Page 17 - Nutranix Training April 2025

CHAPTER 03

ADMINUNIVERSE™
STRIVING TO CREATE

A STRATEGIC

PARTNERSHIP

A “strategic partnership” refers to the relationship between a leader and their administrative support
®
person, as coined by Joan Burge, the creator of the Star Achievement Series and the pioneer of the
administrative training industry. This term was first used by a CEO who sought an executive assistant
who would be a strategic partner. Joan has since dedicated her efforts to teaching executives and
assistants how to establish such partnerships.

Before discussing the stages of a partnership and how to establish a strategic partnership, let’s clarify
who is involved. It can be challenging to define the members of a strategic partnership as there are over
160 titles that fall under the administrative professional umbrella. These titles may include office
administrator, department administrator, senior executive assistant, and Chief of Staff.

The term “leader” is often used to refer to the people that administrative professionals support, while the
terms “upper management,” “C-level management,” and “management team” are still commonly used to
refer to the management level of an organization. These terms have not yet changed, despite the shift
towards using “leader” as a title.

For purposes of this program and the stages below, the following terms will be used. “AP” will stand for
administrative professional, which encompasses every person in some type of administrative support
function. “Leader” will refer to the person an administrative professional supports on a regular basis.
“Partners” and “partnership” will refer to the leader/AP pairing.

There are three stages of a leader/AP team pairing:

Strategic
Partnership Where are you
(Stage 3) and your leader
on the pyramid?
Partnership
(Stage 2)

Team
(Stage 1)

Instructor: Joanne Linden, AdminUniverse™ ©2025 Office Dynamics International
8
www.AdminUniverse.com