many intangibles that can make or break the ability for two people to work together in an assistant and manager relationship. First and foremost is chemistry. If there is not good chemistry between two people, then this type of co-dependent relationship will never succeed. Second, there must be a high level of trust from both sides. The manager needs to be able to trust that he/she can turn over just about anything to an assistant and trust that what happens from then on out will be a pure reflection of the manager's wishes, attitude, values, and desires. There also must be trust on the assistant's side that the boss will never put her/his assistant in a position that can't be handled or compromises the respect, dignity and confidence of that assistant. If you can get both chemistry and trust going between two people then confidence is built between the two and before long they can be completing each others' sentences. Dynamic duos are built this way and many career-long and life-long friendships have been built from these types of working relationships. These are partnerships and extend far beyond just assistance. A great administrative assistant is a helper and who of us doesn't want and need help in out job? We all need help on a day-to-day basis. We may not be in a position to have an administrative assistant, or we we may and we just haven't unlocked the potential of that relationship. Regardless, we all need as much help on the job as we can get and as we try and live and work out our purpose while on our jobs, we need even a bigger amount of help to do so. God tells us that He wants to be that helper. In Psalm 146:5 we are told; "But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God." You see, God knows that our work is hard and that we many times feel overwhelmed, pressured, stressed, up to our eyeballs, under the gun...you know the feeling. He wants to be our helper in all things, work included. He is telling us today that we can find joy in our work and our lives if we will only allow him to help. From there we can begin to put our hope in Him. Like the relationship between the best boss and assistant is when the chemistry is perfect, the trust is high and the confidence is there between the two of them, so can all of that be there for us, and multiplied many times over, if we will only let God take on the helper role that He applies for with us each and every day.

Reference: Psalm 146:5 (New Living Testament)