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Celebrity assistants have a demanding job. The role requires being on call outside of normal working hours, working proactively to anticipate the needs of their boss, and protecting their boss’s schedule and privacy. It takes someone who is engaged, professional, and a team playerand searching for the right person to fill the role takes skill. I might as well be a scientist instead of a recruiter, because I’m putting people under a microscope, says Susan Levine, founder and CEO of Career Group Companies, which has placed assistants with celebrities including Kevin Costner, Maria Shriver, and the Kardashian-Jenners. I need to be a very good listener with the client first and equally a good listener with the candidate. I make sure that everything that the candidate wants fits what the actor wants, and vice versa. In any profession, there are overarching qualities that help you perform well in your job. The key to a long-lasting hire, however, is focusing on the person behind the skills, says Monique Helstrom, an executive assistant recruiter and former assistant to author and speaker Simon Sinek. Ultimately the relationship is human, she says. Human connection is something you have to search for. Bonnie Low-Kramen, author of Staff Matters: People-Focused Solutions for the Ultimate New Workplace, says a strong working relationship comes down to chemistry. If an executive or a celebrity is choosing between two candidates, theyre going to choose who they feel theyll be most compatible with, she says. As a result, hiring can be an exercise in matchmaking. While not every manager is going to be a high-profile individual, hiring managers can learn some tips from celebrity assistant recruiters on how they go about finding the right candidates: Start with the Boss An important tool for finding the right person is a well-written job description, says Helstrom. You need to be blunt, she says. I interview the executive quite thoroughly. I also interview people that they know and love. Some pieces will connect to their values, and some pieces will look for slightly opposite skills. I describe both sides thoroughly, so that I can attempt to weed out those that don’t fit the bill. For example, the manager may value honesty and need someone who is not afraid to speak up. Or the manager may be a high-energy person. Finding someone who has a calmer demeanor could bring better balance to their relationship. Levine likes to find out what an executives Achilles’ heel is. Like any relationship in life, in order for there to be compatibility and synergy, you need to know what makes someone tick, she says. If they didn’t care for the last assistant they had and are replacing them, what was it about that person that annoyed them? Find Matching Values Having a good understanding of the person behind the management role can help guide the interview. Helstrom asks questions that reveal if their values are in alignment. She likes to ask What do you value in a personal and professional experience? And give me some examples of the last time you lived one of those values. If one of their values is living with integrity, for example, Helstrom wants to hear a story about a time when they didn’t drop the ball, even though there were things against them that could have stopped them from doing their job. Did they take ownership of the project? she asks. I want to see if the behavior is what the executive wants, but I also look at their body language. Does what they’re saying match how theyre acting? Assess Their Engagement Some candidates want a job, and some want this job. To determine how important the role you need to fill is to the candidate, Low-Kramen, who was the personal assistant to actress Olympia Dukakis for 25 years, likes to check if theyve done their homework. Not just homework, but deep homework, she says. What do they know about the organization, and what do they know about the people involved, even the recruiter. You will be able to tell very quickly if they’ve done their homework or if they ask questions that could have easily been found on Google. During the interview, Helstrom assesses engagement by making sure the person is prepared. I’ve had people come to the interview and say, What interview is this for? or What job is this for? she says. I ask them Why do you want this job? Measure Professionalism Personality is what’s going to get you the job, but you need a high level of professionalism, says Levine. [Your boss] is not going to be your friend over the years; you might develop a relationship, but its a job, she says. Different roles will measure professionalism in different ways. For a celebrity assistant, confidentiality is an important value. Helstrom says one of her favorite ways to discern the candidates ability to maintain the employers privacy is asking them questions about their former executive. Ill say, Tell me about your last executive, or Tell me about the worst executive youve ever had, she says. I want to see if they start getting personal. If they dish to me, they’re dishing to other people. Another way to get insights on someones level of professionalism is by checking references. In addition to talking to previous employers, Low-Kramen looks at candidates social media platforms for clues. [Posts are] evidence of discretion and what is appropriate to be putting out publicly, she says. I don’t think it’s a big reach that an executive or hiring manager might think, If she or he is presenting themselves like this on social media, that may be what they’ll do with me. Your private life is your private life except when it impacts your professional life. It speaks to their professionalism and dedication to the career. I know of assistants who have not been offered jobs because of what’s on social media. Finally, Low-Kramen looks for common courtesies that might indicate how someone behaves in a professional setting. For example, does the candidate stand when the intervewer enters the room? Do they look you in the eye? Did they silence their phone? If you meet them for a meal in a restaurant, how do they treat the waitstaff? All of this shows respect and deference to the situation, she explains. They should make it intentional that the most important person they’re talking with right now is you.
Category:
E-Commerce
If youre feeling anxious about AI right now, youre not alone. Its reasonable to wonder whether AI will soon be able to do a lot of what we used to think of as human work. As of now, this technology has already shown some degree of promise for all of the following very human psychological skills: diagnosing diseases, writing code, summarizing and teaching information, predicting markets, brainstorming, product design, project management, coaching, and much more. We probably all know some optimists who think AI will be merely an efficiency tool that gets you 80% there and humans will still be needed for the other 20%. But even in a scenario like that, some current jobs will surely be lost. Im not going to try to predict the future and say what is right. Im just pointing out that there are plenty of reasons why many of us are worried, anxious, or downright afraid of AI taking our jobs at some point. Psychology has something very valuable to offer here. What this is really about is living with uncertainty. One good way to live wellperhaps even happilywith uncertainty is to start by understanding what the worry, anxiety, and fear (WAF) are there for. As University of Michigan Professor Ethan Kross explains, emotions are useful sources of information. When it comes to WAF, very often the information is that there is something coming in the future that you cant fully control and you want the outcome to turn out a certain way. In other words, WAF serves a functionto help us try to control the future. That can be adaptive at times, like when preparing for a major licensing exam. Its a specific goal where you can control the outcome in some important ways. Worrying about whether certain topics will be covered on the exam can help you do some downside planning. Feeling a little anxious on the morning of the exam can help you stay energized and focused. Having some fear about what would happen if you failed to study enough and were embarrassed with the results can motivate you when your motivation lags. All of that helps you try to control the future. Trying to control the future is not so adaptive when its not meaningfully possible, such as when the future is as uncertain as it is with AI. In this context, downside planning can have no end, the anxiety can be chronic because there is no singular eventlike the examcoming up to apply it to, and the fear of failure can feel unending when any job you might have or prepare for might be taken away by AI. But the truth is that no one can know what capabilities and impact AI will have in the future. Theres a place for some guessing and downside (or upside) planning with AI, but thats different from the ongoing and repeated fears many have of AI taking their jobs. WAF in this case often leads to a general sense of doom and hopelessness. It no longer serves an adaptive purpose. Instead it holds you backand its unpleasant. However, the information in the WAF is still useful. The information is often that you seek a greater sense of control over your career success. What can you do to gain some sense of control and reduce WAF when the future is so uncertain? It all comes down to bringing your focus to what you can control. These three steps can be a great way to do so: Honor that goal of having a sense of control, and find a better way to get there. Focus on what you can control, which, in this case, is the present and your use of AI now. Answer this question: What do I want to do with AI now? For example, I need to engage in negotiations from time to time. On occasion, I find I am quite cynical about the chances that the other side will play fair or be open to listening. So one way I want to use AI right now is to get guidance from experts on cynicism. I might not have access to Jamil Zaki, author of Hope for Cynics. But I know that researchers have often found that your beliefs and attitudes make a big difference in how things turn out. So if I wanted to change my cynical attitude about my negotiation, I could ask AI to suggest a few pointers that Zaki would likely recommend to help me to approach a negotiation with hopeful skepticism rather than having already cynically written the other side off. When you focus on what you want to do with AI now, you do two things that should decrease the WAF feelings. One is that you increase your sense of control, which has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. The other is that, rather than trying to avoid what you fear, you reorient toward approaching what you desire. So its more about desire and less about WAF. Shifting your focus to what you want that is within your control now, as pertains to AI, can help you live well with the uncertainty around how AI will affect your job. Often people try to gain control over a highly uncertain future by dwelling on what the future could hold. But this leads to avoidance and distracting negative WAF feelings. Paradoxically, shifting your focus to the present and to what you want that is within your control now, can be the best way to set your future self up for success. As you get to know the technology you can build a more constructive relationship with it.
Category:
E-Commerce
Theres a Kraft Heinz commercial running in Canada right now that is a perfect embodiment of the geopolitical moment between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. In it, the brand is celebrating its Canadian workers, and highlighting all the Canadian ingredients in its products like peanut butter, cheese, and Kraft Dinner. For context, in case you dont read the news: Since the election, President Trump has not only threatened and implemented trade tariffs on Canadian goods, but has added insult to injury by suggesting America’s longtime ally become its 51st state. This has not gone over well in Canada for obvious reasons. Thats why an American conglomerate like Kraft Heinz feels the need to clarify a few things. Sure, the cream cheese might be called Philadelphia, but ITS MADE IN MONTREAL with CANADIAN DAIRY, WE SWEAR. As a Canadian, it feels to me like the brand equivalent of my American friends turning to me during every commercial break of a hockey game to assure me they dont actually want to annex my country. Canadian to the core Of course, its not only American companies creating ads to hype how deep their Canadian connections are. This moment has given Canadian brands a chance to really fly their maple leaf flags to make sure we all know whos really from here. Thats important because Canadians buy more American-made goods than the U.K., France, Japan, and China combined. Yet a recent KPMG study found that 70% of Canadians would boycott U.S. products if President Trump implemented his 25% tariffs, while 80% are actively seeking non-U.S. alternatives when Canadian options arent available. The threats and tensions aren’t just theoretical: The Globe & Mail reported this week that cross-border travel is falling sharply: Statistics Canada reported that Canadians made 1.2 million fewer round-trip visits to the U.S. last month, which is 23% less than February 2024. Meanwhile, hotels in Maine are reporting a major drop in summer bookings, some as much as 90%. Peter Chapman, founder of consulting firm SKUFood and a former executive with Canadian grocery giant Loblaw, told The Canadian Press, Its by far the most dramatic and swiftest shift Ive seen in consumer behavior. Ian Westworth, Grey Canadas head of planning and effectiveness, wrote in Campaign recently that this shift in consumer behavior presents a significant opportunity for Canadian brands to align with this cultural moment and tap into a groundswell of national pride. This is an opportunity to build not just short-term momentum but also enduring consumer relationships, said Westworth. Halifax-based Moosehead Breweries is facing tariff impacts across its packaging supply chain, but managed to keep its sense of humor, creating a Presidential Pack of 1,461 beersone beer for every day of the next four years. It’s sold at least 10 of the $3,400 packs so far, and now has a waiting list. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Moosehead Breweries (@moosehead) Everyone up here, from the Prime Minister to Mike Myers, has been using the Elbows up mantra (it’s a hockey thing). And now brands from both countries have been forced to reconcile what that actually means for them. Flying the flag This isnt the first time a brand has aimed at the under-tapped resource that is Canadian national pride. Back in 2000, Molson Canadian created a spot called The Rant that featured a guy named Joe proudly dispelling what amounts to American stereotypes of Canada. Cheesy, sure, but it struck a very strong nerve. As loathe as we are to admit it, a sizable proportion of the Canadian identity is tied to all the various ways we arent American. Were often a nation stuck between the influences of a colonial past (Britain and France), and a pop culture present (America). Part of our contemporary identity is finding ways to move beyond this binary. Marvel star, and Toronto native, Simu Liu leaned into our unique brand of multiculturalism when he hosted the 2022 Juno awards (Canadas Grammys) and re-created his own rant: I grew up on ketchup chips, roti, and Jamaican beef patties . . . Thats about as Toronto as you can get. Like any emphasis on buying local, or touting Made in the USA stateside, brands have long used their connection to Canada as a marketing device here. But this time its different. It feels like all at once, every marketer in Canada is a maple-syrup-swigging, hockey-loving hoser. Some are doing it by adding phrases like Proudly Canadian or Canadian Made to their labels. Others are creating full ad campaigns. Maple Leaf Foods recently launched a partnership with other Canadian brands urging people to look for the leaf on grocery products. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maple Leaf Foods (@mapleleaffoods) Grocery giant Loblaws has created a black T label to highlight products impacted by the new American tariffs. Retailer Canadian Tire dropped a spot to reiterate its roots, while using harsh winds as a nod to the current political and economic climate. The Canadian Forces even has a spot that could weirdly double as a tourism ad, encouraging Canadians to be maple-leaf buying, local adventuring in their spending habits. Graham Candy, chief strategy officer at Toronto-based ad agency Angry Butterfly, is expecting to see more marketers join the chorus. “We feel like this is just the beginning of what we are going to see out there from a political and marketing comms perspective,” says Candy. “We expect to see bolder messages, more pride, potentially more anger and stronger ‘Us versus Them’ messaging.” Personally, I’m just waiting for Nestlé to finally announce a brand partnership with Shoresy for its Canadian-made Drumsticks ice cream treat. Same rules apply For some marketers, wrapping their brands in the flag may work perfectly well. For others, its a mistake. In so many ways, the current situation between Canada and the U.S. is unprecedented. But the solution for marketers is actually still rooted in the best practices of a modern brand: know what your core values are and use that as the lens through which you communicate with your audience. Plenty of brands in Canada will jump on this patriotic bandwagon, but the ones who find success will be those who have built their Canuck credentials over time. Just as brands that decide to aim attention at a particular cultural nichewhether anime fans, surfers, or Swiftiestheir actions need to be true to who they are or else the brand will be called out and, ultimately, unsuccessful in reaching that audience. American and international companies that have built the strongest brand connections to their Canadian consumers will ultimately weather the tariff storm, and it wont be because of some haphazard flag-waving. That said, Diageo should probably start re-airing its 2023 Crown Royal Super Bowl ad immediately.
Category:
E-Commerce
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