ascend2success

With humor, grit, compassion, and a calm demeanor, Linda McFarland imparts her wisdom to help assistants succeed in a rapidly changing role. ＂The Wizard behind the CEO: Enchanted stories from the assistant with the magic WAND＂ is about Linda’s adventures as an assistant in the intense world of Silicon Valley. This book is a great way to learn from a role model with insight to avoid the potential pitfalls we all face in our hectic business and personal lives. Each chapter contains stories followed by lessons learned and strategies dubbed the WAND (What Assistants Need Daily). This magical advice is relevant for not just assistants but their managers and professionals who need to work together to accomplish goals.Being a CEO assistant has incredible challenges. It takes good judgment, implausible instincts, confidentiality and discretion, an eye for detail, adaptability, resilience, proficient computer skills, anticipating instincts, problem-solving skills, meeting and event planner skills, a calm demeanor, resourcefulness, the ability to build lasting relationships with ease, an understanding of timing when it comes to delivering a critical message, negotiating skills, the desire to constantly learn, understanding an executive’s business priorities and goals, and so much more. All these attributes together create the magic that assistants perform daily.

Linda McFarland is passionate about the administrative career and has extensive experience supporting CEOs in Silicon Valley. Linda founded Ascend2Success, a consulting company that provides services for administrative professionals. She is the coauthor of the book, ＂Sitting on a File Cabinet, Naked, with a Gun.＂ Since 2015, Linda has served on the advisory board for Silicon Valley Admin Awards. In 2004, Linda, along with six other CEO assistants, developed the first certificate program for administrative professionals with UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley and was master instructor and guest lecturer from 2005 to 2010. Linda is married with four children and several grandchildren.