Key Takeaways
- • Expanded bandwidth, not task delegation, is the real value of a strong Executive Assistant: the assistant does more with the same time and energy and acts as an extension of the executive, representing their interests as they would themselves.
- • A consistent weekly rhythm, including a 30-minute Monday kickoff and an at-least-two-hour working session, keeps shared priorities aligned and surfaces stuck work before small issues grow.
- • Strengths that emerge beyond the original job description should be developed deliberately and jointly, with the assistant's own interest and capacity considered, rather than handled by simply adding work.
- • Delegating decisions requires sharing reasoning and defining authority, with clear boundaries on what the assistant decides independently, what is discussed jointly, and what returns to the executive.
- • Protecting the assistant's capacity matters as the role grows; before adding a responsibility, the executive should ask what it will displace.
Summary
In a leadership essay, Rhythm Systems executive Jaimie Petrie's employer-side counterpart describes building a strategic partnership with his Executive Assistant, Jaimie Petrie, whom he hired five years ago with the goal of expanding his bandwidth. Petrie relocated from New York City's hospitality sector to Charlotte for the role. She began by managing his schedule and now helps develop his ideas, builds his personal brand, runs the company podcast, and plays an active role in advancing the leadership team. The author distinguishes between delegation, where work is done in someone else's style, and ambassadorship, where the assistant acts as an extension of the executive, as he would himself.
The partnership rests on a structured weekly rhythm: a 30-minute Monday kickoff to align on top priorities, and a working session of at least two hours for strategic initiatives, brainstorming and problem-solving. The author presents this consistency as the model his firm applies to leadership teams through its Weekly Adjustment Meetings.
The essay also emphasizes developing the assistant's strengths. Petrie's hospitality background gave her skills in organization and anticipating needs, and her role has grown to include marketing, relationship-building and business development. The author argues such development should be designed jointly and should not simply accumulate additional work. He also stresses psychological safety: the assistant should be able to challenge the executive, and the executive must respond to pushback without defensiveness. Using a Culture Book example, he describes Petrie questioning a long-standing tradition, which he accepted.
Finally, the author advises sharing reasoning, not just tasks, and clearly defining decision authority in three categories: decide and inform, discuss first, and escalate. He suggests a test: whether the assistant could confidently make decisions if the executive were unreachable for a day.
The partnership rests on a structured weekly rhythm: a 30-minute Monday kickoff to align on top priorities, and a working session of at least two hours for strategic initiatives, brainstorming and problem-solving. The author presents this consistency as the model his firm applies to leadership teams through its Weekly Adjustment Meetings.
The essay also emphasizes developing the assistant's strengths. Petrie's hospitality background gave her skills in organization and anticipating needs, and her role has grown to include marketing, relationship-building and business development. The author argues such development should be designed jointly and should not simply accumulate additional work. He also stresses psychological safety: the assistant should be able to challenge the executive, and the executive must respond to pushback without defensiveness. Using a Culture Book example, he describes Petrie questioning a long-standing tradition, which he accepted.
Finally, the author advises sharing reasoning, not just tasks, and clearly defining decision authority in three categories: decide and inform, discuss first, and escalate. He suggests a test: whether the assistant could confidently make decisions if the executive were unreachable for a day.
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