Your Influence Changes Everything (1)

You're a Force Multiplier

AuthorAuthor

Catherine Heiter & Wendy Ganey
October 13, 2026

What you do matters.

We honor the everyday impact of executive assistants.

One Reminder of Your Impact.

This series reflects a truth you already live.
It may be invisible.
But it changes everything.

Stay Sharp - Stay Intentional - Stay Indispensable.

A Moment of Context

Because every story begins in a real moment you already recognize.

Your exec has three overlapping meetings, a board deck due in two hours, and a travel itinerary that just fell apart because of a canceled flight.

Nobody told you to fix it. But you already are.

You're not just rearranging a calendar — you're absorbing chaos so three other departments can keep moving without ever feeling the turbulence. By 10am, nobody even remembers there was a problem.

That's the stone in the river. The current didn't stop. It just found its rhythm — because you were there.

Resource Spotlight

10 Questions to Ask Your Leader to Help Prioritize and Execute Projects by Hallie Warner - It emphasizes that understanding how a leader thinks and makes decisions is key to being an effective "Force Multiplier." It’s designed to help assistants learn their leader's decision-making patterns — so they can anticipate needs and provide better support in the future.

The Leader Assistant Podcast by Jeremy Burrows → Built specifically for executive and administrative assistants. Regularly features real EAs discussing trust, alignment, and influence without authority — directly in our world, not adjacent to it.

The Founder & The Force Multiplier Podcast with Hallie Warner - Executive Assistant or Assistant Executive → This specific episode discusses the evolution of the Executive Assistant role and the paradigm shift that has taken place in recent years.

Learn how to build trust with your leaders, develop executive presence, and ask the right questions to force multiply your leader's 20%. We also explore the concept of being an impact player and how adopting this mindset can propel your career forward.

Listen in and discover how you can command your seat at the table and become an invaluable Force Multiplier.

From One EA to Another

The Trust Audit

Once a quarter, ask yourself:

  • Which stakeholders come to me before a crisis, not just during one?

  • Where am I still being looped in late?

The gap between those two answers is your next trust-building opportunity. Force multipliers aren't made by doing more — they're made by becoming the person people align around before things go wrong.

Worth Watching

"Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe" — Simon Sinek

11 Minutes 45 seconds

Not about leadership titles. About how trust and safety — not authority — are what actually make teams move fast together. Replace "leader" with "EA" while you watch it. It still works.
→ Watch it Here 

What all this says about the EA Effect

The EA Effect isn't about visibility. It's about velocity.

When you're trusted, meetings happen faster, decisions move quicker, and friction disappears before anyone notices it was there. You're not in the spotlight — you're in the current, shaping how fast everything flows.

Why The EA Effect Matters

Because businesses don't slow down from lack of effort — they slow down from misalignment.

Every time you catch a conflict before it happens, translate between departments, or quietly keep three moving parts in sync — you're not doing "support work." You're removing the friction that would otherwise cost the business hours, trust, and momentum.

The effect is invisible. The impact is not.

This Week's EA Effect in Action

Your Challenge:

Identify one relationship this week where trust is thin — a stakeholder who routes around you, a team that loops you in last.

Take one small, consistent action to close that gap. Follow up proactively. Share context before they ask.

Small ripple. Big current, eventually.

Now on to other stuff

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman → Literally built around the concept of force multipliers in leadership.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell → Classic exploration of how small actions create outsized ripple effects.

The Dream Desk

It's not a desk for grinding. It's a desk for thinking clearly, writing slowly, and remembering what matters. The kind of space where your shoulders drop two inches the second you sit down.

Ahhh. 😌 Exactly.

Where's your dream office this week?

Reply to this email with your idea or your own image.

Ambient Luxuries

Your desk might be covered in to-dos, but your mind? That deserves a view. Each week, we’ll drop a dreamy background and soundtrack to help you through the day like the behind-the-scenes wizard you are. Headphones in, magic on.
Note: These links are publicly available and not affiliated with us just something we love and want to share.

The EA Effect is not just a newsletter.
It's a weekly reminder of your influence.

If you’re curious to explore other issues on influence, prioritization, emotional intelligence, and leading without a title you’ll find them all on the website.

Browse when you have a moment.
We’re glad you’re here!

TheEAEffect.com  ·  See you next week.

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