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Why Confidence Shows Up First in EA Work |
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Looking Confident While Figuring It Out
One thing that comes up again and again in EA roles is the need for an early amount of confidence in what you are doing, often long before real competence kicks in.
You’re trusted to make decisions and expected to act quickly without slowing things down. Your work and your Executive's work have to keep moving, whether or not someone has sat down to spell out priorities, explain why decisions are made, or provide the wider context for the task. So what happens? You step in, make the call, and keep things on track.
From the outside, that looks like you are completely capable at what you do. Harrah! But inside, it often feels like you are taking responsibility for decisions without enough information to know how they will turn out. And that is terrifying.
This is the confidence-versus-competence gap we are seeing play out in the EA role. You have to rely on confidence to fill the gaps where really important information is missing.
This week’s newsletter looks at how that gap forms in everyday EA work, why it’s so common, and what actually helps the two come back into alignment.
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In the EA role, pay, scope, and seniority are rarely based on task execution alone. They reflect how comfortable others are relying on you to make calls without supervision, and how reliably those calls hold up over time. Confidence and competence are therefore closely linked in how the role is valued, even though they are not the same thing.
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In a recent EA Campus Virtual Summit, Dr. Madeleine de Hauke explored the neuroscience of confidence and presented a practical four-step framework to help Assistants build their confidence and thrive in their personal and professional lives. This article will share the science of confidence through A four-step framework for building confidence in the EA role.
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Ways to start closing the confidence vs. competence gap in your EA role.
- If you’re feeling uncertain, it’s worth checking whether what’s missing is confidence or competence. Often, self-doubt is actually a reaction to a lack of context, clarity, or exposure to similar decisions before.
- Competence grows when you understand why decisions are made, not just what needs to be done. Asking earlier questions about priorities, trade-offs, and consequences gives you information you can reuse next time.
- Pay attention to outcomes. Noticing which decisions created extra work later and which ones smoothed things out is how you develop your skills.
- Confidence tends to follow competence naturally. When you know how your Executive thinks, what they care about most right now, and where there is flexibility, decisions feel less risky and less draining.
- Small, deliberate stretches outside your comfort zone go a long way. Taking responsibility for decisions that sit just outside your comfort zone, then watching what happens next (hopefully positive!), builds capability without feeling too scary.
- Closing the gap is rarely about being more assertive or overconfident. We are not talking about 'fake it till you make it' here. Instead, start asking for better information, clearer context, and more feedback so that your confidence grows because you are not relying on guesswork.
Google Gemini for Executive Assistants
February 4th, 2026 - 11am-2pm ET | 4pm-7pm GMT
Join our interactive 3-hour Masterclass and discover how to make Gemini your most powerful productivity partner inside Google Workspace. This exclusive Google Gemini for Executive Assistants Masterclass gives you the clarity, confidence, and practical skills to integrate Gemini into the work you already do, immediately and effectively.
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Manus
Manus AI is an autonomous AI agent designed to take on multi-step tasks rather than just respond to single prompts. Instead of answering questions in isolation, it can plan, execute, and adjust work across a sequence of actions, for example, researching a topic, drafting content, organising information, or completing a defined workflow with minimal back-and-forth. For EAs, it’s an interesting example of where AI tools are heading.
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February 4th, 2026 @ 11am EST | 4pm GMT | 5pm CEST
Google Gemini for EAs Masterclass
Google Gemini is rapidly becoming embedded across Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet, but most Assistants are only scratching the surface. This exclusive Google Gemini for Executive Assistants Masterclass gives you the clarity, confidence, and practical skills to integrate Gemini into the work you already do, immediately and effectively. Book now>>>
February 18th, 2026 @ 11am EST | 4pm GMT | 5pm CEST
Better Workflows with Copilot Masterclass
Building Better Workflows with Copilot is a focused, practical Masterclass designed specifically for Executive Assistants who want to use AI to manage email more effectively, capture actions accurately, and create structured task workflows that actually stick. Book now>>>
25th February 2026 @ 11am EST | 4pm GMT | 5pm CEST
AI and Events Management
Masterclass
Through this masterclass, you’ll discover how to harness the power of AI, digital tools, and technology to make event planning smoother and smarter. From streamlining admin tasks to enhancing creativity and communication, you’ll learn how to apply technology across every stage of planning. Book now>>>
April 22nd-24th, 2026 @ London, UK
The EA Campus Conference
Over three unmissable days, you’ll dive into game-changing sessions on the future of the Assistant role, take part in hands-on workshops that deliver practical, real-world results, and explore the latest in AI tools, tech demos, and tactical support you can use immediately. Best of all, you’ll do it all surrounded by a room full of people who get what it means to do your job, and love it just as much as you do. Book now>>>
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