The Corporate PA Summit program is designed to deliver content that is cutting-edge, highly beneficial, easily transferable, empowering and inspirational. It’s designed specifically to help you fulfil your potential and be the best you can be.
8.30 – REGISTRATION AND WELCOME COFFEE
9.00 – OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR – CARMEN BRAIDWOOD
KEYNOTE ADDRESS:INSPIRATIONAL KEYNOTE ADDRESS: BE THE MASTER OF YOUR CAREER
Anh Do – multiple award-winning author, artist (winner of the 2017 Archibald Price People’s Choice Award), comedian, actor, producer and creator of the ABC series, ‘Anh Do’s Brush with Fame’
Anh’s personal philosophy – his father’s favourite Vietnamese saying – is “There’s only two times in life – now and too late”. A Vietnamese refugee arriving in Australia in 1980, on a treacherous boat journey involving pirate attacks and death, Anh has since grabbed life by the horns, seizing opportunities to really make the most of his talents and abilities, forging a life full of incredible positivity and potential and here he’ll share his insights and experiences and how you too can forge ahead and create a meaningful career and life for yourself:
- Adapting your career path and developing the confidence to reinvent yourself
- Recognising, finding and making the most of opportunities
- Courageous leadership – taking charge of projects, teams and conversations
- Building meaningful, positive and productive relationships with others
- Dealing with bullies and difficult personalities
- Developing a positive mindset for when adversity strikes
- Recommendations for when you feel stuck in a rut and life lacks meaning
- Bringing humour and happiness to your life and those around you
HOW GOOD COMMUNICATIONS CAN SOLVE ANY PROBLEM … WELL, JUST ABOUT ANY PROBLEM!
Dixie Marshall walked away from a glamorous 27-year career as a senior television newsreader and journalist, to enter the brutal contact sport of politics. As Strategic Communications Director for the Premier of Western Australia, she fundamentally changed the way a state government delivered its stories, and insisted the significance of communications was elevated to the cabinet table. How stories are told, and where they are told have changed markedly over her career, but what remains constant is that good communications are vital, probably more so today than ever. In this session, Dixie will share with you her expertise on how to employ optimum communication strategies to achieve what you need to get done, and overcome (and even prevent) obstacles along the way:
- Opening up and keeping the lines of communication open with those around you
- The latest communication channels and technologies available and how to best use them
- Matching the best communication channel to the message you want to send
- What to do when faced with a non-communicative colleague
- Communications strategies to rally people into action
- The language to use – and to avoid – to create compelling and engaging messages
- How to speak to be heard
10:45 – MORNING COFFEE
EA CASE STUDY: BE A GATEWAY, NOT A GATEKEEPER, AND OTHER LESSONS FROM THE FRONT ROW
Peggy Grande – Former Executive Assistant to President Ronald Reagan
With a decade of experience working as the Executive Assistant to President Ronald Reagan in his post-presidency office, Peggy Grande has served at the highest level of the EA profession. She knows what it takes to not just survive – but thrive. She will share stories and insights learned directly from her ten years working alongside a global icon and discuss the importance of developing an executive presence and a leadership mindset, regardless of your title or role. As a mother of four, Peggy knows firsthand the challenges of juggling personal and professional life and will reframe the myth of work/life balance in a new and positive way. She approaches the EA role from a fresh and inspiring point of view which will challenge you, motivate you and give you renewed perspective and enthusiasm for your job. She will talk about:
- The importance of both the mechanics and the mindset of the EA role in order to be truly successful
- The vital difference between establishing a partnership vs. becoming a partner
- Seeing yourself as a leader and setting the pace and the tone for your workplace
- Prioritizing People amidst productivity, ensuring relationships remain intact
- Learn to Lead, Live and Leave the Lasting Legacy of your own choosing
- What’s next for the future of the EA/PA profession – where the role is headed and how to get there
BUSTING STRESS AND BOOSTING WELLBEING
Dr Adrian Medhurst – Optimal Performance and Wellness Expert
Many people are experiencing immense pressure in work and life these days, and this is noticeably so in the EA/PA industry. We are stressing, rushing and juggling in a wild attempt to prioritise overcommitted schedules and get everything done. It’s no wonder our happiness, wellness and productivity levels are being affected. Avoidable job stress and poor mental health have proven to contribute to a significant reduction in lifespan. So how to tackle stress? Dr Adrian Medhurst has worked with many corporate and government organisations (Medibank, CBA, Qantas, Fairfax, SBS, BP to name just a few). Here he will share with you his fresh practical, insightful and scientific approach to how you can combat stress and cope under pressure to help you perform at your best both personally and professionally – and help encourage and support your manager and other colleagues to do so along the way:
- Mastery: a framework for modern life to help you boost your performance and wellbeing
- Mindset: proven strategies for developing resilience and a growth-mindset
- Meaning: creating meaningful progress – becoming more creative, adaptive and productive
- Mindfulness: the statistics and science around mindfulness, and practical, science-based ways in which you can build mindfulness into your professional and personal environments
- Rest: getting good rest and relaxation, creating healthy sleep habits, and managing fatigue
12:45 – LUNCH BREAK
BEING THE BEST YOU – PERSONAL BRANDING AND HIGH-POWER COMMUNICATING
Lisa O’Neill – International speaker, author and motivator and highlight of the 2017 NZ Corporate PA Summit
Lisa O’Neill (highest-rated presenter at the Corporate PA Summits Auckland 2017) is an inspirational speaker, and an expert in personal branding and professional empowerment. Learn practical tools and advice from Lisa on how to be your own brand ambassador, and how to present your best self in your business, and in life.
- Authenticity, knowing who you are and having the confidence to be yourself and feel great
- Creating a brand and image that sells what you do and who you are
- Creating high energy in yourself and in those around you
- Lifting your standards with energy, excellence and enthusiasm
- Boosting your feeling of confidence, self-worth and valuing yourself and your career
- Tips for presenting yourself as a polished person
INSPIRATIONAL KEYNOTE ADDRESS: 10 SECONDS OF COURAGE
Nadine Champion – martial arts Sensei (teacher), author and entrepreneur
Champion by name and nature, martial arts expert Nadine Champion is a master of courage, resilience and developing the inner strength to face fear and adversity head-on. She presents globally to audiences such as Facebook and Telstra and today she will share her motivational and inspirational lessons and their relevance to each and every EA and PA, both professionally and personally:
- Developing inner strength, determination, resilience, confidence and courage
- Challenging your thinking and reactions around fear – changing your mindset to succeed
- Summoning up the courage to step outside your comfort zone and tackle challenging situations head-on – using your 10 Seconds of Courage to really experience bravery
- Dealing with nerves, adrenaline and fear
- What does it take to communicate courageously with people? Finding your voice.
- Getting to know yourself on a deeper level and living up to your values and ideals
- Creating more opportunities to be brave
15:15 – AFTERNOON TEA
BRINGING YOUR BEST SELF TO YOUR ROLE, EVERYDAY
Corrine Smirk – Personal Assistant to the General Manager, Services & Engineering WA, Lendlease
- Gaining and cultivating trust and respect with your executive, and creating a relationship that works for you both
- Tips for ‘managing your manager’ and tackling difficult conversations that you’d rather avoid
- Facing challenges head on, and creatively finding solutions, when other might not persevere
- Speaking up and putting your ideas across with confidence
- Coping with adversity at home, and at work, and becoming stronger for it
- Reading body language, and using this to your advantage in any situation
- Negotiating, developing and enhancing your career
- Providing support, and being the best you can be, in any situation
16:15 SPONSOR PRIZE DRAW
LESSONS IN SELF-CARE, FROM A HEART SURGEON’S QUEST FOR HER OWN HEALTH
Dr Nikki Stamp – Cardiothoracic Surgeon and author
As a Cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Nikki Stamp is no stranger to working under pressure and she is a strong advocate for the importance of self-care and work-life balance, and runs a series of podcasts which include discussions on this very topic. In this session she will give her key insights and a welcome dose of honesty around health and the ways in which we can look after ourselves, and how these can be applied to the everyday role of the modern EA:
- How to look after yourself so you can take your best self to work
- Coping with the demands of work + home, whilst still finding time to nurture your wellbeing
- How to prioritise and still get your work done without putting yourself at the bottom of the list
- When and how to ask for help when you need it
- The simple things that could be sabotaging your health
- Expert tips on fitness and nutrition from the heart surgeon herself!