#379: Executive Office Insights Spotlight - A Conversation with Bilingual EA Paula Moio and Her Executive

Tune into this special episode featuring a rare dual interview between Diana Brandl, award-winning executive assistant Paula Moio and her executive, Louis. Discover the powerful synergy of their four-year working relationship, built on radical trust, open dialogue, and Louis' strong belief that "assistants must be leaders." 

They share how emotional intelligence and cultural adaptation are critical in modern administration, and why future EAs must continuously add value beyond routine tasks to lead the profession. 

Don't miss this inspiring conversation on leadership, trust, and the human side of the evolving executive office.

Show notes -> leaderassistant.com/379 

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Transcript

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00  
Hey friends, thanks for tuning in to the Leader Assistant Podcast. I'm excited to share another spotlight episode of my friend Diana Brandl's show, Executive Office Insights. Be sure to check out the show notes for more information about her show and today's featured guest. But in the meantime, enjoy this conversation and keep leading well.

00:00:28  
The Leader Assistant podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.

00:00:43  
Thanks again for tuning in. Check out the show notes for this episode at leaderassistant.com/379.

00:00:50  
Hello everybody and I'm very excited to share my next English episode with you. It is an interview I did back in December 2019 when I was over in the UK. I was speaking at a conference in London and London is not only one of my favorite cities in the world, it is also a wonderful place where I meet friends and members of my community. So I always try to make extra room in my agenda when I'm over. And one of those people who's always on this list of meeting is Paula Moio. Paula is currently working as an executive assistant for the CEO and managing director of Time Family Office in London. She has a long history working for the BBC and she calls herself a self-made, future-focused professional who truly embraces passion, advocating for a change of perceptions and the recognition of the PAEA role.

00:01:49  
She's a gifted mentor, she's an award-winning assistant and she has a lot of stories she's going to share with us in the interview. And what I enjoyed so much is the fact that I did not only get to interview Paula, she also invited her executive Louis to the conversation. So I'm very happy to share this very special episode with you as I was sitting there with two incredible leaders of their profession, seeing how much they value each other.

00:02:19  
And I'm hoping you enjoy the interview as much as I did when I was sitting with them in the room.

00:02:26  
Please enjoy and make sure you leave us a comment and a review. So tune in everyone.

00:02:38  
So here we are, Paula and I. Good morning. Good morning, Diana. We are in the heart of London. I'm actually sitting in Paula's office.

00:02:47  
I've heard a lot about it, and now I'm here with her. It's wonderful to see her in action, and I'm very happy that she really has time for me today to meet in this pre-Christmas time in London. A present. Thank you. So who's Paula Moio? Wow.

00:03:08  
So I am an EA executive assistant with a passion to serve and share I have 34 years of experience in the admin profession so sharing the wisdom good or bad of this length of experience it seems worth it I am also a mother of of two beautiful young women. Oh, yes, I can absolutely confirm this. I met both of them. Who are themselves trailblazing in their own lines.

00:03:42  
And as an individual, I would like to believe that I thrive on principles of integrity and excellence, but not perfection, because that's what makes me a human being. And I'm okay with that.

00:03:58  
Very good.

00:03:59  
So you are Angolan by birth and heart. Tell me about the love of your mother country.

00:04:08  
Angola is, as we say it, as we Angolans say it, Angola is in my heart.

00:04:15  
And I believe that every immigrant has its own country in their hearts. But

00:04:27  
I never left Angola because I wanted. I left Angola because I had to. I had two babies then. They were nine months old. They were twins, my girls. And I needed a safer place. and more stable country to raise them.

00:04:46  
But it was very hard for me to leave my country. I left, you need to know, I left my country with seven cars behind me taking me to the airport.

00:04:58  
Friends and family. And it was very hard to leave them.

00:05:03  
When I moved into England, I wrote about this. Saturdays were very difficult because it was when we had the family and friends, we spent time together.

00:05:19  
i would not acknowledge a saturday and when i did i would cry and weep because um i missed all of it um so angola is something that is there in my heart and three years ago i had the opportunity to go back and give back and paying it forward and i tell you diana I did not blink. I was at my busiest time professionally. I did not blink. And I took it as an opportunity to exactly make the connection. And I'm still doing it now.

00:05:56  
And that's amazing. And a lot of people have been following your journey, especially with the Ungolden project. So tell us more about this project that you have been supporting since 2016. How did this all start?

00:06:08  
It's amazing.

00:06:11  
My friends know that I'm an assistant. Every time they come, they see me doing something. And one of them came and I was preparing a speech to the launch of an association.

00:06:23  
By then I was doing a short course in management for assistants.

00:06:29  
And they asked me to come and do a speech for the relaunch of the association. So I very happily did.

00:06:38  
So when my friend came, I asked him to read the speech and he was in awe. And so all of them go back and say, she's an amazing assistant. She's this and that and that. So there was one person who...

00:06:58  
runs the the an Academy professional development and she heard about me and she said look I'm I was asked to design a course for assistance I know nothing about it I heard you you you do very well in your job can you help me I would love to run a two-day a seminar and

00:07:27  
And could could you help us and I said look I've just started a new job. Yes after 15 years I mean, this is a completely the timing is couldn't be you know, oh it all came together. Absolutely I said I need three months to think about the idea to conceive it in my head and if it goes well in my head I'm sure I will be able to To to to perform it, right? this was March 2016 and

00:07:56  
And in June, I sat down, I wrote the program, sent it to her, and I said, are you happy with this? What do you think? And not only the program, I did the proposal as well and why we were doing it. But I think it's all to do with the community service that we all do. You do. I do. Lucy does. I mean, everyone does. In our own corners. And of course, we absorb a lot from each other. It's true. Yes. We learn a lot from each other. And, of course, I was able to put something together because I've seen, I've observed, and I was kind of regurgitating what we learn at our conferences. Yes. And that's how it all started, never to look back again.

00:08:39  
Wow. It's an amazing story. And I remember we were talking about, you mentioned Lucy and I think it was an interview you did with Lucy where you said actually that the role of the assistant is in your skin and in your pores. So how did you become an assistant and how did you become so committed for this profession that you go so many extra miles?

00:09:02  
I think it's what Louis said, it's second nature and it's the love to serve and to provide solutions and doing it with excellence as well.

00:09:19  
In my first job though, and this was in Angola, I had an executive and a line manager. She was a woman and she was a very hard woman.

00:09:32  
fine professional and the very bone of who I am as a professional I owe it to her Wow I would have to say her name her name is Maria de Rosario so this is for you Maria and she would demand the best of me we started the both of us I was her assistant she would never stop working Wow and I Not that this is a healthy thing, but she would deliver, deliver, deliver. There was nothing about it but to deliver and to make sure that you do so with excellence. That comes from there. And I was 20.

00:10:18  
Wow. So this was a very inspiring moment for you working with such a great leader then.

00:10:23  
Totally.

00:10:24  
Wow.

00:10:24  
It made me who I am. I mean, she was the worst bosses in terms of demanding because I would type contracts from nine o'clock in the morning to midnight. Wow. Wow.

00:10:36  
and do not even get overtime. But I learned, I think the professional, the very fabric of the professional I am today, I owe it to Rosario.

00:10:48  
And I know that you have been working with other women in your career, so let's jump to the history you have with the BBC. Please share your special memories of this chapter of your professional life, Paola. At the BBC I had two women.

00:11:04  
The latter was the one who inspired me the most. She was a leader in her own right, a fine journalist and a human being above all, you know.

00:11:19  
And I think she led us during very scary moments for the journalists, which was when one of our colleagues was abducted by the Palestinian Army of Islam, Alan Johnston. And he was kept captive for 114 days. Wow.

00:11:41  
And she led us and also, of course, the BBC into a hundred, I think for a month, we would stay at lunchtime out protesting for him to be freed.

00:11:55  
It was scary, but he actually brought us together as colleagues and employees and as a journalist, the human rights and all of that.

00:12:08  
And it actually gave you a sense of belonging as well. So that was one of my most defining moments at the BBC. There was also under her leadership in 2008, we received eight, not just one, eight awards, Sony Awards. Wow.

00:12:34  
Eight. Eight, which is, I think it's the Oscars of the journalism. And so we got three gold, we got three silver and two bronze.

00:12:46  
So that was a huge party going on at the BBC. Totally, totally. And that shows the finesse of her leadership, I think.

00:12:54  
And I know you're still in touch with her, right?

00:12:57  
Yes, actually, we were just arranging a date for Christmas dinner and we're going next week. Very nice. Please give her my regards.

00:13:07  
I will. It's wonderful that you mentioned her.

00:13:09  
Yes, absolutely.

00:13:10  
I could not...

00:13:12  
Do it. So when we hear so much about all the wonderful projects in your life, how do you manage all of that? You are a committed mother.

00:13:21  
You are a great networker. You are a supporter on social media.

00:13:25  
So where is your work-life balance at the moment?

00:13:28  
I don't have, but I thrive on it.

00:13:31  
This is a 2020 goal for Paula?

00:13:35  
Well, I'm trying to as much as. So what I do, the compromise I did with myself is, yes, we work hard, but then we pause, we pause. not as much you know but i'm trying to find a balance there so when i pause i make sure i create memories with my family very good i go down completely i switch off and if i switch in it's just for fun Very good. And that is the balance.

00:14:06  
You need to teach me that. You know that I'm constantly online, so my work-life balance is also not the best.

00:14:13  
But I know you have big plans, of course, for 2020.

00:14:17  
And maybe you want to tell us a bit about the book you are currently writing. Is this something you can share with us already to get the audience a bit curious? Oh, it's a wonderful project.

00:14:28  
You know, I'm a firm believer that when you speak to the universe, the universe gives it back to you somehow.

00:14:36  
So in my last three months in 2018, I was thinking I want to go back to writing, but writing more. I love writing. It's just finding the headspace to do it. You know, you need to have that kind of space.

00:14:52  
And January I get a phone call from Marcella Brito saying that she's working in a project with three other women and it's a project of five. It's to write about the interculturality in our profession, how intercultural are we. how adaptable are we in a different environment and putting ourselves in other people's shoes.

00:15:24  
And this was, let me make a note here, this was a year that I took off the Angolan seminar to rest and to create space and to write and to kind of make a strategy about the Angolan project and whatnot. No, I get pulled right back in. And this is the book. The book will launch hopefully in the first semester of 2020. Okay.

00:15:55  
Is there a title already?

00:15:57  
We're trying to find a good title.

00:16:01  
We've got two options. I think it's heading towards one. I'm not going to tell you now. But it's about being intercultural. Very good. A multicultural mindset and making it abroad. So it's the story of five women.

00:16:18  
Let's give them a shout out. You mentioned Marcella already.

00:16:21  
Marcella Brito, Simone...

00:16:24  
It's Claudia and it's Natalie and myself.

00:16:28  
Fantastic. So five of us. Hi to everyone out there.

00:16:30  
I know.

00:16:31  
I'm sure you're going to hear the podcast. So big applause already to you, amazing woman out there.

00:16:37  
Absolutely. And they are.

00:16:39  
So Simone is in Chile. Claudia is in Japan.

00:16:43  
Natalie is in Madrid. I am in the UK. And Marcela is in Brazil. The particularity with Marcelle is that she's not an immigrant.

00:16:55  
We all are, and we're all talking about our experiences of being in another country, the adjustment, adapting to a different culture.

00:17:06  
And it's more not on the technical side of the profession, but on the human side. The challenges, the adversities, and how we all made sense in the end, because we're all five successful women.

00:17:22  
You are, and you can be proud of that. Thank you. And being proud means also to me sending you once again congratulations on...

00:17:30  
on winning the we are the city rising star award this year wow so what is that all about oh my god how important is this award for you and your work well it is important um we are the city um um it's a it's an award given to women that trailblazing in their own field yes it's this year we had 17 industries being being awarded different uh categories And my category was the EA and PA alongside with four other women.

00:18:07  
You get 10 shortlisted and then reduced to five winners.

00:18:12  
I have to say I was nominated twice. three times the third time lucky you got it and you deserve it my friend this award is I mean it's the icing on the cake because it's at the national level yes about six sixteen hundred people and it's for me it's it's not only just a recognition of what you do and what you give to people but it's also propels you

00:18:44  
uh and you reach and it also gives it to you the responsibility to do more actually it's not just getting an award it's to get in your word and do something and one of the things that i actually pledged because when they asked for further information on awards They asked me, if you win, what do you want to do?

00:19:07  
What is it? What does that mean for you? And I said, I would actually pledge to work on diversity and inclusion. Oh, that's a fantastic topic. In our profession. That is a wonderful topic. Because I don't think that our profession is representative of the very fabric that Britain represents, which is multicultural. And for some reason, we are all there. But for some reason, we're not showing up. Why does that happen? Why don't we have that multicultural representation in our profession that Britain is?

00:19:41  
Yes.

00:19:41  
That is my pledge.

00:19:42  
Fully agree. Wonderful. So what did Louis say when you presented him the award? What was the first thing he said?

00:19:48  
I texted him.

00:19:51  
He was on holidays, and I texted him saying, I got it. He was proud. He was so proud, yes.

00:19:58  
And we are all proud of you because you're a fantastic ambassador. You're always there for people. Thank you. I value our friendship a lot. Me too. And I thank you so much for this time, welcoming me here in the privacy of your office. And I remember when I came...

00:20:14  
I'm getting emotional now a bit.

00:20:17  
So when I approached you with this idea and you said, yes, of course, we do that. And guess what, Diana? It's not only me. I'm going to ask my manager if he wants to join us for this podcast. And this made it even more attractive, of course, for the audience out there because it shows a true partnership. And I've seen that, how you were sitting together, how you were interacting together. Yes.

00:20:40  
And this is really wonderful to see because it shows that there's so much out there for us assistants when we have the right leaders next to each other. They help us grow and they help us to deep dive into new fields. And it's a privilege doing this today with you. And I thank you so much once again for having me. Thank you so much, Diana.

00:21:01  
It's been a pleasure.

00:21:03  
Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye.

00:21:07  
Hello again and good morning. I'm still in London and actually now I'm sitting together with Paula and her manager, which is Louis. Good morning to you.

00:21:17  
very honored to be here today to actually have the chance to talk to you both because of course for our audience it will be a wonderful experience to listen to a manager and an assistant at the same time how they have a view over our wonderful profession to get a insight into our industry and talking again to another assistant who is not based in germany

00:21:39  
So welcome once again. I would love to raise my first question to both of you.

00:21:45  
After working for nearly five years together now, can you say that there's a certain routine in your working relationship? Maybe Paula, you want to start?

00:21:54  
It's four years actually.

00:21:55  
It's going to be four years in January.

00:21:57  
And there's no routine about my work relationship with Louis, who is my chairman. And it's a wonderful thing. Right now, we're settling. We're kind of settling into ways of working together.

00:22:19  
It's almost the synergy bit that we are, knowing we know now her. how the other one works and and the expectations we're managing the expectations now and it's I think it's working well for me was a shock for me to start working with a millennia my boss runs in adrenaline and I thought I was very busy in my previous job and I did not have a clue

00:22:55  
what busy was oh yeah I've been working with millennials too and it was an interesting experience for me as well when I was I came actually from a very traditional business and then I jumped in the world of working for a startup company in Berlin and the first weeks were I thought I have to leave this job and But it was so refreshing on the other side. So I totally understand what you mean. And I've never been busier in my life than in this role. So I can totally rely.

00:23:22  
Yes, absolutely. And the hardest thing for me was Louis comes from a different culture. We...

00:23:32  
In principle, we should have the same culture being Portuguese rooted, but we don't. I live in London for 24 years, and Luis just arrived to this country. So we have different cultures, different approaches to work. And that was the adjustment. And also fitting in or filling in the shoes of his assistant. He has an assistant in Brazil. He has different assistants.

00:24:00  
Four, wow. Luis is signing. And so it's filling in. He's expecting to a certain standard. I have a different standard. How do I fit in? How do I navigate those intricacies, you see? But I think it's working well.

00:24:16  
I think we both, with the wisdom and the willing to make it happen because after all, we provide a service to a family. This is a family office and therefore there's this will to serve and to present solutions and to present excellence and therefore this is our ultimate goal, both of us.

00:24:43  
Do you want to add something, Louis? What do you value the most about Paula's work?

00:24:47  
I think what Paula said, she's totally right, it's always a challenge when you have different cultures and habits and all those kinds of things.

00:24:57  
But one of the most important qualities in Paula is to be flexible and also she's really resilient and she knows first to listen then try to see how her skills, her talents can be improved in order to fulfill all her responsibilities. So it's not always, let's say,

00:25:23  
black or white, or that's it, no. It's fluid, every day is a different day. We don't have, thank God, routine. To be honest, I avoid routines. I don't like it, to be honest.

00:25:34  
The thing is, how can we adapt ourselves, even myself, to her way to do things, and her way to understand how our things should be done. So it's, to be honest, on a daily basis, every day we try to improve as much as possible. When one of the most important thing

00:25:52  
Bear in mind is to be transparent, have an open dialogue, in order to say something or to listen to something, and always trying to respect all differences or anything. So one of the key things for a good relation with the EA, PA, call it whatever you want, with the director, the manager, whatever you call it, is dialogue. Open and transparent relation. Otherwise it will never work. From both sides. Because sometimes my side could be acting somehow with adrenaline and speeding and blah, blah, blah. And without understanding or putting the shoes off the other side.

00:26:34  
After some period, the relation is terrible and you don't know why. And at the same time, the other side must be clear enough to say, sorry, it's not working.

00:26:45  
I can't understand. I need more information. And so and so. So the dialogue, the clear understanding is one of the key things. By the way, in all relations. It could be friends, it could be husband, it could be parents, it could be anything.

00:26:59  
Talking about dialogue, how often do you have a touch base?

00:27:01  
Quite often, believe me. No, no, really.

00:27:03  
And you travel a lot, so do you actually take a phone call or do you prefer any other communication channel with Paula?

00:27:12  
It could be WhatsApp, it could be fire, it could be video, it could be shouting, it could be fire sometimes, it could be anything.

00:27:20  
Very good.

00:27:22  
Well, we often talk in our profession about assistants being leaders. And some assistants still have a hard time taking ownership regarding, am I a leader? My manager is a leader. How can I be a leader as an assistant? But what would you say?

00:27:38  
Can assistants be leaders, Louis?

00:27:40  
They must be leaders. Otherwise, it doesn't work. One of the key things on my side is to delegate properly things.

00:27:46  
To delegate, you must have a good to rely on.

00:27:52  
You must give all the tools to this person to be able to perform whatever she must do. For example, Paula has the full powers to manage my account.

00:28:02  
Of course, it's the personal account, it's not the investment account. But then, in a good way, she has all the liberty to manage, to withdraw, to pay, whatever. Yes.

00:28:17  
Which is, come on, a big thing.

00:28:18  
Yes, it is.

00:28:20  
So this is thanks to her, not to me, to be honest.

00:28:23  
Yes. Thanks to her. Sorry. I was absolutely gut smacked when the bank manager writes an email, so this will give Paola all the powers. And he said, absolutely. I'm thinking, oh my goodness. It took me a week. I had to settle for a week and then sent him a one line and said, thank you for the trust because it's all about trust, isn't it? It is.

00:28:44  
There's a point. Yes. But if you wanted to give...

00:28:47  
the position as a leader, you're saying to anyone, you must give the proper tools. So I'll give you a small example, which are the responsibilities of someone like Paula. So if I want her to perform, to pay this, this, this, this, this, how she will do it. She can't come to me each time, it doesn't work.

00:29:06  
Absolutely, yes.

00:29:07  
Because I'm doing myself and I have my duties and so on. So one of the principles, the key things to do, you can rely, you can trust, give the proper tools, let the people work. So you give the proper instructions, that's why you must have a good relation and open dialogue to see, is it clear what I ask? Is it not?

00:29:30  
Tell me, because maybe I wasn't clear, maybe I was just speedy or whatever.

00:29:36  
So they must be leaders, otherwise it doesn't work. It doesn't work.

00:29:40  
Absolutely. So I heard that trust is very important for both of you in this role. How would you describe, Paula, the leadership style of Louis?

00:29:50  
It's open.

00:29:52  
And one of the things that really touched me the most is, as you know, I work on different projects outside work.

00:30:00  
And Louis came to me and said, do you know why do I support in everything that you do after work on your projects? Yes. Because I take time off work to do that. And it's quite stressful because it's two jobs or three sometimes at the same time.

00:30:17  
And he said, because I like to work with the person that is motivated and I can see that that does that to you. And, you know, you thrive. That's fantastic. So long as it doesn't, you know, overlap. Absolutely. The work that you do here, I will always support you. So that, for me, is leadership at its best. It's him expecting the best of me here, which he does. I believe me. He knows everything.

00:30:47  
Even if I forget, he will not. I never had a boss like that.

00:30:52  
And he knows. And sometimes he's saying, oh, I don't know. And I know that he actually knows. He's just trying to make me feel good about certain things.

00:31:01  
And he's absolutely clear about his instructions. He's absolutely clear about what he wants.

00:31:09  
the excellence of service that we provide here, not just for him, but for the family that we serve. And he's absolutely clear, Diana, about what he doesn't want. And I think the leadership that Louis does to me gives me the space to grow into my own leadership, into leading my role. And I think that that is beautiful. It is.

00:31:36  
One of the things that I learned from my...

00:31:41  
because I'm only 39 years old, but I started when I was 18, 19 years old to work, was to be surrounded by good people, people you can rely, people where you can share good or bad things. That's life.

00:31:56  
And also that you must give the tools and to explore, in a good sense, the talents of each one. We all have a talent. It could be anything. And how to explore it, how to bring this out.

00:32:10  
Because everyone, maybe, it's so common you see people in their 50s, 60s, discovering to do whatever they always were wishing to do, but they didn't have time. Which is sad. In my case, I like to give the people as much as possible the tools that they can explore themselves as soon as possible, in a good sense, of course.

00:32:29  
And to be honest, I've already lost a few good people because then they discover they want to do something else, which is fine. Thank God. Because people, if they intend to work at my side, it's not for me at my side, which is quite an important detail, is...

00:32:49  
please be happy be happy not gonna be happy on the stupid way in the sense that makes sense for you that this you see that yes you meet you you get it home okay I did a hard job it was a painful day but I'm happy because I like what I do yes I'm happy to wake up in the morning morning Monday morning it is raining it is cold but thank God I'm going to work and then so and so so

00:33:14  
Having said that, you must motivate people, you must give them the tools, and to bring out whatever they have inside. And if somehow people decide to do something else, which is fine, because they are following what? Their purpose in life. So I wanted to give people whatever they must have, in the good sense of the word, in order to get their purpose in life that's why i can perform my duties whatever because i i hope at least i try as much as possible to be surrounded by people that are following the purpose absolutely i'm sure that this motivates you as well so what inspires you uh in addition

00:33:52  
That's a very good question. It inspires me what I like to do. I like to serve. I have my clients, so I'm really satisfied when I can serve them above their expectations. If you ask me something, I would always do an extra thing. Why that? Because this little extra thing that makes the difference. Because when you do whatever you were told for, let's call it like this, it's quite obvious.

00:34:21  
So, you know, they're paying me for that specific thing.

00:34:26  
There's no magic on it. There's nothing on that. So go always a little bit beyond.

00:34:33  
If you ask me to come at 9 o'clock, I'll be here at 8.45. Yeah.

00:34:37  
It's a small thing. If you ask me, just a glass of water, I'll bring you a glass of water plus a little chocolate. Always a little surprise in a positive way or something else. So in this, then you start to do small things and you add a little bit more, then you get more connection, relation, and everything should be much more positive on the mid and long term. All relations are to the mid-long term, not short term. Short term doesn't make any sense. Nothing, to be honest. So when you look

00:35:07  
In the long term, then you can create solid connections with human people and communities, companies, whatever you have around you.

00:35:19  
And it's true because that's part of your brand and having a brand is important nowadays, especially when we talk about digitization and all the things that are happening with industry 4.0 out there.

00:35:30  
Speaking about inspiration, Paula is a well-respected industry ambassador and highly appreciated throughout the international network of office professionals.

00:35:39  
Are you aware, Louis, of all the wonderful projects she's doing outside of this role, such as her engagement for Angola?

00:35:48  
I'm more than aware because each time she has something, she has my full support. Could be to have more time to perform it, could be eventually something that I can sponsor, could be just sometimes have a chat about it. So I'm more than happy to support, to give a chat, to give an input or anything else.

00:36:06  
So quite often she asked me, I have some time for this, for this. I always say, please go for it. No worries.

00:36:14  
And sometimes ideas. I remember when we went to the World Administrator Summit, I got a round of applause because I told them what Louis thought about the admin of the future, the assistant of the future.

00:36:27  
This was a very special moment. I recorded the video, remember? I hope you saw it, Louis.

00:36:32  
I did, but I think one of the most important things is is the human part. Because you can have all the digital, technical, iPhones, I, I, I, this, I, that. The point is, human being will always be human being with emotions. You can have emotion. Okay, you can develop AI. Okay, forget. You can have feelings. You can have intuition.

00:36:56  
Intuition you can't explain. All you have, you don't have. There's a point. I don't even know how to explain it, to be honest. The point is, you must have people that just look in the eyes and say, okay, I got it. I'll do it.

00:37:08  
So, that's it.

00:37:10  
And that's a very interesting fact because actually I meet a lot of managers out there who say, well, let's see, maybe in a few years my job or the job of my assistant can be taken over by Alexa. or by Ziri, or by all the other digital assistants out there. So what is your view on this one? You said emotions are important, I'm sure emotional intelligence... I hate Alexa.

00:37:30  
Someone gave me, I gave to someone else. See? Why that? I don't want to have a digital voice in my house, in my office, in my whatever.

00:37:38  
You gave it to me actually.

00:37:39  
I gave it to you?

00:37:41  
Oh really? So you have an assistant, Paula. Oh well, that's interesting.

00:37:45  
I forgot, I completely forgot that.

00:37:48  
the point is i do that the thing was i don't want to have a digital thing to say thing at home or office whatever uh controlling my life yes but one of the key things in my life is privacy yes i know i say that we are no profile yes so i avoid all kind of expositions or whatever i don't

00:38:11  
This is part of my family culture, let's call it this. Yes. And having said that, this is to where all the data is going to, who is managing this, and I don't like it. So we already had too much iPhones and whatever controlling all this and that, which is already too much for me, to be honest. But having said that, I think the position has fallen all the years that I have in team leaders and so on.

00:38:38  
human being, connections, relations, intuition, see a little bit beyond, things that you can develop all the AI, whatever you call it, but you don't have the little thing on the human side.

00:38:54  
Exactly. Sensitivity, a wonderful word, and emotional intelligence, creativity. I'm sure Paula needs to be super creative every single day to perform this role.

00:39:03  
One of the most important things also I look for is emotional intelligence.

00:39:07  
Yes, yes.

00:39:08  
I have seen a lot of good people with MPAs, with masters, blah, blah, whatever you call it, name it, but with zero emotional intelligence. Then it doesn't work at all.

00:39:19  
See? Yeah.

00:39:21  
So let's look into the new year. 2020 is around the corner. So what are your working goals?

00:39:29  
You should have seen the sign of Louis, he was handing over to Paula, which is very generous.

00:39:35  
I am the chief, so I say this is going to happen. It's going to be a very busy year for me on the project side.

00:39:43  
Some of it Louis already knows, some of it it's coming, came this week and I'm trying to manage and to have a meeting with him to tell him what's going to happen. okay no one knows some things i cannot talk about yet okay but um in terms of work i think it's it's that moment that i um told you in the beginning it's the same synergy it's us fitting in together and then from now it's going to be magic that's the only thing i can tell you well magic sounds always good in my case all the goals are are to be more efficient

00:40:20  
always to find the balance between the personal life and the professional life. Because there's always something that I say to my friends is we have three, a man and a woman have always three times for the family, the couple, and yourself. So how to balance all the three things.

00:40:41  
Good luck is a chance for all of us.

00:40:42  
Yes.

00:40:43  
So always trying to find a proper balance about this.

00:40:46  
Yes.

00:40:46  
Also trying to find a proper balance between how can I learn more things. So I'd love to go to more conferences, short courses, whatever. I think this is quite important. You must always study even more. So to read more, to listen more, get more information. And I have my filters and I make my own analysis. Yes. So one of the key things I think in life is

00:41:10  
To be a good listener.

00:41:12  
Yes, I love that. And also be a continuous learner.

00:41:15  
That's why we have two ears and one mouth, as we say in Brazil. To listen more, to talk less. You see that as I talk a little bit. But the thing is, try to listen more to absorb information, to process it. So to answer your question, try to find always a proper balance between everything that I do, that I must perform,

00:41:36  
get more information, listen, study as much as possible, and be always efficient in all my duties.

00:41:45  
Very good. And I also love the way people work with mentors. I mean, Paul is a mentor for a lot of assistants out there, especially in Angola. Have you ever worked with a mentor, Louis?

00:41:54  
I have a mentor. Fantastic. I have quite a few, to be honest.

00:41:56  
Very good.

00:41:57  
So...

00:42:00  
It's been 15 years and I have a special coach in Brazil that I use sometimes depending on the cycle of the business or whatever. So I access him as much as possible. I have other people also that I can rely on and chat with. I can call mentors, I can call board members.

00:42:20  
Right.

00:42:20  
It depends on the name you put in it. There are several people that I can rely and to ask proper questions and to take notes and also take as an example. We must have people that we admire to take as a good example and chat and be close.

00:42:37   
Right.

00:42:37  
Not only virtual people. There are people who like to buy books about Bill Gates, whatever. This is great. Please do it. But you must be connected to those people. You must talk to them. You must be... Otherwise, it's just books. So the people that I can have a connection are people that I really know, have intimacy, and I can say any kind of things.

00:43:02  
And to receive the feedback, good or bad.

00:43:05  
Yes.

00:43:05  
Which is good.

00:43:06  
I love that.

00:43:07  
So to be honest, I like the negative part in a good sense, of course.

00:43:10  
The constructive one.

00:43:10  
The constructive way. You know, please challenge me.

00:43:13  
Exactly.

00:43:13  
Tell me you're wrong. Yes. Why I'm wrong? Because this and this and this. Okay, thank you for that. Yes. So this is important. It's a way to...

00:43:20  
Absolutely. I had this just yesterday when I was on stage here in London, when I was speaking, and there was a fellow German in the audience who came to me and he said, I really enjoyed your talk, but can I give you a recommendation? Can I give you some advice? And I love that exactly. I don't like when people are clapping on your shoulders and say, well, I love that. I love that. I need those who are brave enough to come up and say, hey.

00:43:44  
On the companies that I manage, the board members,

00:43:48  
The one of the things that I avoid the most, and I avoid the most of all of that, I avoid completely is the yes man. This is terrible. This destroys all values for anything. Could be destroy the company, destroy yourself, destroy your soul. So the thing is, how to have people that are positive people by the way, proactive,

00:44:10  
with a lot of substance, and they say, I like, I don't like, because of this.

00:44:14  
Exactly.

00:44:15  
And Lou, if you don't like, that's your problem. That's my position. So this is important.

00:44:19  
And this is why a sounding board is so important to have you around, because that's how we grow.

00:44:25  
And he actually listens, because sometimes I give him advice here and there, in a bunch of situations, and he actually goes and comes back and says, actually, we're right, Paola.

00:44:35   
Of course.

00:44:36  
And that, for me, it's so important.

00:44:40  
Working side to side.

00:44:42  
Yeah, it's always good to have a reflection. And this is why an assistant and a manager need to be good sparring partners to actually having this level of trust to be able to give that feedback in both ways.

00:44:53  
So let's look back into the time when you actually looked for your new assistant. So five years almost now.

00:45:04  
What was the picture in your head when you searched for an executive assistant?

00:45:08  
Someone that was mature, experienced, discreet, bilingual.

00:45:19  
What else? Flexible.

00:45:22  
Pretty much like this. Someone that, of course, had already worked with big companies or had performed with people with my profile. So it's pretty much like this.

00:45:34  
And I know that you went through a recruitment agency, and there was, I think, five interviews before you hired Paula.

00:45:43  
Yeah, maybe. There was something like this.

00:45:44  
And so what was the first instinct you had when you met her? Did you feel already that she is the one?

00:45:50  
He met me on my last one.

00:45:54  
The one before last, because the last one was just a negotiation. But Louis only participated on the last one, the penultimate interview.

00:46:06  
Yeah, my MD did all the first meetings and so on, and I stepped in on the last one.

00:46:15  
in order to be sure that this was reasonable or not. They were pulling someone else, I forgot the name.

00:46:21  
I think Portuguese also, no? I think so. No? And when I met Paula, I had a really good impression. It was someone discreet, really polite, and listening properly, and say, okay, no, I'm in. I think you said something in the sense that just give me time in order to understand, to absorb, everything as much as possible. It was something really peaceful, quiet, respectful.

00:46:50  
Was there any application coming in from a male assistant?

00:46:55  
What do you mean?

00:46:56  
A male assistant.

00:46:57  
For me?

00:46:58  
Yes.

00:46:59  
I have male or female, it doesn't matter. In Brazil, I have two years that are male.

00:47:05  
Good.

00:47:06  
So, male or female, for me, that's fine.

00:47:07  
Very good. Very good.

00:47:09  
Of course, at the beginning of Pola, I had to take care of my, maybe... You can't talk with women as you talk with men.

00:47:18  
Oh, yes.

00:47:19  
I agree.

00:47:21  
But after some time, at the end of the day, you can be more spontaneous. Let's say like this. Yes.

00:47:28  
On the good way, please.

00:47:30  
So we talked a bit about industry 4.0, the automation, the disruption coming to, sadly, a lot to our industry. KPMG just had to let 300 assistants go, which was horrible, horrible news we received in this industry. And we are rooting for our colleagues out there to find a good job. So a lot of these things are happening as a constant change in this profession.

00:47:54  
And there are many, many challenges out there who influence the future of work. And we've been talking about skills before. So what do you see and expect in the job description of a future assistant?

00:48:05  
I think one of the important things is always provide solutions. I see a lot of people that are not EA anymore, PA, whatever you call it,

00:48:17  
because they were just taking notes to book a restaurant, or to pay a bill, or things that doesn't bring any value, let's call it this. Because to book simple things, you have all the apps, Alexis, you know what I mean? And then you're not adding value. Exactly. You just have people working there, say, good morning, hi, Mr. Blah Blah, and where do you want to eat your steak? It doesn't make any sense. So you need people that you can give important tasks that add value to the company and to yourself. There's a point. But this also depends on my side to provide or to ask these kind of things.

00:49:04  
So, Paula, I don't know if I'm right, but

00:49:08  
I don't ask you much silly things, to be honest.

00:49:13  
Am I right? It's the responsibility that you have in managing a massive family and business. And of course, you feel that not only you have that responsibility, but you have the trust of your manager in handing it to you. So you don't just do the small bits. You do the big responsibilities. You have staff that you look after. You have... Just before coming in, I was organizing things with the driver and errands to be done at the residence. I come here, I talk to the bank, all sorts of things that I do and he doesn't need to worry about because he has a bigger job to do.

00:50:04  
Allow me to, it's not a bigger job. It's not big or small. We all have a job.

00:50:09  
And I need in order to perform my job to focus on it. But if I need to focus on my things, I need to delegate. So it's not big or small. I need to share my duties in order to be more efficient in what I must deliver. Right.

00:50:26  
He's being modest. But thank you, Louis.

00:50:29  
No, no, but really, this is important.

00:50:32  
We all have duties. Something big for me is smaller for you, which is big for me is smaller for you. That's fine. We always have our view on that. The thing is, and to get back to your question, is the EAs, PAs, whatever, must perform something that adds value.

00:50:48  
Yes.

00:50:49  
Not things that are, to be honest...

00:50:51  
Exactly. Day-to-day, they come on.

00:50:54  
We all can pick up the phone. Come on. We all can send a WhatsApp or whatever.

00:50:58  
Especially the millennial generation who's tech-savvy. They know how to do that. They know how to handle the apps indeed.

00:51:04  
I see all the traditional companies.

00:51:08  
They used to have two or three EAs buy it. by direct. This is nonsense. It's because people are more concerned to wear a tie than to do anything else. So take off your tie, put on your jeans and move in.

00:51:24  
Don't be so distant from reality, from the streets and from what people are really thinking and moving.

00:51:30  
And get surrounded by people that add value.

00:51:34  
I love this term. And I always, that's what I say in my seminars as well. What is your value proposition? And what impact do you have in your role? And here we are again. This is why assistants, especially the future assistants, are leaders. Yes. Right? Absolutely.

00:51:49  
So we're coming to an end.

00:51:51  
And of course, how can I not ask you to say something in Portuguese? Since I have the language specialist in front of me here. And we're going to have an international audience that is listening to the podcast. And my brother is married to a beautiful woman from Sao Paulo. And of course, the young golden girls will for sure also tune in to the podcast. So I would be very, very honored if we have a few words in Portuguese.

00:52:20  
Oh, what can I say? Muito obrigado.

00:52:23  
Foi um prazer estar aqui e partilhar a nossa experiência. Eu acredito que crescendo, olhando para o futuro, o papel de uma assistente é de facto de liderança e cabe-nos a nós abraçar isso e caminhar para o futuro com confiança.

00:52:46  
Do you understand Portuguese?

00:52:47  
No, certainly not.

00:52:48  
What did you say, Louis?

00:52:51  
I'll let you discover in the conference. Guys, thank you very much for your time. The position of assistants is very important and relevant for the professional director who is going to deliver what he promises to his clients. So, please, believe in the position of leadership of the assistants or of all the assistants. give them tools, study a lot, always remember to deliver above the expected, in a discreet, fast, efficient way, and always keep the dialogue open, frank and constructive. Thank you.

00:53:32  
Thank you so much. Now I have to get back to my sister-in-law and have it translated. But it sounded very, very nice. And I thank you both for taking the time on this morning here in London, especially Louis. I know you have a busy schedule.

00:53:46  
Sorry to interrupt, but everyone is busy. Yeah. All the time I see people say, oh, you're busy. No, I'm busy. You're busy. Everyone is busy.

00:53:53   
Yes, we are.

00:53:54  
So we all are busy. We all have a lot of stuff to do, even more in December, thanks to Santa Claus.

00:54:01  
And the thing is, the thing is not to be busy, to be efficient.

00:54:06  
Yes.

00:54:07  
And you have the tools in order to delegate, in order to perform properly, in order to do a little bit more that the clients, the family, the friend expected, to be honest.

00:54:19  
Yes. So let's have an efficient 2020. Thank you so much to both of you. All the best. Thank you.

00:54:27  
You're listening to the Leader Assistant Podcast.