Full episode transcript: How to Measure Executive Assistant Performance Effectively
There’s a conversation we need to mature as a profession.
And it’s this.
How should executive assistant performance actually be measured?
Because if we’re honest, most organisations are still measuring executive assistant performance through output.
How responsive someone is.
How much gets done.
How smoothly events ran.
How satisfied the executive feels.
Those things matter.
But they are not the differentiator.
And if we continue measuring executive support through volume and visibility alone, we will continue reinforcing a transactional ceiling.
Executive support has evolved.
The environments executives operate in have changed. Pressure is structural. Decision cycles are shorter. Risk exposure is higher. Complexity is compounding.
And yet in many organisations, executive assistant performance metrics haven’t moved.
That gap matters.
Because how you measure a role will always shape how it performs.
If you measure busyness, you get busyness.
If you measure service, you get service.
If you measure performance enablement, you get leverage.
That is not semantics.
That is structural.
So I want to introduce a more mature way of thinking about executive assistant performance.
Not as a motivational concept.
As a framework.
I call it The Executive Support Performance Lens™.
And it looks at five dimensions that move beyond output and into enablement.
Sequencing.
Stability.
Decision Quality.
Continuity.
Alignment.
Let me explain why these matter.
Sequencing is not about colour-coded calendars. It’s about whether executive time and attention genuinely reflect declared organisational priorities. Are competing demands integrated deliberately? Or does reactive work consistently override what matters most commercially?
Stability is about risk and friction. In high-performing environments, escalation is not the norm. Risk is surfaced early. Tension is addressed before it compounds. Workflow feels controlled rather than volatile.
Decision Quality is about preparation and synthesis. Are executives walking into critical moments fully briefed? Are interdependencies surfaced before action is taken? Is judgement being strengthened through context, not just coordination?
Continuity is about institutional knowledge and momentum. When leadership shifts or pressure rises, does performance dip? Or is there stability because someone is holding context deliberately?
And Alignment is about direction. Does daily activity clearly connect to the organisation’s north star? Or is busyness disguising drift?
When you assess executive assistant performance through these five lenses, something shifts.
You move from asking, “How busy are you?” to asking, “How effectively are we enabling executive effectiveness and organisational success?”
That is a different standard.
And it’s one the profession needs to step into consciously.
Because the future of executive support will not be defined by how efficiently tasks are completed.
It will be defined by how effectively executive support strengthens performance.
Now, this is not abstract.
I’ve written a full article unpacking how to measure executive assistant performance more effectively, including how organisations can rethink their performance frameworks and how executive assistants can articulate their contribution beyond the position description.
And alongside it, I’ve created a practical diagnostic tool based on The Executive Support Performance Lens™.
It’s designed to help you assess where executive support is operating at an execution layer and where it’s actively enabling organisational success.
If you’re an executive assistant who wants clearer language for your impact, it will stretch your thinking.
If you’re reviewing executive assistant performance metrics inside an organisation, it will challenge your measurement framework.
Both the article and the diagnostic are available on my website, and I’ve linked them in the show notes.
Because this is not about rebranding administrative work as strategic.
It’s about being honest about where performance leverage actually sits.
Operational excellence will always matter.
But it is the baseline.
The differentiator is judgement. Sequencing. Context. Alignment. The ability to see consequences and integrate competing pressures deliberately.
That’s what strengthens executive effectiveness.
And that’s what should be measured.
If the profession is serious about its future, this is one of the conversations that has to evolve.
Not emotionally.
Structurally.
