Has anyone else found that this Fall is flying by ridiculously quickly?

It’s difficult to believe that it’s already been just over two weeks since I was in Manchester, England – and I thank readers for bearing with me as I get up to speed again after a whirlwind tour that included London (thank you, Paula and Victoria), Manchester (thank you, Maria, Adam and everyone else), Budapest (thank you, Carla and Corinna), Berlin (thank you, Diana), Potsdam (thank you, Diana and Angela) and Belgium (thank you, Chantal).

The beauty of writing for readers around the globe is that there are many good people who are happy to help with information on new locales, and – in those instances where time permits – to meet up or even host you in their home countries.

As many readers know, I was in Manchester and London to give presentations to members of EPAA, Victoria Darragh’s Executive & Personal Assistants Association.

Soon after arriving at Manchester’s Piccadilly Station, Victoria and I made our way in the gorgeous autumn sunshine over to the University of Manchester, where reader and Real Careers alum Maria Marsh gave us a tour through some of the gorgeous buildings that form that university’s campus. These are just some of the photos from this lovely afternoon together, and you’ll soon find more on my Instagram feed.

Next, before a great dinner with a number of delegates to the following day’s conference, Victoria and I had the privilege of joining Adam Fidler for a tour of his impressive Adam Fidler Academy, above and below. This is a welcoming and inspirational learning environment.

Adam’s training facility is situated in Manchester’s Ancoats Urban Village, a thriving location that is both historic and trendy. Former mills and other industrial buildings have been refurbished with integrity, and repurposed as homes and businesses.

As you’ll see above, Adam’s facility is close to the canal that was critical to Manchester’s early industrial successes.

The next day, the three of us joined a number of committed, professional EAs and PAs for a day focused on high level, strategic performance.

I was appreciative of the invitation to speak to this group, and the subsequent audience in London, and humbled by the warmth of the welcomes received.

In addition to what I called a social media reunion of friends and peers, I met many more dedicated professionals. The Manchester event marked an inspiring gathering of admin. professionals from Scotland to Guernsey and the Channel Islands and points in between, and from a range of sectors. Thank you to all involved!

A strategic focus for career admin. professionals

I was also struck by the synchronicity of core messages from we presenters. Despite coming from different parts of the world, and without having had prior access to one another’s presentations, we brought a shared focus on elevating performance and approaching the career strategically.

Among the topics we discussed

In my presentation, I discussed qualities of high performers and took care to distinguish between performing at a high level and being a workaholic. I think it can be all too easy for some to blur the lines, and this is what leads us to the focus of this weekend’s poll:

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Are you a workaholic?

Please take a couple of minutes to complete the poll below. As always, I look forward to hearing what you have to say; watch here for results on Tuesday. This poll builds on a similar poll I conducted last Fall, and I’ll benchmark responses where appropriate.

“Select” whichever responses apply, and remember to CLICK on the “VOTE” ICON AFTER RESPONDING TO EACH question or statement.