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The Definitive Personal Assistant & Secretarial Handbook
Book

The Definitive Personal Assistant & Secretarial Handbook

A Best Practice Guide for All Secretaries, PAs, Office Managers and Executive Assistants

Sue France
Kogan Page, 2015
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Recommendation

Personal assistant expert Sue France teaches you how to resolve many challenging office situations with a filing cabinet full of frameworks, tools and tips to help you become the office professional you want to be: valuable, confident and calm. While “telephone etiquette” and “tone of voice” are part of your success, France focuses on bigger picture topics and explains how your brain functions. She provides ways to cope with office politics, deal with various issues and master social media. getAbstract recommends her essential text to office professionals and neuroscience enthusiasts who want to excel.

Summary

Maximize Your Brain

Office professionals work with many different people, each of whom have their preferred way of doing things. To understand them – and yourself – it’s useful to learn more about how the brain functions. Neuroscience can help you comprehend and handle challenging situations. Apply the steps of the “U-SOFAR technique” to enable more conscious decision making and calmer, more controlled reactions:

  • “Understand” – Consider your thoughts and feelings. Notice negative emotions and acknowledge that your brain has “neuroplasticity,” which means you can unlearn unwanted behavior as you once learned it.
  • “Stop” – Slow down before doing or saying what you normally would. Break your “habit loop” by approaching daunting situations in new ways.
  • “Observe” – Take a break and look around. Assess the entire situation. Create some distance from the immediate circumstances and open your mind to notice more detail.
  • “Focus” – Pay attention to the present moment. Let go of the “chatter” in your mind.
  • “Ask” – What outcomes do you want? Or, ask yourself what your best friend would advise you to do in this...

About the Author

Sue France is an executive personal assistant and trainer.

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