This blog post was initially titled ‘Get With The Podgram’. According to my 14 year old brains trust this was not a winning title. It’s a shame really. I quite liked it and may yet proceed with getting a t shirt made up with the slogan. My message is the same regardless. Let me give you three reasons why as an indispensable Executive Assistant you should be jumping on the podcast bandwagon:
Continual Learning
Firstly, podcasts are ‘learning on demand’ on steroids. Indispensable Executive Assistants are constant learners. Listening to podcasts will expand your mind and increase your commercial and business acumen. You will be more knowledgeable about your industry and the issues that your business leader has on their radar.
Podcast listening is a simple and effective way to immediately ramp up your own self-development. The Onward Project might be a good place to start with a range of podcasts to choose from and more in the pipeline. I’m already a fan of Radical Candour, A show about how to love your work and the people you work with.
Of course the must-listen podcast for Executive Assistants is my podcast Being Indispensable. It’s the place to go if you are curious to know the values, skills and behaviours that make an Executive Assistant indispensable and the mindset shift required to form a true partnership with your executive.
What Impacts The Organisation
The second reason for jumping on the podcast listening bandwagon is all about making yourself more valuable to your organisation. Podcast listening enables you to stay abreast of the political, economic and social issues that affect your organisation and the markets it operates in.
To be truly seen as the right-hand person to your business leader Executive Assistants must know what could potentially impact your organisation’s revenue, costs and ultimately profit. Episodes from Planet Money have been incorporated into undergraduate microeconomics and macroeconomics courses at some universities. Masters In Business from Bloomberg or BBC Business Daily are also potential options. When President Obama sat down for his final interview in office, he didn’t do so with a network TV special or a glossy magazine feature. Instead, he chose a podcast, “Pod Save America”. This podcast had a predecessor called “Keeping it 1600” that ran during the US Election Cycle and had 400,000 downloads per episode.
Staying Ahead
The final reason for why you need to embrace the growing trend of audio on demand is all about becoming more indispensable to your business leader. Listening to podcasts will improve your ability to engage at the level that your business leader operates at. In addition, podcasting is a marketing medium that is increasingly becoming relevant to organisations as a way of accessing and connecting with their ideal customer. If you business leader isn’t already interested in exploring it I predict it won’t be long before they are. So get ahead of the curve.
If your business leader is a podcast novice, this is also an opportunity for you to do some ‘reverse mentoring’. Demonstrate your initiative. Get them subscribed to some of the top rating shows on iTunes or Stitcher and help them discover the gold to be found. If you need any further evidence that podcast listening is a trend not to be ignored, Australia’s national carrier Qantas announced in October 2016 that podcasts would be included in their on-demand inflight entertainment. Virgin, who are renowned for being in tune (excuse the pun) with their market launched their own podcast in August 2015.
In Conclusion
Edison Research will release its latest findings on the growth of podcasting in March. This time last year the number of American’s listening to podcasts was estimated to be 21 million or one in four people. The prediction is that this will have easily doubled in the last 12 months. My hot tip is that if you want to be proactive, put a reminder in your calendar to download the report when it’s released. It’s sure to be interesting reading. Share it with your business leader and others within your organisation.
Are you already on the podcast bandwagon? I’d love to know what you subscribe to? Leave a comment and share your experience.
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Meet Liz
I work with Executive Assistants and Administrative Assistants to deliver the confidence, consistency and career development that transforms them into thriving Linchpin Assistants.