Why a great PA is a Managing Director’s superpower ….

And then the year begins.
Inboxes fill up. Meetings multiply. Urgent things elbow out important ones. By February, many of those goals haven’t been abandoned so much as drowned out by reality.
We tend to explain this so-called ‘failure’ in moral terms. We assume that we lack discipline, or focus, or stamina - that we simply didn’t want it badly enough. But in business, the people who actually stay on track aren’t necessarily more disciplined than everyone else. Most of the time, they’re just better supported. They have someone protecting their time, their priorities and their attention when the year inevitably starts to unravel.
That’s where having a great PA or EA comes in. They’re the superpower behind your goals - the difference between January intentions and successful year-long execution.

We often like to believe that we are capable of managing ourselves in isolation. That if we cared more, organised better, or resisted distraction with sufficient determination, things would fall into place. This belief is deeply ingrained, particularly in professional culture, where autonomy is often mistaken for effectiveness.
But modern work is not designed to be self-contained. It is porous, interruptive, and collaborative. Our time and attention are constantly open to claim, and the most urgent voices tend to win by default. Expecting individuals to maintain strategic clarity within this environment through willpower alone is, frankly, unrealistic.
A truly effective PA or EA understands this. They know what matters, what can wait, and what should never have been agreed to in the first place. They see patterns that are invisible from inside the day itself – the recurring distractions, the unnecessary commitments, the quiet drift away from stated priorities and intentions.

PAs and EAs don’t simply reorganise time - they shape it. They create structure and continuity where there would otherwise be constant reaction. They make it possible for leaders to operate with clarity rather than urgency, and to make decisions that serve the long-term rather than the loudest demand in the room.
At their best, PAs and EAs sit at the centre of how a business functions. They act as ambassadors, representing their leaders with judgement and discretion. They are gatekeepers, protecting time and attention from unnecessary intrusion. And they are translators, able to move fluently between strategy and execution.
This requires far more than organisation. It requires high IQ, emotional intelligence, commercial awareness, and a deep understanding of people and priorities. An excellent PA or EA knows when to push back, when to smooth things over, and when to step in before a problem escalates. They understand not just what needs to happen, but how and when it should happen too.
In a culture that prizes independence and self-sufficiency, this kind of support is often misunderstood. But the most effective leaders know that freeing up their time is not a luxury or an indulgence. It’s one of the smartest strategic decisions they can make.

This question of support and structure feels particularly significant right now. Many organisations are operating against a backdrop of persistent uncertainty – economic pressure, institutional strain, and a general sense that the ground is less stable than it used to be.

In this kind of climate, the cost of distraction is higher. Decisions carry more weight. Misalignment shows up faster. The margin for error is smaller. PAs and EAs play a crucial role in helping organisations stay steady when everything else feels volatile. They allow leaders to think clearly, act deliberately, and remain focused on what actually matters – even when the pressure is on.
In difficult periods, clarity becomes a competitive advantage. And clarity isn’t something that happens by accident.

By the time that January optimism fades, most resolutions have already been quietly revised or forgotten. The year settles into its familiar rhythm, and the original intentions become something that “would’ve been nice”.
But the businesses that perform consistently well over time tend to operate differently. They don’t rely on bursts of motivation - they build strategic support into the way they work.
A great PA or EA doesn’t just exist for January. They exist for the whole year – for the moments when attention fragments, pressure rises and priorities compete. They are there to hold the line when focus would otherwise slip.
And in the long run, that’s what makes the difference between another year of good intentions and a year that actually delivers on them.