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Executive Assistant Network (EAN) https://www.payaafrica.org/

Personal Assistant of the Year Award™- Africa (PAYA) was launched in 2007. It is hosted yearly.

We appreciate and recognise EXCEPTIONAL, EXTRA-ORDINARY and EXCELLENT EXECUTIVE and PERSONAL ASSISTANTS. Linking the Executive/Personal Assistants

14/10/2026

THE FIRST HOUR AFTER A MISTAKE

On Monday, we shared the day Alfred Kilasi carried the wrong papers to an event.

His story tells us what he learned.

It leaves a question many PAs carry quietly.

What do you do in the first hour after a mistake?

The speech is mixed up. The room has seen it. Your executive is looking at you.

Here is what tends to separate the professionals executives keep trusting:

They say it first.

Before someone else does.

They keep it short. “I did this. This is what happened as a result.”

The long explanation of why can wait.

They arrive with a fix.

Not only “I’m sorry.” What they’ve already done, and what they propose next.

And once things are calm, they say what will change.

Because executives rarely forget the mistake.

They remember what happened next.

If the reprimand was public, ask for a private conversation once everyone has calmed down.

That conversation is where trust gets repaired.

What would be your first sentence to your executive after a mistake?

12/10/2026

HE WAS IN A HURRY. HE CARRIED THE WRONG PAPERS.

Alfred Kilasi served eight ministers as a Personal Assistant.

One of his most memorable experiences from those years is not a trophy moment.

It is the day he embarrassed his boss in public.

The Minister was presiding at an event.

Alfred was rushing to get there.

In the rush, he picked up the wrong papers as part of the speech.

The speech was mixed up.

The reprimand came in public.

He was lucky to survive it.

“I was in a hurry,” he says.

What he took from that day:

Be keen in whatever you are doing.

Always plan ahead to beat deadlines.

Look at where the mistake actually started.

The consequence landed in public.

The cause was private. It was the rush.

Alfred describes a PA as being a heartbeat away from real power.

That is why small preparation habits carry more weight than they appear to.

Executive confidence is built on mornings like this one.

The ones you prepare for before the pressure arrives.

What do you check before you leave for any event with your executive?

Share it below. Someone reading may need your answer.

Alfred shared this in a PAYA Game Changers interview, as the PAYA 2015 2nd Runner-Up.

There is more to his story. We’ll share it in the weeks ahead.

09/10/2026

The Exceptional Professional Is Not the Busiest Person in the Room

We often celebrate the person who is always busy.

Always available.

Always responding.

Always fixing something.

Always saying:

“I’ll handle it.”

But busyness can hide something important:

activity is not the same as impact.

An exceptional professional knows when to:

Automate what should not consume human attention.

Delegate what others can own.

Simplify what has become unnecessarily complicated.

Anticipate what is likely to become urgent.

Prioritise what actually matters.

Escalate what requires a decision.

And focus their own attention where human judgment creates the greatest value.

This is where AI becomes particularly important.

If AI can help you draft, summarise, organise, analyse or retrieve information faster, the question is no longer:

“How much work can I get through?”

The better question becomes:

“What higher-value work can I now contribute to?”

That is one of the defining differences between high activity and high contribution.

The exceptional professional is not necessarily the busiest person in the room.

They may be the person creating the most value with the attention they have.

Friday reflection:

What are you still spending your time on that technology, systems or delegation could help you handle differently?

07/10/2026

Exceptional Professionals Make Their Executives Better

One of the clearest signs of exceptional administrative leadership is something people often overlook:

The executive becomes more effective because you are there.

Not because you make every decision for them.

Not because you take over their work.

But because you improve the quality of what reaches them.

You might:

• identify the meeting that no longer needs to happen
• flag a conflict before it becomes a problem
• summarise a long document around the decisions that matter
• notice that an important stakeholder has been left out
• prepare information before it is requested
• use AI to reduce hours of routine information processing
• remind the executive of a commitment that could otherwise be missed

None of these necessarily appear in a job description.

But they change the quality of executive decision-making.

That is the difference between being administrative support and becoming an executive partner.

The exceptional professional does not simply ask:

“What do you need me to do?”

They increasingly think:

“What would help you perform better?”

That is a leadership question.

And it can be asked without having the title.

Question:

What is one thing you do that makes your executive more effective?

05/10/2026

Exceptional Is Not About Doing Everything Perfectly

There is a difference between being excellent at your job and being exceptional in your profession.

Excellent professionals can be highly reliable.

They meet deadlines.

They produce quality work.

They respond quickly.

They keep things moving.

But exceptional professionals go further.

They notice when a process is no longer working.

They anticipate what the executive will need before being asked.

They connect information that others see separately.

They raise an issue before it becomes a problem.

They use technology and AI to create capacity for higher-value work.

And they make the people around them more effective.

That is a different level of contribution.

Excellence asks:

“How well did I do the work?”

Exceptional contribution asks:

“What difference did my work make?”

That distinction matters because leadership advancement is rarely about becoming the person who does the most.

It is about becoming the person whose judgment, initiative and contribution create greater organisational value.

Exceptional is not perfection.

It is the ability to consistently see beyond the task.

Reflection:

What is one thing you currently do that creates value beyond your formal job description?

02/10/2026

What Makes Someone Exceptional?

We have spent the past several weeks exploring what it takes to move beyond excellent ex*****on.

We've talked about:

Improving the work.

Interpreting information.

Anticipating needs.

Thinking strategically.

Influencing outcomes.

Using AI to create capacity for higher-value contribution.

But there is another question worth asking:

What happens when these behaviours become consistent?

You become someone people trust with complexity.

Someone who sees around corners.

Someone who improves systems.

Someone who contributes judgment.

Someone who makes the people around them more effective.

That is more than being good at a job.

It is a different level of professional contribution.

And as we enter October, we're going to explore that distinction more closely.

Because there is a difference between being excellent at your role and becoming exceptional in your profession.

What do you think separates the two?

30/09/2026

Exceptional Professionals Notice What Others Miss

There is a difference between being responsive and being perceptive.

A responsive professional answers the request.

A perceptive professional notices what sits behind the request.

An executive asks for a meeting.

You notice three competing priorities around it.

A report is requested.

You notice that the same issue has appeared in several previous reports.

A deadline changes.

You notice that another team will now be affected.

A colleague asks for help.

You notice a capability gap that keeps creating the same problem.

This is where professional judgment begins to show.

And AI can help.

It can organise information.

Identify patterns.

Summarise documents.

Surface connections.

But someone still has to ask:

"Why does this matter?"

That's where human judgment becomes valuable.

Exceptional professionals don't necessarily know everything.

They notice more.

What is something you've noticed recently that others may have overlooked?

Two ways to describe the same quarter:"I handled all executive travel.""I returned 11 hours of executive time last quart...
29/09/2026

Two ways to describe the same quarter:

"I handled all executive travel."

"I returned 11 hours of executive time last quarter."

Same work. Very different reception.

The first describes effort. The second describes consequence. Effort is what your manager sees. Consequence is what a promotion panel can repeat when you are not in the room.

Many excellent administrative professionals still report in the first language, because no one ever told them the panel listens for the second.

Think back to your last quarterly update. Which sentence did you write?

In the September edition of The GameChanger Assistant, we set out the three standards that turn quiet excellence into evidence a panel can weigh. Read it here: link in the comments.

28/09/2026

Being Strategic Is Not About Doing More

There is a misconception about becoming a strategic professional.

That you need to take on more.

More meetings.

More projects.

More responsibilities.

More work.

But strategic contribution isn't necessarily about doing more.

It is about thinking differently about the work you already do.

A calendar is not just a calendar.

It can reveal priorities, competing demands and decision bottlenecks.

A meeting is not just a meeting.

It can reveal where alignment is missing.

A report is not just a report.

It can reveal patterns, risks and decisions that need attention.

An administrative professional who sees only the task completes the task.

One who sees the organisational context can improve the outcome.

Strategic thinking doesn't always require a bigger role.

Sometimes it requires a bigger view of the role you already have.

What part of your current work could you understand more strategically?

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